It’s become more important than ever to find sustainable ways to manage our stress. Not necessarily to be more productive at work, although feeling accomplished and effective in our careers helps improve mood and feelings of anxiety. More so, to keep inflammation and chronic illnesses at bay.
Stress causes inflammation in the body, which is the root cause of chronic disease. Unhealthy stress includes inadequate recovery from physical, mental and emotional stress of any kind. Worrying and repetitive negative thoughts, depression and anxiety, when unchecked, can become dangerous for the body.
How serious is this cycle of stress and inflammation? According to the National Institute of Health, stress is the common risk factor of 75%–90% diseases, including the diseases which cause the foremost morbidity and mortality. Currently, 60% of Americans have one chronic disease, and 42% have at least two.
While physical stress such as exercise and short bursts of stress that prompt action and goal-setting are vital for health and wellness, It is important to keep unhealthy stress and inflammation at a minimum.
Stress can be provoked by a psychological, environmental, or physiological stressor. In 2013, researcher Paul Landsbergis published a paper stating that due to the rapid development of science and technology, as well as economy and strong social competition, the nature of stress has changed dramatically.
These stressors are very difficult to avoid, especially with the dominance smartphones now play in our lives. The harrowing news cycle and the performative, competitive nature of social media have hijacked the attention spans and feelings of self-worth of people across generations.
And when it comes to the economy, the instability and rapid transformation of global markets now burdened with the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic have created immense challenges for workers. From job security to fair wages, healthy work environments and unprecedented pressure around skills development and technology adoption, many people feel that it is hard to keep up.
These realities have ushered in a multitude of ‘self-help’ and ‘self-care’ industries to help the public manage and overcome stress. From psychotherapy to yoga studios, meditation studios, herbalists, dieticians, life coaches, massage therapists and more. Even cuddle clubs and psychedelic retreats are common practice these days.
While this multidisciplinary approach creates many touch points for stress management, a wider evaluation of what works and what doesn’t will lead to a protocol that shifts from what is currently the most accessible and institutionally supported form of stress management in the modern era: pharmacological agents to reduce stress, general anxiety and depression, that come with an array of dangerous and undesirable side effects.
84% of Americans experience prolonged stress. At Canurta, we’re working hard to make our natural solutions for inflammation management as accessible as possible to these people and more around the world that are seeking a plant-based collection of stress management supplements, foods and other functional products that are safe, effective and backed by clinical research.