When we feel stress, the body responds as though we are being chased by a lion. It jumps into a ‘fight-or-flight’ state and releases a cocktail of hormones from the adrenal glands, including cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones redirect blood flow to large muscle groups, increase our breathing and heart rate, and give us a boost of energy. This response is meant to help us survive when we’re threatened, and it would be very helpful if we were actually face-to-face with a lion.

The problem is that the body can’t tell the difference between being chased by a lion and being stuck in traffic or facing a tight deadline, so it responds in the same way. When we’re faced with stressful situations day in and day out, the body thinks we’re being chased by a lion all the time.

The opposite of being in fight-or-flight (sympathetic nervous system state) is called ‘rest-and-digest’ (parasympathetic nervous system state). The body cannot exist in both states at the same time, and it should only enter fight-or-flight on rare occasions. However, most of us face a multitude of stressors each day, and burning the candle at both ends takes a toll on our mental and physical health.

During the fight-or-flight response, the body takes the following actions:

• Sends extra blood flow toward large muscles and the heart, to help us run or fight the lion. This increases our risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke¹.
• Takes blood flow away from digestion and detoxification organs. This causes indigestion, heart burn, bloating, and can trigger flare-ups of digestive conditions like IBD and IBS¹.
• Suppresses the immune system, because dealing with a lion is more pressing than fighting an infection¹.
• Breaks down muscle and increases fat storage to stockpile energy for future lion encounters. This causes us to gain weight, especially around the abdomen¹.
• Reroutes blood flow in the brain away from areas responsible for learning and long-term memory, because there’s no critical thinking needed when the only thought is, “run!”. This causes us to experience brain fog, poor memory and difficulty concentrating¹.
• Suppresses sleep because melatonin, our sleep hormone, is inhibited by cortisol. This results in fatigue, anxiety, depression, and difficulty coping with stress¹.

The most important way to reduce cortisol and minimize these fight-or-flight reactions is to reduce stress. Unfortunately, that is not always possible, so supplementation can help your body cope with stress more effectively. STRESS-FX is formulated to help us maintain our healthy rest-and-digest state. It helps us alleviate stress by lowering cortisol levels, and it promotes relaxation through boosting our calming hormone, GABA (Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid). STRESS-FX improves mental clarity, anxiety, and memory, while helping us to recover more quickly from the physical and mental stressors of daily life.