By getting more sleep, meditation, and the exercise you need into your regular lifestyle as we talked about in the last lesson, you will be well protected against the toxic effects of stress – which is one of our greatest skin enemies. In this lesson, we will talk about more about stress and what to do if you need more help managing stress!

Reducing stress is critical to clearing acne and to ward off signs of premature aging.

Stress directly affects how your skin looks – cortisol increases during stress and damages the skin in many ways by weakening the skin’s natural barrier, making it more prone to dehydration, increased oil production, and slower cell turnover. Slower cell turnover can often lead clogged pores and duller looking skin.

Cortisol is also the natural enemy of collagen, because it breaks down the connective tissue that keeps your complexion firm. That’s why chronic anxiety can increase expression lines around the mouth and forehead that can become pronounced and even permanent over time.

Exercise, mediation, and getting sufficient sleep all help to reduce stress. But sometimes that isn’t enough for the really tough days…

Thankfully you have another option; you can help your body manage stress levels with adaptogens, which are a unique group of plants & herbs that fight anxiety and fatigue. These plant-based substances will help the body by balancing the adrenal gland’s response to stress, making sure that cortisol levels are neither too high or low, but at the right balance. 

Adaptogens have been used to support the adrenal system for centuries in Chinese and Indian Ayurvedic medicine. Now that they’re becoming popular in mainstream culture, you may be seeing them pop up everywhere from juice bars to wellness blogs.

Clinical research in the West has started to confirmed their health benefits and safety for long-term use. However adaptogens have been studied in Russia for decades. 

These herbs counteract the toxic effects of stress. They can calm you down and boost your energy at the same time without overstimulation. They help the body to perform daily functions while providing resistance to stress.

If you are ready to try adaptogens to help control excessive cortisol levels and lower stress, the good news is that there are a number to choose from but I’m recommending the following three as my preferred choices.

Panax Ginseng, or also known Korean or Chinese Ginseng, has been long used in Asian medicine to help the body adapt to stress. The name Panax is from the Greek Word for “Cure All” that was given to this herb. Both Korean and Chinese ginseng are the same plant, but just grown in different areas. Ginseng has been known to increase energy levels, improve mental performance, while helping to reduce anxiety and chronic fatigue.

Rhodiola Rosea, which is a herb native to the mountain regions of Asia and Europe, has been used for centuries in Eastern European traditional medicine to treat anxiety and fatigue.  This herb has also been shown to improve symptoms of stress-related burnout, like depression. Supplements of this herb should have standardized amounts of rosavins at 3% and salidroside at 1%, which are the naturally occurring compounds of these proportions in the root.

Holy Basil, is another known herb in ayurvedic medicine, found in India and in Southeast Asia. This herb has anti-stress properties that lower cortisol and blood sugar. Studies have shown it can also serve as a natural anti-depressant, helping people feel less anxious.

If you’re chronically stressed, you can choose any of these adaptogens to take daily. When I’m taking other supplements, I’ll replace one or alternate days with an adaptogen during a stressful period. Even though these herbs are known to be safe, it’s possible you could have an allergic reaction. Always consult with your doctor if you’re on existing meds for other health conditions and avoid these herbs entirely if you are about to have surgery or if you’re pregnant or nursing.

As amazing as adaptogens are, there’s a reason why I’ve waited until the end to introduce them. I just want to emphasize that while adaptogens can be a great addition, they are not a substitute for deeper healing and balanced hormones, which comes from self-care, nutrition, and exercise.

We MUST do our best to reduce our stress levels because chronic stress will greatly interfere with progress.

Anxiety triggers inflammation in the body, hormonal imbalances, and increases the proliferation of bad bacteria in the gut.  Chronic stress not only affects how fast your skin ages and looks but it also shortens your lifespan! Stress affects you on such a fundamental level that it can cause flaws in your DNA, leading to cellular shutdown. Cells dying or shutting down is part of the natural aging process, but let’s not accelerate this.

While the aging process cannot be prevented entirely, managing stress can greatly reduce the damage that our cells are exposed to every day. 

Although it’s impossible to eliminate all sources of anxiety, we can increase our mental resilience to the inevitable stressors in life – as we further talk about here.

Photo by Jocelyn Morales on Unsplash.