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Women, Stress, and The Triple Whammy

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Q. What exactly is the Triple Whammy?
A. It’s the cause of chronic ill health for tens of millions of women and involves the interaction of three factors:

• Whammy #1 is stress. Women experience far more of it than men. Worldwide, women are overworked, underpaid, and responsible for their families, their parents, and even their husband’s parents.

• Women’s bodies are ill-equipped to deal with all this stress, due to a shortage of Whammy #2, the feel-good brain chemical serotonin. Serotonin acts as a stress buffer, but women have only about a quarter the amount that men have. This leaves them biochemically four times more vulnerable to stress than men.

• Whammy #3 is the effect of hormones in this equation, especially estrogen. Women’s estrogen levels parallel their feel-good serotonin like a two-car roller coaster: when your estrogen’s high, it pulls up serotonin, and with it your mood. But when estrogen falls during PMS days (and perimenopause/menopause), it takes serotonin with it, causing such symptoms as anger, irritability, or weeping unexpectedly at a Hallmark commercial.

The most basic Triple Whammy Cure nutriceuticals include fish oil and B complex, both of which boost serotonin. But so do laughter, walking, and sunshine. Read more about how to increase your protective serotonin in The Triple Whammy Cure.

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