Dr. Tchiki Davis, discusses chronic stress and its causes. It may be your genes causing your stress, but you can change your diet to help.
They say “stress kills.” I didn’t realize how true this was until last year when, in the midst of writing my first book, Outsmart Your Smartphone, I got really stressed out—for a full month.
At the end of that month, it was like a switch was turned off. In a snap, my body stopped working. I started having major gut health issues. I couldn’t think. I could barely stay awake. My anxiety went through the roof, and I lost nearly twenty pounds in two months. (You can read more of my story here.) But there wasn’t anything “medically” wrong with me.
So I continued to do what everyone said I was “supposed to do” to boost well-being. I did vigorous exercise four days per week. I ate vegetarian and gluten-free. I drank gallons of green tea. I ate a ridiculous amount of healthy fruits and vegetables, but nothing helped. I was very sick and wasn’t getting any better.
It didn’t make any sense. What on earth was going on?
How I Discovered “Toxic Genes”
After being sick like this for almost a year and spending nearly all of my time either in bed or researching how to get healthy, I stumbled upon research on the genetics of detoxification. It turns out there are a bunch of genes that can make it difficult for some people to eliminate toxins from the body—from air pollution, pesticides, fragrances, mold, estrogen, and even stress hormones.
