Liquid Stress Coping

How we eat and nourish ourselves has a marked effect on how we react to the world around us. When we are at the whim of blood sugar highs and lows, we can tend to lurch towards fear-based stress responses more quickly. 

What we drink also has a profound effect on our nervous system and reactions. Our most important drink is water and dehydration can trigger anxiety.  This happens as hormones are unable to reach their destined locations because of poor blood flow. Water loss can cause muscles may tense up and our brains may experience weakness or changes as a result of water loss. Panic attacks can become more likely as dehydration is linked to some of the triggers; light-headedness, muscle fatigue and weakness, headaches, feeling faint and increased heart rate.  

In this blog we explore how best to hydrate and ways that can also provide extra help for soothing and calming the nervous system to quieten tendencies for overwhelm, fear, worry, anxiety and the accompanying health issues.  

Hydration 

Like snacks, drinks have become a massive industry and yet it is easy to be dehydrated if we take in too little water through the most natural route: whole vegetables and fruits. Insufficient hydration impacts all aspects of health, but felt most obviously as fatigue (where we may turn to caffeine to keep going) and a lessened ability to cope with stress. Dehydration triggers histamine production and inflammation which are part of the stress response and as histamine is also an excitory neurotransmitter (brain chemical) it can promote the racing mind states that come with fear, worry and assuming the worst or negativity bias. 

However, the ‘2 litres a day’ message is now being refuted in many scientific corners, with a preference for drinking when thirsty and hydrating from fluid and mineral-rich vegetables and fruits. This helps avoid the mineral loss and strain on our kidneys that too much water alone can bring. Too high a water intake can produce hyponatremia or low sodium levels in the blood with symptoms of confusion, fatigue, irritability and muscle cramps.  

When you are generally hydrated with good mineral balances, it is easier to connect to your natural thirst mechanism. This kicks in when we lose about 1–2 per cent of our body’s water (mild dehydration) and will vary according to how much exercise you are doing and how hot and/or dry your environment is; air-conditioning and air travel definitely qualify as dehydrating. Stress and disordered breathing patterns can also cause more moisture loss and if over 2 per cent of normal water volume is lost, true dehydration with possible dry skin and loss of appetite occurs. Timing is crucial: many people drink too little water between meals, providing little liquid with which to produce digestive juices and keep the bowel hydrated. Not chewing enough prompts drinking with meals to lubricate food for swallowing, but this can dilute stomach acid, reducing digestive efficacy further. Drink water between meals and sip only a little with food. 

Simply increasing the amount of water in a dehydrated body can be like watering a dry pot-plant: you see the water go straight through without being absorbed. Try these methods to help hydrate effectively:  

• Increase vegetable and fruit intake, as they contain potassium and sugars that help the water they contain enter cells more easily than water alone, while soluble fibre hydrates the bowel. Stews with plenty of veg are particularly effective. 

• If your diet has been low in fruit and veg, high in caffeine and added stress, dehydration-related symptoms such as constipation, headaches and dry skin may have been the result. Increase your liquid intake slowly, substituting sugary snacks for 2 glasses of half-apple juice (freshly squeezed ‘cloudy’ version), half-water for the first few weeks of the plan, then tapering off to replace with water and the recommended fluids. 

• Avoid drinks with hidden sugars – many touted as ‘healthy’ actually have sugar, syrup or highly sweet grape juice and these quickly add up to body damage, as well as increasing our drives for more sugar. 

• Avoid too many fresh juices – although these do have health benefits associated with the whole fruit or vegetables, the fibre is removed that slows down sugar release to the bloodstream. Choose smoothies with the whole fruit or veg included and you can add soaked golden linseed to slow down sugar release and provide gut healing for stress coping.   

What to drink apart from water or sugary drinks 

A hot cup of something is inherently soothing and we will explore how to have a thoroughly enjoyable cuppa without it adding to anxious states.   

Increasing soothing and hydrating herbs and spices in teas: 

Humans have been making hot drinks for thousands of years and throughout most cultures, the preparation, break from doing and coming together with a tea or coffee is an important part of the day. In many countries the preparation can be elaborate and ritualistic and mirror the bringing together of people for conversation. Warm mugs or bowls of liquid (soups too) have shown to have soothing qualities for the nervous system and tea itself (even caffeinated black tea) has shown to reduce stress levels and rumination or worry.  

In one piece of research, participants who were only given a glass of water after a stressful task had a 25 per cent increase in anxiety level after it finished. Those given a cup of tea after actually had a 4 per cent decrease in anxiety! The comments made in the focus group discussions "confirmed that the ritual of making and consuming tea does make an important contribution to the overall effect of mediating stress".  

Participants said they felt more relaxed when having tea and tended to explain this with a sense of "partition", where there is an "end" or a "break" from a preceding period of anxiety. One volunteer said that tea created a "chill-out moment", which helped them "draw a line under" their stressful experience. Others said they deliberately used tea to cope with stress, for instance when preparing for a job interview, or to relax after a stressful journey. Some members of the tea group said the act of having tea made for them (e.g. after the stress task) was linked with feelings of communality and solidarity; they felt "looked after", and "cared for".  

This highlights how we can cope with stress when there is a definitive end-point and a come-down. It also shows the power of tea-making as a ceremonial act and a bonding ritual. Anyone in the UK knows being offered a cup of tea is a well-instilled way of showing care and support for another in distress or crisis. In the study above, the researchers observed that "the tea appeared to catalyse conversation, and helped build rapport both between the participant and tea-maker (research assistant) and amongst the wider group." 

Lowering caffeine to bring down heightened stress responses: 

Anthropologists believe that we have been imbibing caffeine in low levels in green tea since the Stone Age. It is an extremely reliable drug, delivering a quick jolt to your central nervous system for the increased wakefulness, mental acuity, alertness and focus many of us love. But this is stealing a quick fix; it doesn’t remove the need for rest, just masks the sensations of tiredness. As a stimulant, caffeine stimulates the brain and adrenals to energise and raise blood sugar, mimicking the stress response and so provoking self-protective vigilance that includes looking out for possible danger. You can help lower this hypervigilance by stimulants such as caffeine, alcohol, sugar, screens and social media.  

How Much Caffeine Are You Getting? 

About 200–300mg daily caffeine is generally recommended as the safe upper limit to help prevent the related insomnia, anxiety, nausea and accelerated heart rate that comes with worry, fear and over-stimulation. When you also consider that a ‘grande’-sized coffee from a well-known coffee chain has as much as 350mg per cup, you can suddenly see why there are so many highly agitated folk about and this in itself can add to fear-based tendencies from the self-protective stress response. For some though, symptoms can be set off even by a weak cup of tea, so monitor your own reactions. 

300mg caffeine roughly equates to:  

• 4 average cups or 3 average sized mugs of instant coffee  

• 3 average cups of brewed coffee 

• 6 average cups of tea 

• 8 cans of regular cola drinks 

• 4 cans of ‘energy drinks’  

• 400 grams (8 standard 50-g bars) of plain chocolate  

Coffee – friend or foe?  

Coffee and tea can certainly give you a buzz but, like many addictive substances, the initial high is inevitably followed by a low – in effect, a withdrawal symptom. Coffee drinkers often sleep less soundly than non-coffee drinkers as stress hormones are kept up later in the day, when they need to come down to allow full quality of sleep via hormones such as melatonin.  

 You do not necessarily have to give up caffeine entirely – just cutting back can help your energy levels to recover and moderate drinkers have shown to have lowered risk of stroke, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.   

Caffeine’s stimulatory effects differ in individuals and we are shown to be pretty good at knowing where our own level of over-stimulation lies. For some people, this may mean cutting down from an agitating six daily coffees to an enjoyable one or two. For others, it means going from two cups of strong tea to none. If you find this hard, try not to have a coffee or tea before at least 11am, so that you are not relying on a stimulant to kick-start your day. If you do have one first thing, ensure it is after breakfast so that your blood sugar levels are already supported, and the stimulatory effect tempered. As you begin to reduce your intake, you may feel even more tired or headachey, this occurs because the receptors in our brains that pick up and use our energy ‘currency’ ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate) get accustomed to caffeine taking on that role. When it is removed, take a few days to resensitise back to utilising our own.   

Plan for this response and reduce on a Friday to give yourself a seriously laid-back weekend, where you can take to bed if you need. Bring down any sugar or sweeteners in tea or coffee gradually before, replacing with cinnamon if this suits you.  

Decaffeinated coffee can be a viable alternative to help wean off, as still contains stimulants such as theophylline and threobromine so keeps energy up. Choose water-filtered versions to avoid harsh chemicals used to remove caffeine. Black tea is also a good alternative as have a lot less caffeine and green tea has only very little, with other soothing properties such as L-theanine. Tea and coffee can be sprayed with huge amounts of chemicals, so choose organic (and Fair Trade!) whenever possible. 

Guide to calming herbal teas 

Lowering reliance on high caffeine (and sugary) drinks to hydrate, soothe and create punctuation throughout your day, can not only help to soothe tendencies to worry, fear and hypervigilance, but also provide other health benefits along the way. 

Use fresh or dried leaves rather than tea bags, which can contain filers and broken leaves without all the healthy compounds. Tea bags also filter out many of the active, beneficial ingredients which stuck in the fibres. Drink before bed to help unwind and quiet a racing mind or sip throughout the day to lower stress levels; the following are particularly helpful: 

• Camomile tea calms and soothes the central nervous system and sends calming signals to the whole body via the gut, providing its long historical use as an anti-anxiety and sleep-supporting herb. Drinking camomile tea or sleep teas including this herb, help to keep us asleep by raising levels of the neurotransmitter glycine. This is effective not just before bed, but has an accumulative effect when camomile is regularly ingested, reducing anxiety and helping us stay asleep through the night. Studies show that chamomile tea can bind to GABA receptors in the brain, helping to induce relaxation; just as medications such as Xanax do. GABA is a soothing neurotransmitter known to switch off ‘mind chatter’ and also produced during meditation and mindful body practices such as yoga, t’ai chi and qi gong. Camomile also acts as an anti-inflammatory on the gut wall, showing to reduce conditions such as IBS and diarrhoea, often triggered by fear, stress and anxiety. Use a teaspoon of dried chamomile flowers or two tablespoons of fresh flowers. Add the flowers to boiling water and steep for 5 to 10 minutes.  

• Lemon balm tea has shown to significantly decrease anxiety up to three hours after consumption, lessening feelings of fatigue, without compromising mental faculties or decreasing cognition. It is a good daytime tea since it promotes the relaxation response without causing drowsiness or decreasing memory recall. It can be drunk throughout the day as needed to calm jittery nerves and soothe symptoms that lead to panic attacks. Use one tablespoon of dried leaves or two tablespoons of fresh leaves for every cup of boiling water. Steep for 5 to 10 minutes.  

• Passionflower tea has long been used in Europe as a natural remedy for anxiety and research backs up that its antioxidant bioflavonoids have modulating effects on GABA receptors. It also contains the flavone chrysin, shown to be as effective at reducing anxiety as midazolam—a commonly prescribed anxiety medication. Use one teaspoon of dried passionflower petals for every eight ounces of water and steep in boiling water for 5 to 10 minutes.   

• For ease, you can also buy ‘sleep tea’ blends in tea bags or loose leaves in combinations such as chamomile, valerian, hops, lemon balm, passion flower, lavender and rose. These do not need to be saved for bedtime, they can be drunk during the day to lower a nervous system on high alert. Experiment with blends to see which soothe you without interfering with your abilities to function.   

• Mint tea - peppermint has relaxant and antispasmodic properties and can help relieve cramps and spasms in the gastrointestinal tract, bile duct and gallbladder as well as problems like bloating, stomach gas and flatulence. This is extremely helpful for those for whom anxiety, fear or agitation creates digestive upset and symptoms. It has shown to help modulate activities in the central and peripheral nervous system. The uplifting effects of this tea have been attributed to phenolic constituents including rosmarinic acid as well as menthol. Use 1 teaspoon of dried peppermint leaves or 2 teaspoons of fresh leaves for every cup of water.    

• Licorice tea is a great alternative to coffee or caffeinated black tea as it uplifts energy, but also supports the adrenal glands as an adaptogenic herb; regulating stress hormones to respond appropriately to the stimulus, so motivated when necessary, but not overreactive when there is no true real danger present in that moment. It can keep the stress hormone cortisol circulating though, so best avoided after 4pm if you have very sensitive sleep and avoid completely if you have high blood pressure. Buy in teabags or loose tea (same amounts in tea as peppermint above) – often sold in combination with peppermint.   

• Nettle tea is also often commonly combined with peppermint and although not always offered as a specific calming tea, it has a long use and well-researched abilities to reduce the negative effects of stress and fear-based reactions; often referred to as oxidative stress, where running the body in a continually excitatory state wears down tissues, stops healing mechanisms and creates inflammation. One of its actions is to lowers histamine, which sets off inflammatory responses and as an anti-histamine, nettle tea has shown to soothe allergies, hay fever and hives. It has also shown to relieve pain, lower high blood pressure, regulate disordered blood sugar and cholesterol levels – all part of stress responses. It also gives relief from urinary problems and improves digestive, skin, hair and bone health. Buy in teabags or loose tea (same amounts in tea as peppermint above) – often sold in combination with peppermint.  

• Spice-based teas - these are often cinnamon-based as the spice has been shown to lower temperatures in the stomach and aid digestive upset. Alongside ginger, which is anti-gas and nausea, it also regulates immune responses and blood sugar levels, all help to keep the gut environment healthy and lower your sugar intake, to also help gut health. These are common in middle Eastern and Indian teas where other digestive aids such as fennel, licorice, mint and cumin may also be included.   

• Green tea is the young tea leaves (black tea is fermented green tea leaves) that are rich in polyphenols that have effects like reducing inflammation and cancer risk. It is also a great alternative to loading up on caffeine in coffee and black tea that may irritate the nervous system and gut wall. Green tea does contain some caffeine so has an energising effect, but also the amino acid L-theanine that increases levels of the soothing neurotransmitter GABA. Try different brands and varieties, only brew for 30 seconds to avoid a bitter taste and try chai and other flavoured versions if you are not keen at first. The Japanese Genmaicha and Sencha varieties are delicious.  

• Matcha is concentrated green tea powder, so has very high antioxidant levels. The powder can be added to water or any type of milk and whisked in for a lovely tea or a coffee alternative. Bring a cup or small bowlful of water or milk to just under the boil. Sift 1-2 tsp matcha on top using a small sifter; whisk vigorously in a zig zag motion until the drink is frothy.   

Here is a simple recipe for a low-sugar, non-caffeinated hot beverage that soothes and uplifts without draining energy and resources.    

Masala Chai Tea  

There are many blends of masala chai tea, but the basic ingredients for each include black tea, milk, sugar, cardamom and ginger. Assam tea is often used as its strong flavour complements the spices. For a quicker version than mixing your own blend below, you can use an allspice mix and cinnamon and clove to taste. You can use decaffeinated black tea or rooibusch as a less stimulating alternative. 

INGREDIENTS:  

• 10 green cardamom pods, cracked, seeds removed, and pods discarded, or 1/2 teaspoon cardamom seeds or ground cardamom 
• 1 (1 1/2-inch) piece cinnamon stick 
• 4 peppercorns (preferably white) 
• 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds 
• 2 cups coconut or almond milk 
• 1 tablespoon coconut sugar 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 
• 2 cups water 
• 5 teaspoons loose black tea or other 

PREPARATION:  

1. Grind together cardamom, cinnamon stick, peppercorns, and fennel seeds with mortar and pestle or coffee/spice grinder.  
2. Bring milk just to a simmer in a 2-quart heavy saucepan. Stir or whisk in coconut sugar, ground spice mixture, ginger and clove.  
3. Reduce heat to low and simmer gently for three minutes, stirring occasionally.  
4. Meanwhile, bring water to a boil in a 1-quart saucepan, add tea, and boil 1 minute. 
5. Pour tea through a fine-mesh sieve into hot milk mixture (discard tea leaves) and cook over low heat 1 minute. Stir before serving.  

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