Our world is filled with things that cause stress. Whether it’s money worries, a bad day at work, health anxiety, family conflict, or even boredom, stress causes us to respond in ways that aren’t necessarily good for us. What do you do to feel better, and are there more helpful solutions?

Your stress habit: the daily drink

An occasional alcoholic drink to calm your nerves isn’t going to do you any harm. But drowning your stress in a bottle of wine isn’t doing your body any favours in the long term.

We know that alcohol is linked to a wide range of disease including cancer, liver disease and heart disease. Alcohol can also be damaging to your emotional health, especially if you already experience depression or anxiety.

And if you drink before bed, your sleep quality may not improve, says the Sleep Health Foundation. While you may fall asleep quickly after drinking, alcohol is associated with waking in the night, night sweats, nightmares, and headaches. And without sufficient rest, you’re less able to handle stress.

The solution: Tempted to reach for the beer or wine? Get out of the habit and explore non-alcoholic options. If you want the taste of an alcoholic drink, try non-alcoholic wines, distilled spirits and beer. You’d be in good company. According to a DrinkWise study, more and more of us are saying no to alcoholic drinks with 20 per cent of us abstaining from drinking in 2017.

Make a note of when you’re reaching for a drink. If it’s early evening after a stressful day, taking time out for yourself, even as little as 10 to 15 minutes (for a walk, meditation, quiet read, quick workout or listening to music) can work to calm your mind and reduce your stress.

Your stress habit: comfort eating

There’s nothing like a period of stress to throw your good eating intentions out of the window. Since we were children, we’ve known how effective food can be to comfort us during difficult times. The problem of course, is the kind of foods we turn to. Anxious, worried, lonely or bored? It’s easy to reach for sweet or salty snacks or a bowl of ice cream.

But don’t be too hard on yourself. Making bad food choices from time to time is something we all do, and it doesn’t mean you’ve abandoned your healthy eating habits. Emotional eating is only really a problem when it’s your only coping mechanism. Once you’ve acknowledged that your choices aren’t doing you any favours health-wise, you can start making some switches.

The solution: If it is comfort you’re after, sometimes a hot drink can be what you need. A cup of tea, a low-calorie hot chocolate or a miso soup may work as a pick-me-up. Take a brief time-out too if you can – maybe listen to music or a podcast, go for a short walk, or read a few chapters of a novel.

Are you after the satisfying crunch of salty chips? Opt for a small handful of unsalted nuts instead, and throw in a few tamari almonds or wasabi peas to give you an added flavour hit. Otherwise you could make your own popcorn. Popcorn is a high-fibre healthy snack provided it isn’t covered in sugar or salt. You’ll find recipes for healthy homemade popcorn online or choose the healthiest option in the supermarket.

Fruit doesn’t always hit the spot when you’re feeling stressed, but a small bowl of chopped banana mixed with natural yoghurt, a drizzle of honey and a light sprinkling of granola will fill you up and may satisfy your cravings.

Your stress habit: retail therapy

Many of us go shopping to fill a void or to feel happier – in fact the ‘shopper’s high’ has been likened to the endorphin surge of the runner’s high. While a little retail therapy is fairly harmless and can lift your spirits, if it becomes a regular habit it can seriously make a mess your budget and cause you to buy things you don’t even need. And with online shopping so accessible, it’s easy to get your fix, even if you have to wait for the product to arrive. You don’t even have the experience of handing over your money – it’s all done with the click of a button.

Buying things on a whim makes us feel good, with studies showing it lights up the pleasure centre in the brain. A 2011 study in the Journal of Psychology and Marketing supports this, finding that a shopping spree does have a positive effect on mood.

The downside, of course, is that too much spending on non-essentials can lead to debt we can ill afford.

The solution: Wait 24 hours before making an impulse purchase. If you still want the item the next day, and you can afford it, then buy it. But by then you may have forgotten about it or decided to wait until you’ve saved up. If you recognise you often reach for your credit card or favourite online store to feel better, stop and consider what else can give you the same feeling. Perhaps you can get the same happy endorphins with exercise – whether that’s a brisk walk, yoga, or kickboxing. Or you may find satisfaction from cleaning out your wardrobe and giving away unwanted clothes to charity.

Eat less, move more has been the weight loss mantra for decades. But does exercise really help us lose weight or can it make us want to eat more?

Physical activity consumes kilojoules. We’ve been told for years that if we burn those kilojoules without replacing them in the form of food, then we’ll rid ourselves of excess fat and shrink our waistlines.

It sounds good in theory. Except that past studies have shown it doesn’t always work to plan. Most men and women who begin new exercise routines drop just 30 to 40 percent of the weight they would have expected, given how many additional kilojoules they are burning through exercise.

Why would this be the case? Some scientists think many of us compensate for the kilojoules lost by eating more, moving less, or both.

A recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition tracked a large group of previously inactive people who had started exercise programs. Participants in both the shorter-and-longer-workout groups lost less weight than would have been expected. The reason? They were eating more food as compensation – but not a lot. However, just an additional 90 to 120 calories (380 to 500 kilojoules) each day was enough to undercut weight loss.

So if you’re wanting to lose weight, say the researchers, then along with becoming more active, make sure you don’t eat more to compensate.

Want to keep your teeth cavity-free for as long as possible? Then start paying close attention to sugar, because a healthy diet is as essential for your mouth as it is for the rest of your body.

The good news is we’re keeping our teeth for longer. The bad news is that one in three of us is walking around with untreated tooth decay, while one in four has periodontal (gum) disease. In most industrialised countries, the rates are similar.

These are the statistics reported in the adult Oral Health Tracker progress report, released in March 2020. This report gives us an update on how Australian adults’ oral health is tracking compared to the previous results in 2018, says the Australian Dental Association’s Oral Health Advisor, Dr Mikaela Chinotti.

“The results are in, and for gum disease and tooth decay, they’re not good,” she says. “These conditions are largely preventable, yet they’ve increased in prevalence and we continue to get further away from our goal of improving our overall oral health.”

It’s easy to get into the habit of picking up the familiar white loaf for your daily toast and sandwiches. Maybe it’s the bread you’ve always eaten, or the one your children prefer in their lunchbox.

Nearly three quarters of us use some form of complementary medicines, including vitamins, minerals, herbs, aromatherapy and homeopathic products. But are these as safe as we think?

The word ‘natural’ is advertised across packages of food, supplements, herbs and even detergents. That’s because when we read ‘natural’ we tend to think pure, unadulterated, and harmless. But this may not always be the case.

Reviews of studies on widely available complementary medicines have found that while some have been well-studied and found to be effective, many have not and evidence for their effectiveness is often lacking or of poor quality.

Health risks

Like pharmaceutical drugs, complementary medicines can cause harm, even if they are used correctly. The risks include:

Indirect harm: relying on complementary therapies alone could delay your diagnosis and medical treatment. In the case of serious illnesses, such as cancer, a delay can lead to serious complications or death.

Side effects: some supplements and herbs can cause unwanted and potentially dangerous side effects. For example, the herb feverfew can cause uterine contractions and possible miscarriage in pregnant women.

Drug interactions: some complementary medicines can interact with over-the-counter or prescription drugs. These include evening primose oil, ginkgo, glucosamine, hawthorn, and St John’s wort.

When you’re prescribed a medication, or start taking a complementary medicine when you’re on other medication, it’s wise to let your doctor and pharmacist know everything else you are taking. This is particularly important if you are undergoing surgery, as certain herbal medicines and supplements can interfere with anaesthesia and other medication, as well as with blood clotting and blood pressure.

Risky ingredients: some complementary medicines may not contain what they claim. Last year a major research project lead by researchers from the University of Adelaide and Western Australia’s Murdoch University and Curtin University found many supplements and herbal medicines available to consumers were not exactly what they claimed to be.

More than two thirds of the products tested either had ingredients missing or contained foreign material, including DNA traces of frog, shrew, reindeer, goat and dog. In a small number of cases, herbal supplements contained levels of lead, arsenic, cadmium or mercury that exceeded the safe maximum dose, while others contained undeclared drugs, including an anti-inflammatory pharmaceutical.

While the traces of heavy metals and pharmaceutical drugs are concerning and potentially dangerous, the researchers suggested contamination from commonly domesticated animals could be inadvertent and due to manufacturing deficiencies or transportation.

Chatting with workmates is the kind of easy interaction we enjoy at work. But at times we also need to have more difficult conversations, and whether these are remote or in person, most of us will do whatever we can to avoid them.

It may be a topic you don’t want to talk about, a situation where you’re not sure what to say, or a subject where you have conflicting opinions. Speaking up and having uncomfortable discussions are part and parcel of working with other people.

Dealing with issues by having honest conversations gives you an opportunity to resolve conflict quickly, improve relationships with your team or workmates, and if you’re a manager, improve employee performance.

Yet most of us would do anything other than talk about a tricky subject, says BBC World Service contributor Alison Green, who has been giving workplace advice for over a decade.

“An awful lot of us are hoping that there will be some sort of magical spell that will let us solve problems without ever having to use our words,” she says.

Green quotes real examples from the workplace. “I’ve heard from people who stew in silence for months rather than asking a colleague to please stop taking all their calls on speakerphone,” she says. “And I’ve heard from people who spend way too long tolerating physically uncomfortable working conditions – like a painful chair or an air freshener that literally nauseates them – rather than have a quick conversation with the person who could fix it.”

How to bring up a tricky subject

1. First consider what the problem is and whether a conversation is necessary. If the problem is trivial or temporary, you may not wish to draw attention to it. You may also not be the best person to initiate the conversation. It may be more appropriate for a human resources officer or someone more senior to get involved.

2. Stop worrying about being liked. This isn’t the most important thing. Instead, be respectful – both of the other person and of yourself. Respect their point of view and expect them to respect yours.

3. Avoid speaking in an aggressive or adversarial way, advises Green. Instead, speak calmly and matter-of-factly, in a tone you’d use if you were trying to solve any other work-related problem such as a software issue.

4. Focus on listening, not speaking. Planning what you’re going to say is likely to be a waste of time, as conversations rarely go to plan. Take the pressure off yourself and rather than focusing on talking, concentrate on listening, reflecting and observing. If a team member has missed another deadline, for instance, approach them by asking neutral, supportive questions “I see the project is behind schedule. Tell me about the challenges you’re facing.” Then listen, get as much detail as you can, and ask follow-up questions.

It’s strongly linked to what you eat and how much you exercise, can eventually lead to blindness, heart disease and kidney failure, and is the one of the fastest growing chronic conditions in the world.

It’s type 2 diabetes, and it affects over 463 million adults worldwide.

Most of us know someone with type 2 diabetes. It’s the most common type of diabetes, representing 85 to 90 per cent of all cases. The other two types are type 1 – an autoimmune disease which often starts in childhood or early adulthood and is not linked to lifestyle – and gestational diabetes, which affects pregnant women.

What is type 2 diabetes?

Type 2 diabetes is a condition where your body cannot regulate blood sugar levels properly. After you’ve eaten a meal it’s normal for blood glucose levels to rise. When they do, your pancreas releases a hormone called insulin, which acts like a key to let the glucose pass from your bloodstream into your body’s cells, producing energy.

If you have type 2 diabetes, you either don’t produce enough insulin or it’s not doing its job properly. This means glucose doesn’t easily move into your body’s cells, and your blood glucose levels stay too high for too long. It’s these prolonged high blood glucose levels that can cause damage to blood vessels throughout the body, including your eyes, kidneys and extremities like your feet.

Diabetes is a complex disease, and there are a number of common misunderstandings surrounding it.

1. You can’t reverse type 2 diabetes

We used to think that a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes meant that you had it for life, but studies have now shown otherwise. There have been some new data that shows that you can reverse type 2 diabetes.

One UK study published in The Lancet in 2019 put people diagnosed with diabetes within the last six years on a strict calorie-controlled meal replacement program.

“They were able to show that after a year, almost 50 per cent of participants were able to reverse their diabetes and went back to normal glucose levels without medication,” explains Dr Hocking.

When it comes to preventing and treating diabetes, losing weight is the most effective strategy, says Dr Hocking. But if you find this difficult, studies show that losing as little as five per cent of your body weight can make a significant difference, as does increasing exercise and improving your diet – whether you lose weight or not.

2. Sugar causes diabetes

Diabetes is a condition where blood sugar levels are too high, so it can be easy to think that eating too much sugar is the cause. But this is a very simplistic message, says nutrition scientist Dr Joanna McMillan. “It’s not that sugar causes diabetes,” she explains. “It’s true we eat too much sugar, but we also have too much processed food and too many kilojoules. Rather than blaming one single dietary aspect like sugar, we should look at the dietary patterns of the foods we consume.”

Sugar is found naturally in fruit and vegetables (as fructose) and diary foods (as lactose). But it’s also added to food and drink by food manufacturers, and it’s this added sugar – found in confectionary, cakes, biscuits, fruit juices, soft drinks, smoothies, syrups and honey – that we need to cut down on. That’s because it’s easy to over-consume, often comes in products also high in fat and other refined carbohydrates, and can lead to weight gain, which in turn increases your risk of diabetes.

If you have diabetes, aim to eat plenty of plant foods such as wholegrains, legumes, fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds, and fewer highly processed foods and refined carbs (sugar, white bread, products made from white flour, white rice and pasta). For tailored advice on what to eat, talk to your doctor who may refer you to a dietitian or other specialist.

3. You can’t exercise if you have diabetes

Exercise is beneficial for everyone, whether or not they have diabetes. This myth probably came about because people with type 1 diabetes have to be vigilant about balancing their insulin doses with food and activity, to avoid blood sugar going too high or too low.

But exercise is key to staying healthy whatever type of diabetes you have. It can also help prevent and manage type 2 diabetes. Regular physical activity can:

•               Help you maintain a healthy weight.
•               Help lower blood pressure and reduce your risk of heart disease.
•              Reduce stress.
•              Increase your insulin sensitivity. Resistance or strength training is particularly effective at improving your body’s ability to use insulin and process glucose. The ability of your muscles to store glucose increases with your strength, making your body better able to regulate its blood glucose levels.

For good health, you should aim for 30 minutes of exercise every day, and plan to do two sessions of strength or resistance training each week. This can be done at home using your body weight, free weights, or resistance bands, or at a gym.

Many of us enjoy relaxing with a drink, something that might be more tempting when isolated at home. But alcohol has a dark side, and not having any for several weeks will benefit your health, sleep and wallet.

While most of us drink alcohol at levels considered moderate or low risk, many people’s drinking habits put them at risk of alcohol-related disease. These diseases are more than just a nasty hangover. Long term excessive drinking increases your risk of a number of cancers, heart disease and liver disease, lowers your immunity, and reduces male and female fertility.

The price we pay is high. More than 3 million people died as a result of harmful use of alcohol in 2016, according to a recent report by the World Health Organization (WHO). Overall, the report outlined that the harmful use of alcohol causes more than 5% of the global disease burden.

Have you been sleeping poorly, feeling mental or physical strain at work, or experiencing stress or anxiety, particularly due to the Covid-19 pandemic? Any of these factors can lead to fatigue, a major workplace hazard.

It’s easy to confuse fatigue with feeling tired, but it’s more than that. Everyone feels tired at some point but this is usually resolved with a nap or a few nights of good sleep. Signs of fatigue include:

• tiredness even after sleep
• reduced hand-eye coordination or slow reflexes
• short-term memory problems and an ability to concentrate
• blurred vision or impaired visual perception
• a need for extended sleep during days off work

What causes fatigues?

Fatigue is often a combination of personal and work issues. Personal issues include lifestyle factors, such as poor diet and lack of exercise, and psychological factors, such as depression, anxiety, stress or grief.

Workplace issues that can cause fatigue include:

• Prolonged or intense mental or physical activity. It's not just physical workers who get fatigued - fatigue affects all types of employees.
• Shift work causing disruption to your internal body clock.
• Exceptionally hot or cold working environments.
• Workplace stress, such as organisational change, job dissatisfaction, conflict, or an ongoing stressful situation.
• A strenuous job or excessively long shifts.
• Long commuting times.

Many of us live with huge money worries. The coronavirus has had an enormous economic impact but financial stress can also result from a relationship break-up, physical or mental ill health, addiction, or unexpected expenses. Whatever the cause, financial insecurity can significantly affect your health and wellbeing.

Financial stress doesn’t just affect people out of work. Research commissioned by AMP for its 2019 Financial Wellness report found that two in five employees admitted feeling financial stress. This was across all industries, income levels and job roles. Money concerns impact people in many different ways, the report found.

While many people think money worries are a personal issue, the research shows being financially stressed spills into working life, increasing absenteeism and impacting productivity.

Financial stress, like any form of stress, is also linked to mental and physical health issues, family breakdown and substance abuse, and can lead to feelings of isolation.

Get the help you need

Many people facing financial stress are reluctant to ask for help, feeling ashamed of their situation. But there is free help available and it can make a huge difference.

Talk to a financial or credit counsellor

It’s not easy to talk about money difficulties, especially with family and friends, but getting help early means you will have many more options. If you feel overwhelmed by money worries, contact a financial counsellor as soon as possible.

Financial counsellors, also known as credit counsellors in some places, are skilled professionals who offer a free, independent and confidential service through community organisations, community legal centres and some government agencies.

Financial counsellors can help with things like bills or fines, credit card and other debts, gas, electricity or phone disconnection or the threat of eviction. They can also help you work out a repayment plan for debts that can’t be waived, and help with planning for big purchases, provide information about managing money, and refer you to other services and schemes.

Don’t confuse financial counsellors with financial advisers. Unlike financial advisers, financial counsellors can’t help you with investments and retirement planning.

As well as a financial benefit from talking to a financial counsellor, there’s often an emotional benefit too. Along with the advocacy and information, it can help just to have someone who listens and is on your side.

It can be a huge relief to talk to a financial counsellor. And then, feeling more empowered, to take the next step. To find a financial counsellor in your area, try a quick web search, Government sites dealing with finance may also have resources available to you.