How can Managing Stress help you? What the research says
How does Managing Stress impact your cancer outcomes, affect your quality of life, or impact your body terrain? We present the evidence.
We strongly emphasize that Managing Stress alone will not prevent, cure, control cancer or prevent recurrence. Like every therapy or approach included on this website, Managing Stress is one component of an individualized integrative plan rather than a stand-alone therapy.
Find guidance and therapies about how to manage your stress response on these pages:
How do integrative experts manage stress? ›
Managing your stress response ›
Learn more about how we research and rate therapies and practices in How We Rate Therapies ›
Improving treatment outcomes
Is Managing Stress linked to improved survival? Is it linked to less cancer growth or metastasis? Does it enhance the anticancer action of other treatments or therapies? We present the evidence.
Optimizing your body terrain
How does Managing Stress promote an environment within your body that is less supportive of cancer development, growth or spread? We present the evidence.
Several imbalances in your body terrainthe internal conditions of your body, including nutritional status, fitness, blood sugar balance, hormone balance, inflammation, and more can make your body more supportive of cancer. Resolving terrain imbalances can decrease your risk of cancer or recurrence, promote healing and wellness, and improve survival.
Find health professionals who specialize in managing body terrain ›
Managing side effects and promoting wellness
Is Managing Stress linked to fewer or less severe side effects or symptoms? Is it linked to less toxicity from cancer treatment? Does it support your quality of life or promote general well-being? We present the evidence.
Reducing cancer risk
Is Managing Stress linked to lower risks of developing cancer or of recurrence? We present the evidence.
How Managing Stress relates to other practices and lifestyle choices
Eating Well
Stress—and its related anxiety and depressive symptoms—and food choices are all related. Interventions to improve food choices may possibly reduce depressive symptoms and stress. The reverse—that reducing depressive symptoms and stress may improve food choices—might also be true.
Unhealthy food choices among a subgroup of people reporting stress (preliminary evidence)
Similar effects on physical markers of stress among women eating either healthy or unhealthy food choices in response to stress compared to no food (meaning there is no advantage from “comfort foods” on stress) (preliminary evidence)
Less stress among people eating a specific whole-grain food (preliminary evidence)
No evidence of an effect on stress among people following a vegan/vegetarian diet in a large combined analysis of studies
Higher stress responses among people consuming caffeine (preliminary evidence)
Some eating patterns and foods can promote stress. Integrative physicians Keith Block, MD, and Janet Spitzer, MD, inform us about foods, food components, and eating behaviors that promote a stress response:55Block KI. Life over Cancer: The Block Center Program for Integrative Cancer Care. New York: Bantam Dell. 2009; Spitzer J. Personal communication with Laura Pole. April 16, 2018.
- Low-carb, high-fat diet
- Low-carb, high-protein diet
- High ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids ›
- Foods containing caffeine
- Overeating
- Timing of snacks and drinks
- Eating within one hour of bedtime
- Eating a heavy evening meal or snack
Moving More
Lower physical markers of stress among people participating in exercise or movement, but not specific to people with cancer (modest evidence)
Sleeping Well
Stress—and its related anxiety and depressive symptoms—and sleep are all related. Interventions to improve sleep may possibly reduce depressive symptoms and stress. The reverse—that reducing depressive symptoms and stress may improve sleep—might also be true.
Poorer sleep quality among people with symptoms of stress (good evidence)
Higher levels of stress among people with lung cancer with poor sleep quality (preliminary evidence)
Creating a Healing Environment
Lower risk of stress-related disorders among people with more dense vegetation near their residences (modest evidence)
Lower blood pressure or heart rate among people with more exposure to nature (modest evidence)
Sharing Love and Support
Sharing Love and Support is connected to Managing Stress. Loneliness and isolation are stressors. Feeling supported and loved can help you manage these stressors.
Less distressemotional, social, spiritual, or physical pain or suffering that may cause a person to feel sad, afraid, depressed, anxious, or lonely; people in distress may also feel that they are not able to manage or cope with changes caused by normal life activities or by having a disease, such as cancer among people with higher levels of social support (good evidence)
Fewer symptoms of posttraumatic stress and more posttraumatic growthpositive psychological change experienced as a result of adversity and other challenges among adults with cancer with higher levels of social support (modest evidence)
Helpful links
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Managing Stress
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References