TL;DR:

Stress management isn’t just about feeling calmer—it can influence how the body heals. Studies show that lowering stress hormones, improving outlook, and maintaining good nutrition can slow disease progression and reduce flare-ups in conditions from heart disease to autoimmune illness.

Research over the past few decades has shown that the mind and body are deeply connected—especially when it comes to stress, immunity, and recovery.

Stress changes the body’s chemistry

Chronic stress contributes to low-grade inflammation, which is increasingly recognized as a factor in aging, cardiovascular disease, and autoimmune disorders. When you are under chronic stress, or focus on negativity, it disrupts your body’s chemistry. Stress hormones, like cortisol are increased, and they can suppress the immune system, according to studies [1,2]. Read more on how stress suppresses the immune system.

Your mind, immune protection, and healing

Psychoneuroimmunology is a study that has developed over the last 40 years. It looks at the relationship between thought and disease, among other things. It looks at the ways that the mental, hormone, nerve, and immune processes and systems are related and impact one another provides an overall greater understanding of human health and disease.

Mindset and disease progression

Calming your mind, reducing stress and positive thinking can all improve your immune system. It can help keep you healthy and even slow the progression of serious disease. This so effective that it has even improved outcomes for patients with HIV [3] and cancer [4,5].

Stress and gut health

The microbiome (intestinal bacteria) can affect stress levels, mood and is linked to inflammation and depression. Similarly, stress can affect the makeup of the microbiome. There is a strong connection between the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and stress levels [6,7,8].

Stress and cardiovascular health

Studies have shown that stress reduction improves cardiovascular health. Patients with heart disease, heart failure, and high blood pressure have all benefited from stress reduction techniques [9,10,11].

Bottom line

Whether you catch too many colds, get regular infections, or face a serious illiness like cancer or heart disease, you will benefit from getting stress under control. The studies show benefits from meditation, guided imagry, and light exercise. Anything that calms the mind and leads to positive thoughts will help. Simple things can help, even if a formal workout or meditation program feels daunting.

  • Breathe: Simply close your eyes, sit, relax, and think of NOTHING but the breath going into and out of your lungs. This will lower the production of stress hormones and make it easier to focus on positive things.
  • Go for a walk: Light exercise is better than heavy workouts (which can boost cortisol levels). Take it easy and think of nothing but your surroundings.
  • Hobbies: Do an activity that takes some concentration. Knitting, for example, forces you to concentrate on a simple, reptitive task. It crowds out stressful thoughts. There are any number of healthful activities, woodworking, golf, painting, building models, or any other activity that takes some concentration.

This article is educational and not medical advice.

References:

  1. Cureus 2025 May 28;17(5):e85009. Investigating the Relationship Between Cortisol, a Stress Marker, and Immune Function Across Age and Gender
  2. Front Psychol. 2020 Aug 4;11:1844. Influence of Stress and Depression on the Immune System in Patients Evaluated in an Anti-aging Unit
  3. Psychosom Med. 2008 Jun 2;70(5):569–574. Behavioral Mediation of the Relationship Between Psychosocial Factors and HIV Disease Progression.
  4. Brain Behav Immun. 2013 Jan 16;30(0):S1–S9 Psychoneuroimmunology and cancer: A decade of discovery, paradigm shifts, and methodological innovations.
  5. Front. Immunol., 04 October 2022 Stress and cancer: The mechanisms of immune dysregulation and management Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy Volume 13 – 2022 |
  6. CNS Neurosci Ther. 2015 Dec 10;22(2):102–117. Stress and the Microbiota–Gut–Brain Axis in Visceral Pain: Relevance to Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
  7. Cells 2019, 8(7), 659; Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Stressed “Gut/Feeling”.
  8. Front Neurosci. 2019 Apr 24;13:384. The Interplay Between Stress, Inflammation, and Emotional Attention: Relevance for Depression.
  9. JAMA. 2005;293(13):1626–1634 – combining exercise with stress management reduced cardiac events in ischemic heart disease.
  10. Ochsner J. 2014 Winter;14(4):696–703. Meditation and Coronary Heart Disease: A Review of the Current Clinical Evidence.
  11. Arq Bras Cardiol. 2023 Oct;120(10):e20220768. Impact of a Stress Reduction, Meditation, and Mindfulness Program in Patients with Chronic Heart Failure: A Randomized Controlled Trial.