When you overthink, you literally overthink not just your mind into exhaustion but your body into enervation. This much stress on the body can leave you with serious health defects. Your risk of mental health
problems and feeling older than you are greatly increases. If you don’t already, you will feel as though no matter what you do, you are
constantly sore and achy. Only a few types of stress cause this, and overthinking is one of them. You may go from having slight headaches to experiencing chronic headaches. If you don’t already have muscle tension, it will be as if your muscles always feel stiff. Even worse than that, your chest and heart may even feel tight. Unfortunately, you can
actually develop heart problems in the future due to your high levels of overwhelming stress. The good news is that you can turn this all around starting right now. Deep breathing learned through meditation, taking mindful nature walks, jogging or running, and eating a healthy diet that suits your needs are all examples of what you can do to decrease the
stress that overthinking causes.
If you don’t learn to reduce your stress the following list is what you will have to look forward to. Stress causes:
-
Inflammation in the body leading to:
- Heart disease
- Diabetes
- Multiple sclerosis
-
Digestive tract which includes problems like:
- Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Acid reflux
-
Immune system crashes which can cause:
- Increased chances of illness
- Always having or developing the flu or cold
-
Linked to mental disorders such as:
-
- Depression
- Mood disorders
- Anxiety
- Bipolar
- Borderline personality
-
While overthinking doesn’t cause death – nor is it linked to specific
diseases – it is closely connected to serious illnesses. This is only because most people will try to combat their overthinking and excessive and
unwanted thoughts with drinking, smoking, and destructive eating habits. If you inhabit this type of lifestyle as a way to cope, then the above symptoms greatly increase your chances of developing them.
How Physical Activity Helps You Manage Stress on the Body
Remember Chapter Two, in which you learned about what goes on in the parts of your brain to send hormonal signals to other parts of your body to act a certain way? That was called the limbic system and inside the limbic system there was a region of the brain called the hypothalamus which was responsible for activating hormones to help your body ‘fight or flight.’ The hypothalamus also sends feel good hormones in your body which you don’t get unless you exercise and eat healthy. When you run, jog, learn a sport, or do anything that keeps you active, the hypothalamus feeds your body endorphins which are the ‘feel good’ hormones we talked about. Don’t worry, you don’t have to be an athlete or a ‘gymaholic’ to gain the benefits of being active. So, how
does exercise relieve stress and help you to stop overthinking automatically?
- It increases your endorphin surges – Endorphin rushes will help you feel good about yourself and increase the pep in your step every day that you follow the routine. You don’t have to do a full on run, or hike the highest mountain, or even spend hours in the gym. It only takes about ten minutes into your exercise to get your blood flowing and about ten to twenty minutes after that for a full on endorphin surge. So, in reality just thirty minutes a day of exercise and you are good to go.
- It’s a meditation technique – Meditation keeps you calm and at ease and so when you get enough exercise (‘enough’ being thirty minutes at a time), you will find that your concentration is not on your mind or daily stress. It is on the task at hand like running, swimming laps, or playing tennis that afterwards you feel refreshed because you have flushed out the negative energy that had built up. This means more time for your family and friends and better performance at work.
- It is a mood booster – This goes without saying that endorphins instantly change your mood. But, I am not just talking about a quick fix, in fact exercise has you staying happy and relaxed all the time. Those tense muscles won’t be from stress rather from your exercise. The only way to overcome that is to take nice long showers and exercise more with a day or two break. However, the point is you will find that you have more confidence because you feel in shape, and your depression and anxiety will feel as though they are distant relatives that don’t knock often. With these two main problems gone (or almost gone) how can you worry?
The reason most people don’t exercise is because they want the
benefits without actually doing the work it takes to get them. Another
reason may be that exercise is too hard, or it hurts, or they can’t because of their weight. The thing about exercise is that you are not going to just one day wake up and be able to run a marathon. You have to slowly and gradually build into the routine which roughly takes two weeks. If
running makes your legs hurt, start smaller like doing bike riding or stair stepping. If working out makes you dizzy, lower the weight and
take a seat. You have to start small before you can build up. Don’t look at exercise like it’s a chore, look at it like it’s an opportunity. Eventually you will find an exercise that you love, then add it to your calendar and to-do lists. Finally, stick with it. Whether you jog in the morning before your shower and work routine, or you get a stretch in at lunch for
twenty minutes, or you play an evening sport like tennis with your
friends after dinner. Make it a habit that you exercise. The more you enjoy the exercise the better off you will be at sticking to it.
How a Healthy Diet Decreases Stress Resulting from Overthinking
If you are stressed you may do one of two things when it comes to your diet and nutrition. Either you will starve yourself and only eat
when absolutely necessary, or you will binge and eat everything in sight, but only the bad things. Both of these ways of eating are very
detrimental to your mental and physical health. It is most certain that worry and anxiety are closely connected to what you feed yourself.
Foods high in sugar, high carbohydrate content, and with lots of sodium have your mood and energy fluctuating so much that it is no wonder
you can’t think.
A healthy diet consists of getting enough vegetables, fruit, and protein, and also requires that you limit your processed food intake.
Processed foods have added ingredients that are hard for the body to digest. Important vitamins and minerals are removed and salt and sugar content is highly increased. Vegetables and fruit are packed with
natural antioxidants – vitamins and minerals that your body needs to survive and be healthy. Whole grain foods include things like crackers, brown and wild rice, quinoa seeds, plain oatmeal, and hulled barley.
Grain has the fiber content you need to stay regular and provide you with B vitamins that are crucial to sustaining energy and serotonin in your brain. Protein includes legumes, nuts, tofu, seeds, fish, seafood,
poultry, and red meat. Other protein foods include cheese, kefir and fat yogurts. Protein keeps your bones strong – like calcium – and helps you
repair your muscles after an intense workout. When it comes to something to drink, you should aim for water. Water is the main course for what our body intake is as we are 80% water. Juices and other drinks such as coffee, fruit juice, and soft drinks have no nutritional value and are often loaded with sugar which will leave you feeling burnt out
sooner rather than later.
Vitamins and minerals are also needed in your diet as they give your brain an extra boost, and also help you think clearly. There are two types of vitamins – water soluble and fat soluble. You must be more careful about the fat soluble vitamins over the water ones because fat stays in your body longer, whereas water is more disposable. Fat soluble vitamins are stored in the body’s cells and if you take too much it could become toxic to your health.
The water soluble vitamins include:
- Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) – It is important for nerve function and brain stimulation. Vitamin B1 is found in pork, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds.
- Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) – It is needed to help balance the metabolism, increase vision health and skin health. Riboflavin can be found in foods such as milk and milk products, leafy greens like lettuce, and whole grain cereals and breads.
- Vitamin B3 (Niacin) – This vitamin balances metabolism and is important for the nervous system, digestive tract, and skin health. You may find this vitamin in meat, poultry, fish, whole grain breads, vegetables like mushrooms and asparagus, and peanut butter.
- Folic acid – Essential for producing new cells and DNA and increasing the red blood cells. You can find folic acid in foods such as leafy greens, legumes, seeds, orange juice, and liver.
- Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin) – Important for nerve function and increasing the health of your limbic system. Vitamin B12 can be found in Meat, poultry, fish, seafood, eggs, milk and milk products.
- Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid) – Is an antioxidant essential for the immune system health and absorbs iron. Vitamin C can be found in all fruits and vegetables high in citrus including, strawberries, oranges, cantaloupe, cabbage, peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce, papayas, mangoes, and kiwi. Fat soluble vitamins include:
- Vitamin A – Is needed for vision, skin health, bones and teeth growth, and immune system functionality. You can find Vitamin A in fortified milk, cheese, cream, butter, eggs, liver, leafy dark green vegetables, and dark fruits. These fruits are apricots, cantaloupe and apples.
- Vitamin D – It may be difficult to get enough Vitamin D in your diet, so if this is the case, try finding a multivitamin supplement with Vitamin D in it or just a Vitamin D supplement on it’s own. It helps absorb calcium stored in bones and increases your mood. You can find Vitamin D in egg yolks, liver, fatty fish. When you are exposed to the sun, you are also getting your daily dose of Vitamin D.
- Vitamin E – This vitamin is an antioxidant that protects cell walls. You can find it in plant oils such as soybean, corn, cottonseed, and safflower. It is also found in leafy green vegetables, wheat germ, whole grains, liver, egg yolks, nuts and seeds.
- Vitamin K – This is needed for proper blood clotting purposes. It can be found in leafy green vegetables such as kale, collard greens, and spinach. Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, asparagus also have high levels of Vitamin K.
There are two groups of minerals that are important for proper body functioning. One group is called ‘major’ or macrominerals and are needed in larger amounts than the other group which are called ‘trace’ minerals. Macrominerals are:
- Sodium – Sodium is needed for fluid balance, nerve transmission, and muscle contraction. You can find salt in table salt, soy sauce, processed foods, milk, bread, vegetables, and unprocessed meat. Chloride – Needed to develop healthy stomach acid and balance fluids and can be found in everything that includes high sodium foods.
- Potassium – Needed for fluid balance, muscle contraction, and nerve transmission and can be found in meat, milk, fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains and legumes. Calcium – Calcium is crucial for healthy bones and teeth, help the relaxation of muscles, blood clotting and regulation, and boosts immunity. It can be found in milk, canned fish, broccoli, and legumes.
- Magnesium – Magnesium boosts immunity and is needed for making protein. You can find magnesium in nuts, seeds, legumes, leafy greens, vegetables, seafood, chocolate, and water. Trace minerals include:
- Iron – Iron is found in the molecule of red blood cells responsible for carrying oxygen in the body. Iron also balances metabolism and can be found in red meat, fish, poultry, seafood, egg yolks, dried fruit, dark leafy greens and fortified cereals.
- Selenium – Is a strong antioxidant that helps the body fight off bad bacteria. It is found in foods such as meat, seafood, and grain.
- Copper – Is needed for iron metabolism. Copper can be found in legumes, nuts, whole grains, organ meat and water.
- Zinc – Is an important mineral needed for making protein, heals wounds, boosts fetal development, produces sperm, and boosts immunity. Can be found in foods such as meats, poultry, leavened whole grains, and vegetables.
- Chromium – Is linked with insulin and helps regulate blood sugar levels. It can be found in liver, brewer’s yeast, whole grains, nuts, and cheese.
These are just some of the main minerals needed.
A word of caution, any excess in vitamins or minerals can also have detrimental effects on your body so you should do your research and talk to a doctor before deciding to take any supplements. Always be honest about your problems when talking to your doctor. That way you can ensure that you get the recommendation which is best suited for you.
Vitamin and mineral supplements should never replace an actual food diet. The people who most need a vitamin supplement are those
who are pregnant or breastfeeding, have a drug or alcohol problem, and the elderly. Remember, vitamins are not to be taken without the advice of a doctor or dietician as they are compounds that are consumed by the body in small amounts for numerous metabolic processes.
Chapter Summary
When your mind is stressed due to overthinking everything, your health may greatly suffer. As a result of this, you may feel tired more often, have a hard time sleeping, develop extreme symptoms of anxiety and suffer from some sort of mood disorder. People low in what they need, have low levels of serotonin chemicals and endorphin hormones that keep them from being motivated to do anything. So, when your
mind is stressed, your body is bound to be stressed. In this chapter you learned:
- How physical activity helps you manage stress.
- How physical exercise can get you to develop endorphin which is needed to feel good.
- How exercise actually increases your overall health.
- How a healthy diet can leave you feeling better and more motivated.
- What a healthy diet consists of.
- The importance of vitamins and minerals, and what they are.
In the next chapter, you will learn how to develop a minimalist lifestyle to decrease your stress. Oftentimes our surroundings have our brains on overload and cause us to overthink. When your house is happy, you may find that so is your mind.
