Sometimes, it feels like life consists of telling yourself, “I just have to make it through this week,” over and over and over again—every week, for infinity.
Work, the news, family troubles, having to wait an entire month to watch the second half of an eight-episode season, and/or a myriad of other things contribute to the stress that makes this mantra seem necessary.
Ofc, not all stress is bad. In small doses, stress can be beneficial. But when stress becomes persistent and chronic, it becomes damaging to our health and does some pretty weird things to our brain.
Below, learn about two surprising ways stress impacts your brain, plus tips for protecting your brain from its damaging effects.
1. Stress can add a calorie tax.
Stress can lead to overeating, but that’s not what we’re talking about here. One study found that if you experience recent stress before eating, your body actually metabolizes the food differently and adds 104 calories to your meal … without you actually consuming more calories. Stress: the gift that keeps on giving!
2. Stress can change the structure of your brain, but not always in a bad way.
Remember that good stress we talked about earlier? That kind of acute stress can actually make your brain more resilient.
Toxic stress, on the other hand, can cause your brain to shrink in two crucial areas: the hippocampus, which is involved with memory, emotions, and learning, and the medial prefrontal cortex, which handles decision-making. This can lead to difficulty making decisions, regulating emotions, and learning.
This harmful stress also “trains” the primitive parts of the brain that focus on survival to become stronger, while areas used in higher-order activities become weaker.
Here are some ways to protect your brain from stress:
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