When we think of stress, we often associate it with emotional strain — anxiety from work, family obligations, or a busy lifestyle. But stress on the body goes far beyond just how we feel emotionally. In fact, many stressors are silent and internal, showing up in ways we don’t immediately recognize. The food we eat, the products we use, and even the environment we live in can all contribute to the body’s stress load. These are often hidden causes of internal stress and inflammation that can silently affect your health over time.
Here are 5 things that may be causing your body stress internally — and provoking inflammation without you even realizing it.
1. Gut Problems
One of the most common hidden causes of internal stress and inflammation is poor gut health. The food we consume directly affects our digestive system, and when the gut is compromised, it can trigger widespread inflammation. Issues like SIBO, candida overgrowth, parasites, or dysbiosis can stress the body from the inside out.
By improving your diet and addressing underlying infections or imbalances, you reduce the burden on your gut and lower the body’s overall stress response.
2. Blood Sugar Issues
Having blood sugar dysregulation makes the body work harder to maintain a proper balance. When we are constantly causing our blood sugar to spike and drop, we are putting more stress on our adrenal glands, which in turn releases more cortisol in the body. The more cortisol we release, the more stressed our body can be. This constant rollercoaster is one of the hidden causes of internal stress and inflammation that often goes unnoticed until symptoms become more serious.
3. Toxin Exposure
Every day we are exposed to chemicals, pesticides, heavy metals, fragrances, and more. These things are found in our soil, the foods we eat, the products we use on our body, bottles we drink out of, materials used in our car/house/clothing, and even the water we drink. Reducing our toxin exposure can help improve our hormones, reduce the load on our adrenal glands, and help our brain to function properly. This type of toxin overload is a major contributor to hidden causes of internal stress and inflammation.
4. Held-In Emotions
Holding in emotions that we may be feeling can actually impact our health. If we are not able to release certain emotions, then this can cause chronic health issues with any of the organs in our body. Emotional suppression is a powerful and often overlooked factor among the hidden causes of internal stress and inflammation.
Here are a few examples:
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Liver → Anger
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Kidneys & Adrenals → Fear
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Lungs → Grief/Sadness
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Gallbladder → Scattered Energy
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Spleen → Worry
By acknowledging and releasing these emotions, we can support emotional and physical healing.
5. EMF Exposure
The stress that technology puts on our body in this day and age is increasing more and more. The effects of EMFs and blue light that come off of our Wi-Fi, cell phones, and computers can be detrimental to our nervous system health. This growing modern-day exposure is now being recognized as one of the hidden causes of internal stress and inflammation, especially when experienced chronically.
Final Thoughts
Reducing the stress on your body by balancing any of the topics listed above can be a step in the right direction to improving your overall health. Simple ways this can be done include not using your phone right before bed, buying organic foods, switching to clean-ingredient self-care products, drinking out of a glass water bottle instead of plastic, or talking with a friend about how you have been feeling lately and letting out any pent-up emotions.
Functional medicine can help to identify which of these hidden causes of internal stress and inflammation may be affecting your body and guide you toward meaningful lifestyle changes that support healing and long-term wellness.
Are you wanting to get to the root cause of what is stressing your body out and creating inflammation? Click the link to schedule a free consultation or an initial functional medicine appointment with Dr. Julia HERE.
