Take exercise
Effect: 33 percent feel less stressed.
Why?
Exercise is good for you in many ways, and studies show that it also lowers your body’s stress levels. Exercise – such as running, a game of tennis or a dip in the pool – causes your brain to release endorphins: a neurotransmitter that has morphine-like effects. This binds to receptors in the brain, reducing pain and evoking euphoria, which dampens the body’s stress level.
How?
Do moderate exercise such as walking, running, or exercising several times a week. It can improve your mood and your sleep, all in one investigation from 2013, 33 percent of highly stressed people said they felt less stressed after exercising. Another study found that just half an hour of exercise three times a week helped memorywhich is often negatively affected under chronic stress, improved 53.7 percent.
Use a meditation app
Effect: Lowers stress levels by 14 percent.
Why?
Meditation has long been known as an effective remedy for stress. And several studies have shed light on how it works. For example, the studies show that meditation changes the endocrine system of your brain, so that your blood pressure drops and your body is better able to deal with its stress response. MRI-scans show that meditation affects the amygdala in the brain, which determines whether or not you experience situations as stressful.
How?
Meditation comes in many forms. You can download apps to reduce stress – and the effects of some of these apps have even been scientifically proven. The most common meditation techniques are breathing exercises, mindfulness, yoga, tai chi and mantra meditation. Research shows, for example, that just ten days of using the meditation app Headspace has positive effects on the anatomy of the brain and reduces stress by 14 percent.
Take a walk in the woods
Effect: Increases well-being by more than 80 percent.
Why?
A walk in nature lowers stress levels. Research shows that people felt much less stressed and depressed when they went for a walk in the woods than when they took a similar walk on a busy pedestrian street. The reason for the positive effect is not entirely clear, but people who spend time in nature have lower blood pressure and fewer stress hormones and are more often in a good mood.
How?
Take a walk in the woods, on the beach or along a field – but don’t seek out danger, such as balancing on the edge of a high cliff. As long as you feel safe, the walk will have a positive effect. So turns out that at least 120 minutes a week in nature increases your sense of well-being by more than 80 percent, whether you spend those 120 minutes all at once or spread over several times.
Eat foods with fiber
Effect: Stimulates the reward system of the brain.
Why?
Various studies indicate that your diet influences your mood through your intestinal cells and bacteria. The intestinal bacteria break down nutrients that you cannot break down yourself and then release waste products that affect the body’s own cells – including the nerve cells that connect the intestines and brain. For example, the bacteria can increase the levels of dopamine and serotonin, reward substances in the brain.
How?
Most studies show that beneficial gut bacteria thrive best on complex dietary fibers that you cannot digest yourself. Therefore, eat foods rich in these fibers, such as fruits and vegetables, especially kale and carrots, and grain products containing barley, wheat, rye or oats. This type of diet has an important effect on the brain, because 90 percent of the reward chemical serotonin is produced in interaction with gut bacteria.
Get a furry friend
Effect: lowers the level of stress hormones.
Why?
Scientists have only in recent decades seriously investigated how a bond with animals affects your health. But already several studies indicate that pets have many beneficial effects. As evidenced by some studies that spending time with pets can lower blood pressure and levels of cortisol – a hormone that contributes to chronic stress. In addition, a pet or service dog can alleviate loneliness and improve your mood.
How?
Pets can combat stress in several ways. If you have a dog, being together can be therapeutic, but walking your dog is also good for your exercise and your contact with nature – two activities that also combat stress. Moreover, it turns out American numbers that owners over 65 go to the doctor to 30 percent less than people in the same age group without a pet.
