Stress and Blood Health

As our lives become increasingly hectic, stress has become a common companion for many of us. While we often recognize the mental toll stress takes, we may overlook its significant impact on our physical health—particularly our blood health. The American Psychological Association reports that 73% of adults experience psychological symptoms caused by stress, with a significant number also reporting physical symptoms [1]. Understanding how stress affects our blood can help us take proactive steps to protect this vital aspect of our health.

What is Blood Health?

Blood health refers to the ability of your blood to perform its vital functions efficiently. Healthy blood is essential for our overall wellbeing, serving as the body's primary transportation and defense system. When we talk about blood health, we're referring to how well your blood can perform four critical functions:

• Transporting oxygen and nutrients throughout the body
• Regulating body temperature
• Fighting infections and disease
• Forming blood clots to prevent excessive bleeding

Each of these functions can be significantly impacted by stress, especially when it becomes chronic.

How Stress Affects Blood's Oxygen and Nutrient Transport

Under normal conditions, blood efficiently carries oxygen from the lungs to the other tissues and nutrients from the digestive system to cells throughout the body. However, when one is stressed, this process becomes compromised.

Stress triggers the release of hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, which can lead to faster, shallower breathing. While you might think this would increase oxygen intake, it actually makes breathing less efficient. Additionally, these hormones cause blood to be redirected away from your digestive system toward your muscles and brain—preparing you for "fight or flight." This redistribution can impair nutrient absorption in your gut.

The stress hormone cortisol can further disrupt digestive processes by reducing the production of digestive enzymes and decreasing gut motility [3]. This makes it harder for the body to extract nutrients from food. Over time, chronic stress may lead to nutrient deficiencies despite a seemingly healthy diet.

Stress and Body Temperature Regulation

Your blood plays a crucial role in maintaining your body's temperature within a narrow, healthy range. It accomplishes this by expanding or constricting blood vessels near the skin surface to release or conserve heat.

When you experience stress, your body's "fight or flight" response causes blood vessels near your skin to constrict, reducing heat loss and potentially leading to a slight elevation in core body temperature—sometimes called "stress-induced hyperthermia" [6]. Stress hormones also increase your metabolic rate, generating more internal heat.

While short-term stress might cause only a temporary increase in body temperature, chronic stress can lead to more sustained changes. These temperature fluctuations, though usually mild, can contribute to feelings of discomfort and may impact other bodily functions that depend on optimal temperature regulation.

How Stress Compromises Immune Function

One of the most important roles of blood is to carry immune cells throughout your body to fight infections. Stress can significantly undermine this vital function.

When stressed, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis releases cortisol [4]. While short-term stress can temporarily enhance the immune response as part of the body's protective mechanism, chronic stress leads to prolonged cortisol elevation, which suppresses immune cell function and makes you more susceptible to infections and illnesses.

Stress affects the movement, maturation, and function of your immune cells, including white blood cells, making them less effective at fighting pathogens [4]. This can manifest as:

• Increased susceptibility to common colds and other infections
• Slower wound healing
• Flare-ups of chronic conditions
• Difficulty recovering from illness

The connection between stress and immunity is so strong that researchers can often predict who will get sick after exposure to a virus based on their stress levels.

Stress and Blood Clotting

Blood clotting is a vital protective mechanism that prevents excessive bleeding when blood vessels are damaged. However, stress can disrupt the delicate balance of this process.

Stress triggers the release of hormones that increase blood viscosity (thickness), platelet aggregation (stickiness), and the production of clotting factors, making your blood more prone to form clots even when there's no injury [5]. This is primarily due to the "fight-or-flight" response, where your body prepares for potential injury by increasing its clotting ability.

Chronic stress can further exacerbate this effect, leading to a higher risk of dangerous blood clots due to:

• Hormonal changes that directly influence the clotting process
• Increased blood viscosity
• Enhanced platelet activation and aggregation
• Potential blood vessel damage from inflammation
• Unhealthy coping behaviors like smoking or poor diet

This stress-induced hypercoagulability (increased clotting tendency) can potentially increase the risk of serious conditions like deep vein thrombosis or even stroke in some cases.

Managing Stress for Better Blood Health

The good news is that managing stress can help protect and improve your blood health. Here are some effective strategies:

• Regular physical activity: Exercise helps reduce stress hormones and improves blood circulation.
• Mindfulness and meditation: These practices can lower cortisol levels and reduce inflammation.
• Deep breathing exercises: Slow, deep breathing can activate the parasympathetic nervous system, counteracting the stress response.
• Adequate sleep: Quality sleep is essential for immune function and stress hormone regulation.
• Balanced nutrition: Focus on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins to support blood health.
• Hydration: Proper fluid intake helps maintain blood volume and viscosity.
• Social connection: Spending time with supportive friends and family can buffer against stress effects.

Monitoring Your Blood Health with Ruby

The Ruby app provides a convenient way to monitor important aspects of your blood health from home. Using patented fingernail selfie technology, Ruby can estimate your Iron and Circulation Scores, which are important indicators of blood health that stress can affect. The app also allows you to track factors that might be contributing to or affected by stress, such as mood, supplement intake, and menstrual cycles.

Managing stress isn't just good for your mental health—it's also essential for maintaining healthy blood and overall physical health.

References

[1] American Psychological Association. (2022). Stress in America survey.
[2] Mayo Clinic. (2024). Stress and high blood pressure: What's the connection?
[3] Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. (2023). The Nutrition Source: Stress and Health.
[4] National Institutes of Health. (2023). How stress affects the immune system.
[5] Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis. (2022). Psychological stress and blood coagulation: A review.
[6] Journal of Psychophysiology. (2022). Stress-induced hyperthermia in humans.