How Stress Impacts Your Whole Body (And Why It’s More Than Just Mental)

When I ask clients if they’re stressed, the answer is almost always the same: “Not really.”

They pause, think for a second, and usually add something like, “Work’s been fine,” or “Life’s busy, but normal.”

Here’s the truth: most people only consider mental or emotional stress when asked that question. But there’s a whole world of hidden stressors that go unnoticed—and they’re often the reason someone feels so unwell.

Fatigue, brain fog, poor sleep, skin flares, hormonal issues, bloating, weight gain, headaches, and low mood… These are all signs I see every week in clients who swear they aren’t stressed.

But when we dig deeper, it becomes clear—stress is at the core of many of these symptoms. And not just the kind we can see or feel immediately.

Understanding the Four Pillars of Stress

Let’s break down the broader picture of stress and how stress impacts your whole body.

1. Psychological Stress – Life Events & Emotional Load

This is the kind of stress we usually think about first—things like:

• Financial strain

• Relationship conflict

• Work pressure or burnout

• Grief, trauma, or major life changes

  
  

These experiences activate your HPA axis (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis)—your body’s stress response system. When this system is constantly activated, it throws everything else off.

But here’s where it gets interesting. Even when someone says “I’m not that stressed”, their body might still be in a heightened stress state because of the other three pillars below.

2. Circadian Disruption – When Your Body Clock is Out of Sync

This pillar is one most people don’t associate with stress—but it has a huge impact.

Disruption to your circadian rhythm (your internal body clock) activates the stress response and makes it hard for your body to recover. Examples include:

• Sleep disturbances or insomnia

• Sleep apnea or broken sleep

• Excessive caffeine or alcohol

• Shift work or jet lag

• Exposure to screens late at night

• Daylight savings time changes

  
  

When your body doesn’t get enough restorative sleep, or your light/dark cycles are off, your cortisol levels become dysregulated. That affects everything from your energy to your mood, immunity, and hormone balance.

3. Inflammatory Stress – From Illness to Immune Dysregulation

Chronic inflammation is a major stressor on the body—even if you’re not emotionally stressed. Inflammatory signals trigger the HPA axis, keeping your body in a low-grade stress response all the time.

Some common sources of inflammatory stress:

• Chronic pain or injuries

• Autoimmune conditions like arthritis or thyroid disease

• Allergies, asthma, eczema or other atopic conditions

• Infections or post-viral fatigue

• Gastrointestinal inflammation (bloating, IBS, IBD)

  
  

Your body treats inflammation as a danger signal, which means your stress response stays switched on—even if you feel calm.

4. Glycaemic & Metabolic Stress – The Blood Sugar Rollercoaster

This pillar often gets overlooked. Unstable blood sugar levels and poor metabolic health create constant internal stress.

Contributors include:

• Low-fibre, highly processed diets

• Skipping meals or irregular eating patterns

• High glycaemic index meals (refined carbs, sugar)

• Emotional or stress eating

• Insulin resistance, PCOS, or obesity

• Low physical activity

When your blood sugar spikes and crashes throughout the day, your body releases cortisol to keep things stable. Over time, this contributes to fatigue, weight gain, hormonal issues, and inflammation.

What Happens When We Don’t Manage the Impacts of Stress on Your Whole Body?

If we continue living in a chronic stress state—even if we’re unaware of it—our body eventually starts to show signs of imbalance.

This might look like:

• Difficulty falling or staying asleep

• Unexplained fatigue

• Skin flares or breakouts

• Bloating and digestive discomfort

• Mood swings or anxiety

• Irregular periods or worsening PMS

• Difficulty losing weight

• Increased sensitivity to foods, smells, or sounds

Stress doesn’t always feel like anxiety. Sometimes it feels like burnout, brain fog, or a body that just won’t cooperate anymore.

5 Practical Ways to Start Managing Stress Today

You don’t need to overhaul your entire life to reduce stress—you just need to start small and stay consistent. Here are five strategies I often recommend to my clients:

1. Anchor Your Mornings

Support your circadian rhythm with a consistent wake time, natural morning light exposure, and a nourishing breakfast. Avoid checking your phone first thing.

2. Prioritise Blood Sugar Balance

Eat regular meals that contain protein, healthy fats, and fibre. Ditch the sugar crashes and start fuelling your body properly.

3. Schedule in Rest (Not Just Sleep)

Take intentional breaks during the day—5 minutes of slow breathing, stepping outside, or stretching can do wonders for your nervous system.

4. Get Moving, Gently

Exercise doesn’t have to be intense to be effective. A short walk, yoga, or mobility work can help your body process stress hormones and reduce inflammation.

5. Focus on Nourishing Over Numbing

Stress eating, binge-watching, endless scrolling—these are common responses to stress, but they don’t help us long-term. Find tools that regulate, not numb—like journaling, ERT, or warm baths.

You Can’t Eliminate Stress, But You Can Build Resilience

Stress is part of life. But when we understand how stress impacts your whole body, we can begin to work with it instead of feeling defeated by it.

Your symptoms aren’t random. If you’re feeling bloated, fatigued, anxious, or stuck in your health, there’s likely an underlying stress pattern at play.

Ready to Get to the Root Cause?

At GV Wellness Collective, I take a holistic, personalised approach to health. Together, we’ll look at all four pillars of stress and create a plan to support your body with:

• Personalised nutrition

• Lifestyle and sleep strategies

• Herbal or nutritional support

• Emotional stress management (including ERT sessions)

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You don’t have to keep guessing or pushing through.

Book your initial consultation at gvwellnesscollective.com and let’s work together to get your health back on track—naturally.