We often talk about health and finances as though they are two completely separate parts of our lives.
We go to one professional to talk about our money and another to talk about our health.
But our bodies don't separate the two.
If you have ever stayed awake at night wondering how you are going to pay a bill, worried about retirement, felt overwhelmed by debt, or wondered whether you have enough saved for an emergency, you already know that financial stress doesn't stay in your bank account.
We carry it with us.
It can affect how we sleep, what we eat, how we feel, our relationships, our blood pressure, and even the choices we make about our health.
This is why I have always believed that financial wellness and physical wellness belong in the same conversation.
Our Wealth Stack affects our Health Stack—and our Health Stack can affect our Wealth Stack.
Financial Stress Is Real Stress
When we experience stress, our bodies don't necessarily distinguish between a physical threat and an emotional or financial one.
The bills are due.
Your job feels uncertain.
An unexpected medical expense appears.
Your credit card balance keeps growing.
Retirement is getting closer and you don't feel prepared.
Your brain recognizes a threat, and the body's stress-response system responds.
Stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline help prepare us to deal with challenges. In the short term, that's exactly what they're designed to do.
The problem isn't that we experience stress.
The problem is when the stress never seems to turn off.
Financial concerns can be particularly difficult because the source of the stress may still be there when you wake up tomorrow morning.
What Chronic Stress Can Do to the Body
When stress becomes chronic, it can affect multiple systems throughout the body.
Long-term stress has been associated with problems involving:
• Sleep
• Blood pressure
• Blood glucose
• Appetite and eating behaviors
• Digestion
• Immune function
• Anxiety and mood
• Cardiovascular health
• Headaches and muscle tension
Stress can also influence behaviors that affect health.
Maybe you're too mentally exhausted to exercise.
Maybe you aren't sleeping well.
Maybe you reach for highly processed foods because you're tired and overwhelmed.
Maybe you drink more alcohol.
Maybe you skip a doctor's appointment because you're worried about the cost.
These behaviors can begin to compound one another.
Stress affects our choices, and our choices affect our health.
Financial Stress and Blood Sugar
This is one connection people may not immediately think about.
When the body perceives stress, hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline help make energy available.
One way the body does this is by increasing the availability of glucose in the bloodstream.
Think about why this system exists.
If our ancestors needed to escape an immediate danger, the body wanted glucose readily available to fuel the brain and muscles.
But today, our stress may come from sitting at the kitchen table looking at a stack of bills.
The physiological stress response can still occur—even though we aren't running anywhere.
Chronic stress is only one factor involved in glucose regulation, and it doesn't mean that worrying about money automatically causes diabetes. Genetics, nutrition, physical activity, sleep, body composition, medications and many other factors also influence blood sugar.
But it is another reason I believe we need to look at health as a whole picture.
When someone's fasting glucose or A1C begins rising, we shouldn't only ask:
“What are you eating?”
We should also ask:
“What is happening in your life?”
Financial Stress Can Follow Us to Bed
Have you ever been exhausted but unable to shut your brain off?
You lie down and suddenly your mind begins reviewing everything you need to do—and everything you're worried about.
Financial concerns are a common source of stress, and stress can interfere with both falling asleep and staying asleep.
Then another cycle begins.
Poor sleep can affect appetite, glucose regulation, mood, decision-making and energy.
You're tired the next day, so maybe you don't exercise.
You reach for quick energy.
You consume more caffeine.
You're irritable.
You have difficulty concentrating.
Then nighttime arrives and you struggle to sleep again.
Our bodies are interconnected systems.
Financial stress can become sleep stress, which can become metabolic stress.
Financial Stress Can Affect the Food We Eat
Healthy eating isn't determined only by knowledge.
Cost, time, access and stress all influence our choices.
When someone is financially overwhelmed, the priority may simply become:
“How do I feed my family?”
Highly processed foods can sometimes appear inexpensive, convenient and easy to prepare, particularly when someone is working multiple jobs or has limited time.
This is why telling someone to simply “eat healthier” isn't always enough.
We need realistic solutions.
Beans, lentils, oats, potatoes, brown rice, frozen vegetables, seasonal fruit and other basic whole foods can provide tremendous nutritional value without requiring an expensive grocery budget.
Healthy eating doesn't have to mean buying every trendy superfood at the health-food store.
Sometimes the healthiest foods are also some of the simplest.
And Health Problems Can Create Financial Stress
The relationship works in both directions.
Financial stress can affect health.
But poor health can also create enormous financial stress.
Medical bills.
Prescription costs.
Missed work.
Reduced income.
Insurance deductibles.
Long-term care.
The inability to work because of chronic illness.
Suddenly a health problem becomes a financial problem too.
This is one reason preventive health is so important.
We cannot prevent every disease, and healthy living is never a guarantee that illness won't occur.
But we can work on the factors that are within our control.
The same principle applies financially.
We can't predict every emergency.
But we can prepare for some of them.
Take Back Control—One Small Step at a Time
When people feel overwhelmed, I don't believe the answer is to give them twenty more things to worry about.
Start small.
Know Your Numbers
We talk about knowing your numbers in health:
Blood pressure.
A1C.
Glucose.
Cholesterol.
Waist circumference.
We should know our financial numbers too.
Income.
Expenses.
Debt.
Savings.
Retirement.
You can't make an informed decision without understanding where you currently stand.
Create an Emergency Fund
Even a small financial cushion can create breathing room when something unexpected happens.
You don't have to build it overnight.
Start somewhere.
Twenty-five dollars.
Fifty dollars.
One hundred dollars.
Consistency matters more than perfection.
Make a Plan for Debt
Ignoring debt doesn't make it disappear—and the uncertainty itself can create stress.
Write it down.
Know what you owe.
Know the interest rates.
Create a realistic repayment strategy.
Sometimes simply having a plan can make something that feels overwhelming begin to feel manageable.
Automate What You Can
Saving and investing become easier when they aren't decisions you have to make every month.
If possible, automate contributions to savings and retirement accounts.
Small amounts accumulated consistently over time can make a meaningful difference.
Take Care of Your Body While You're Taking Care of Your Finances
Financial stress is not a reason to put your health on hold.
Walk.
Strength train.
Drink water.
Eat whole foods.
Prioritize sleep.
Spend time outside.
Take five minutes to breathe.
Talk to someone.
Many of the most powerful things we can do for our health cost very little—or nothing at all.
Your Wealth Stack and Health Stack Are Connected
For years, we have treated financial wellness and physical wellness as completely different subjects.
I don't believe they are.
Money affects where we live.
The food we buy.
The healthcare we access.
The opportunities we have.
The stress we experience.
The way we prepare for our future.
And our health affects our ability to work, enjoy retirement, travel, spend time with family, and actually experience the life we've worked so hard to build.
What good is building wealth if we don't have the health to enjoy it?
And how difficult is it to focus on our health when we are constantly worried about money?
We need both.
Financial wellness isn't about becoming rich.
Health isn't about becoming perfect.
Both are about creating greater stability, resilience and freedom in our lives.
Start with one healthy meal.
Take one walk.
Save the first $25.
Look at the bill you've been avoiding.
Schedule the doctor's appointment.
Make the retirement contribution.
Go to bed an hour earlier.
Small choices don't always feel significant in the moment.
But repeated consistently, they become habits—and habits eventually become the life we are living.
Build your Health Stack while growing your Wealth Stack.
Because true wellness isn't simply having more years to live or more money in the bank.
It's having the health and financial confidence to live those years well.
To Health & Longevity, 🌿
Innovative Wellness
_________________________________________________________________
References
American Psychological Association. Stress in America. American Psychological Association. Research examining major sources of stress among Americans, including money and economic concerns.
American Heart Association. Chronic Stress Can Cause Heart Trouble. American Heart Association. Information on chronic stress, stress hormones, blood pressure and cardiovascular health.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Managing Stress. CDC. Information on the physical and emotional effects of long-term stress and strategies for managing it.
National Institute of Mental Health. I'm So Stressed Out! Fact Sheet. National Institutes of Health. Overview of stress, its effects on the body and approaches to coping with stress.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Financial Well-Being. CFPB. Research and resources examining financial well-being, financial security and an individual's ability to meet current and future financial obligations.
National Institutes of Health, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Stress. Information on the body's stress response and the potential health effects of long-term stress.