These days no one's life is stress-free. Everyone is dealing with different kinds of stress - be it from work, family, relationships, society - there are countless reasons. It is imperative to calm down and ease the tension in order to prevent adverse health effects. Not all of us realise that stress is the root cause of various health problems like stroke and cardiovascular disease. According to a study, published in the Journal The BMJ, stress-related disorders are associated with a high risk of cardiovascular disease.
Heart-related problems like heart attack or cardiac arrest were high in the first six months after disorders related to stress. For the study, researchers analysed Swedish population and health registers to find out the role of clinically diagnosed PTSD, acute stress reaction, adjustment disorder, and other stress reactions in the development of CVD.
The researchers matched 136,637 people from an "exposed cohort" who were diagnosed with a stress-related disorder between January 1987 and December 2013 with 171,314 full siblings who were free of stress-related disorders and CVD.
It was found that the excess risk during the first year was the highest for cardiovascular disease and for severe blood clots. "These findings call for enhanced clinical awareness and, if verified, monitoring or early intervention among patients with recently diagnosed stress-related disorders," authors concluded.
Try These Foods To Combat Stress:
1. Pear
Pear is brimming with essential vitamins and minerals. The high antioxidant content in pears may help relax your nerves - which helps keep stress or stress-related disorders at bay.
2. Berries
Berries are sleep-inducing fruits. The presence of melatonin in cherries calms your nerves and promotes sleep. Including cherries, especially goji berries, in your everyday diet may help you manage your sleep cycle.
3. Milk
According to Consultant Nutritionist, Dr. Rupali Datta, drinking milk every day is one of the best ways to keep stress at bay. Milk is an excellent source of vitamin B12, which is said to be healthy for our brain functioning. Moreover, tryptophan in milk is known to regulate our sleep cycle.