Counterintuitive as it seems, stress — well, the good kind — can lengthen the human life span.
The trick is finding the sweet spot between what’s good and what’s bad, which the author of a new book on the subject of stress calls the “Goldilocks’’ effect.
“Pick what seems like a good starting point; it can be an emotional thing like taking small steps to deal with what scares you, or it could be physical: climb stairs today and see how many your body can do,” said Sharon Bergquist, a physician and scientist.
“Or it could be a very small thing, like taking a cold shower to get the heart racing. If you do it consistently, it can be absolutely life changing,’’ said Bergquist, founder and director of Emory University Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness, and an associate professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine.
Bergquist, who holds a bachelor’s of science from Yale University and a medical degree from Harvard University, shared these comments at a recent Longevity Book Club event held at Stanford University’s Center on Longevity. She is the author of “The Stress Paradox: Why You Need Stress to Live Longer, Healthier and Happier,’’ which details the five stressors that enhance mental, emotional and physical resilience.
A staggering 93% of Americans suffer from less-than-optimum metabolic health, leading to slowing down physically and mentally, she said. This process is not an inevitable result of aging, but rather, a result of lifestyle choices — “Use it or lose it,’’ she said, because our bodies react positively to challenge.
Research and clinical studies of aging compelled Bergquist to wonder what the difference was between those who can handle and even thrive on stress, and those that suffer the negative effects of stress.
“In wondering how we can do medicine better, within that I did a lot of personal research around lifestyle and how that affects resiliency,” she said. “Resiliency is the key component of how we can treat the underlying process that contributes to so many of the physical and mental illnesses we see today.”
Lessons Learned from Executives
As an example of resiliency, Bergquist said she has treated executives who run global companies; they handle the stresses of managing people, fiscal uncertainty, and frequent business travel well, usually, she said, because they love their jobs.
That led her to question if slowing down, often advised to the high-powered, was the best strategy.
Through their clinical trials with executives, Bergquist and her colleagues discovered there are different types and intensities of stress. They found that cortisol levels and an individual’s resilience to those levels can serve as a predictor of beneficial stress.
“This insight led me to realize that a certain amount of stress can actually be beneficial,” she said.
Health and Resilience Enhancers
The five key stressors that can enhance health and resilience, said Bergquist, are:
Phytochemicals (produced by plants), which are found in fruits and vegetables.
Exercise.
Temperature variations — that’s where the morning cold shower comes in.
Fasting.
Mental and emotional challenges.
Bergquist said these elements activate our body’s protective mechanisms and promote well-being. Not surprisingly, she suggested that moderation, or the Goldilocks approach, works best in achieving the right stress level
Finding that ‘Sweet Spot’
Bergquist added that the genders differ in their needs for and tolerance of stress, with women probably having a more heightened stress response and more cortisol than men.
“That’s based on early life experiences as well as a lifetime of different exposures that are not just emotional but related to exercise and diet. They all shape how we respond to stress, both in women and men. I think the key here is for each of us to find where that sweet spot is,’’ she said.
Speaking of sweets, Bergquist does not advocate eliminating meat and sweets. Rather, she suggests a diet of diversity: decreasing intake of the “bad’’ foods, while increasing what’s good for you: whole grains, legumes, grapes, pistachios, apples, garlic, leeks, onions, and yes, dark chocolate.
First-Hand Experience
Bergquist used herself as an example of how stress can be healthy. Alarmed that a reported 50% of physicians suffer from burnout, she wanted to know why.
“An example of good stress is writing this book. My first thought was ‘How am I going to do this!’ I have two clinical practices, I work full time, I have three daughters that are in their teens,” she said. “Then I thought about why I wanted to do this: that the science is missing the foundational things that are really the path to connecting our bodies to our natural health abilities.”
“Researching and writing this has been the most rewarding thing in my career. It has helped me in the day-to-day of my job, in a way that helps with fatigue,” said Bergquist. “You find energy through the work that you’re doing when it’s helping manage the realities of our lives.’’
In a four-decade career in journalism, Eleanor O’Sullivan has reviewed many books on best practices for financial advisors, has written for Financial Advisor and the USA Today network, and was movie critic for the Asbury Park Press. Read more of her articles here.
