STRESS FACTOR: ENVIRONMENT
IT’S TRUE THAT “WE ARE WHAT WE EAT.” BUT WE ALSO ARE WHERE WE LIVE, and our environment provides a constant stream of inputs to our body. When these inputs are unhealthy, it adds stress, sending our body’s natural defenses into battle. This stress can trigger inflammation, and if the situation isn’t corrected in short order – if you keep living in the moldy house – chronic inflammation can start you down the long road to failing health.
Take air pollution, for example. Damage to the airways and lungs from particulates in polluted air can cause an inflammatory response in the body that can be harmful over a long period of time. In fact, according to one study, inhaled stressors can be even more detrimental than other types of environmental issues, because “they amplify the inflammatory response by inducing inflammation in the lungs and other organs,” leading to a chain reaction of metabolic stressors that can bring on or worsen chronic inflammation.
We can’t control the air quality in our cities, but we can minimize exposure, for example with whole-house air filters and by limiting outside time on days where air quality is known to be bad. Your house’s tap water is another potential source of environmental stress. If you’re on city water, it may have high levels of chlorine: great for keeping municipal water systems free of bacteria, but not so great for human consumption. Local water quality can often be reviewed on line, or you can easily test your taps with home kits available at your hardware store, which will also offer a variety of water filtering options.
Other environmental stressors include exposure to hazardous chemicals and pesticides, a particular challenge for people who live in agricultural regions or near industrial activity. According to Scientific American, some researchers believe that minuscule metal particles in the air – nickel, vanadium, and elemental carbon in particular – can trigger an inflammatory response from the immune system when they settle in the lungs. These atomized metals can derive from industrial activity or even from local traffic, thanks to factors like tailpipe emissions and road debris. Household cleaning and lawn care products are another common source of hazardous products – always read and follow the instructions on the labels, and minimize your exposure when possible, for example by using organic alternatives or by wearing gloves.
There’s a lot you can’t control, and that’s why it’s imperative to control whatever you can. Alka Gupta, MD, clinical assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, told Everyday Health: “When we teach people how to reduce stress in whatever form – stress management tips, classes, individual advice, yoga, deep breathing – we see decreases in some of these inflammatory side effects.”
Your continued good health may depend on it. Our changing climate likely means the onset of a slew of new environmental stressors like extreme heat, weather disasters, variable rainfall and the rise of resurgence of diseases and parasites. In a million invisible ways, the environment we live in can create mental, physical, and emotional stress on the human body, and we know that chronic stress leads to chronic inflammation. Anything you can do to relieve your body’s toxic load will help you maintain a strong immune system and good health for a long time.