TMHS 881: Why You NEED Stress to Live Longer, Healthier, and Happier - with Dr. Sharon Horesh Bergquist

Most people understand that we have the ability to grow from adversity, yet in our culture we have a largely negative view of stress. In fact, we often do our best to avoid stress at all costs. Today, you’re going to learn about specific stress response systems that are part of our biology, and how to activate them in order to build resilience.

Our guest is award-winning physician, Dr. Sharon Horesh Bergquist. Her new book, The Stress Paradox, explains the critical connection our biology has with stress. Her work explores how we can engage in purposeful healthy stressors to increase resilience and reap multiple health benefits.

You’re going to learn the science behind how and why to activate your innate cellular stress responses. We’re going to talk about how specific strategies, like eating more plant toxins and engaging in high intensity exercise, can help you build a healthier, more robust stress response system. Not only will these protocols help you develop a healthier relationship to stress, but they will also reduce your risk of diseases and increase your longevity. I hope you enjoy this incredible conversation with Dr. Sharon Horesh Bergquest!

In this episode you’ll discover: 

• What hormesis is and how it can enrich us.  
• Why we don’t need to minimize stress but optimize it.  
• How having too little stress can stop us from reaching our potential.  
• The three variables of stress.  
• What eustress is.  
• How to understand the stress set point.  
• What the 4 Rs are.  
• How the DNA damage response works.  
• What sirtuins are and how to activate them.  
• How autophagy works.   
• What’s missing from the conversation about plant toxins.   
• The importance of eating a diverse range of phytochemicals.  
• What heat shock proteins are.  
• How to improve your body’s ability to regulate inflammation.  
• The 5 key hormetic stressors.  
• What the most potent way to upregulate your mitochondria is.  
• The strongest predictor of mortality and disease.  
• Why experiencing good stress actually lowers your baseline level of stress.  

Items mentioned in this episode include: 

• Organifi.com/Model -- Use the coupon code MODEL for 20% off + free shipping! 
• The Stress Paradox by Dr. Sharon Horesh Bergquest -- Get a copy of the book! 
• How stress affects your body -- Watch Dr. Bergquist’s TedEd talk! 
• Connect with Dr. Sharon Horesh Bergquist Website / Instagram / LinkedIn 

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This episode of The Model Health Show is brought to you by Organifi. 

Organifi makes nutrition easy and delicious for everyone. Take 20% off your order with the code MODEL at organifi.com/model.