Stress is a main factor contributing to ill health, and Dr. Rangan Chatterjee believes that it’s the number-one cause of the illnesses he treats.

In today's episode of ZOE Science & Nutrition, Rangan sheds light on the causes of stress, ranging from sleep deprivation and overwhelming workloads to a lack of quality time with others.

You’ll learn how “microdoses” of stress can reach a tipping point, why recognizing these doses is key, and which powerful strategies can help you cope.

Are you ready to transform your relationship to stress?

Dr. Rangan Chatterjee is regarded as one of the most influential medical doctors in the U.K. He wants to change how medicine is practiced for years to come, and his mission is to help 100 million people around the globe live better lives. He’s a professor of health communication and education at the University of Chester, and he hosts one of the most listened-to health podcasts in the U.K. and Europe — Feel Better, Live More has had over 200 million listens to date and is listened to and watched by over 8 million people every month.  

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Timecodes:

00:00 Introduction

01:24   Quickfire Questions

04:24   What is stress?

08:00 Our bodies respond to physical and emotional stress in a similar way

10:48 How much stress is bad for us?

16:17 How do micro stress doses affect us?

20:08 Modern life stress is different!

23:16 Stress is the number 1 cause of disease today

29:37 Do women and men perceive stress in the same way?

30:54 Breathing techniques for stress reduction

36:28 Movement and exercise for stress reduction

41:32   How to make new behaviors into habits

43:37   The impact of human touch

49:04   The power of journaling

52:54 Summary

Mentioned in today’s episode: 

The impact of daily gentle touch stimulation on maternal-infant physiological and behavioral regulation and resilience from Infant Mental Health Journal 

Fogg Behavior Model from behaviourmodel.org

The Stress Solution and Feel Better in 5 by Dr. Rangan Chatterjee

Episode transcripts are available here.

Is there a nutrition topic you’d like us to explore? Email us at podcast@joinzoe.com, and we’ll do our best to cover it.