Interview by Caroline Hanamirian, Princeton University

Business Today: Does stress affect young people and adults in different ways?

Sanjay Gupta: Stress is a term that is probably way overused because people define stress in different ways. I think what happens to a younger person versus an older person is very much the same in terms of physiology. But someone who has been stressed they’re entire life, since childhood, can become quite adapted to stress. So you’re ‘set point,’ if you will, can change. Someone who has been through a life or death situation for example, would not be stressed by certain situations as others. Stress acts in the same ways, but your resilience is affected by lots of factors.

BT: What are some of the long-term health affects of getting too little sleep?

SG: You will tend to be in what’s called a fight or flight mode for a larger chunk of your waking hours. When in fight or flight mode, everything is different in your body. For example, when you eat something, if you’re not stressed or you’re someone who is not releasing all of those stress hormones, you’re metabolizing the food and using the energy and you’ll be hungry the next time around. In fight or flight mode, the body sort of assumes that you might not eat again. It’s a real panic sort of situation, so the body stores all of those calories as fat because who knows when the next meal is coming. So people who are stressed, for example, have trouble with their metabolism. You’ll have a harder time losing weight or becoming fit as a result of that stress. They do also have a higher risk of chronic disease of just about anyone you can think of, including heart disease, for example, and diabetes. For some of the same reasons that I mentioned for your metabolism, chronic illness is at a higher risk because of all the effects that specific stress hormones have on the body. Cortisol and adrenaline, for example, can raise your blood pressure, making it harder for your heart to work.

BT: Often times students or young workers will turn to products like red bull or anything that gives them a high dose of caffeine to stay awake and keep performing. What are the dangers of this habit?

SG: Taking caffeine in and of itself is not really a problem in the long term. If you do it every single day then you’ll have a problem. If you take red bull or something high in caffeine, you probably will notice some changes. You may notice your heartbeat start to rise, you may perspire a little bit more heavily and you may be more edgy. But, in fact, the studies looking into the longer-term affect of drinking something like red bull around exam time probably doesn’t cause as much of a concern as people once thought it did. Now, drinking it every day, you’re raising your heart rate, you’re raising your blood pressure, and you could have some problems. But I think I wouldn’t overreach the potential detrimental affects of caffeine.

BT: What are “power foods,” or healthier options you would suggest that would help someone stay up?

SG: Staying up is ultimately probably a pretty counterproductive thing. If you’re getting four to five hours of sleep every night for six days, by the seventh day it’ll feel like you haven’t slept at all. For example, going 24 hours on call is like having a blood-alcohol level of .1. So that’s really the first issue in mind. If you stay up, you’re just not going to be as sharp for the exam or studying or whatever it is that you have to do. We know that certain foods tend to be better. Carbs tend to make you a little fuller and a little sleepier, whereas having lighter foods and especially protein foods throughout the day will allow you to stay “up,” both physically and mentally. Like I said, caffeine is okay but you need to make sure you’re drinking plenty of fluids because caffeine can be dehydrating.

BT: With regards to exercise, what would be a good regiment for someone who is on a tight schedule, whether a student or an employee? Would you suggest cardio or weight training?

SG: The reality is that students are pretty physically active. You’re walking around campus, you’re getting out and you’re getting pretty good aerobic activity. Just being active all day is probably not just as good as going to the gym but actually better. A lot of people will sit around all day and then go to they gym for an hour and that is just not the way human beings were designed. We were designed to be very active creatures so student life is the best. When you do go to the gym, which I still recommend, as long as you’re getting that aerobic activity elsewhere, you could do some resistance training. I recommend this for men and for women- to lift some weights, to build of a little muscle mass. You don’t have to become ironman, but building muscle can burn calories, for example, and it can improve your posture. Doing upper body training is what I recommend for people of all ages and both genders.

BT: Whether in school or at work, sometimes pulling an “all-nighter” is inevitable. What would you say is the best way to recover from one or several sleep-deprived nights?

SG: If you’re going to take a nap, you have to make sure you have long enough that you can actually go through all the various stages of sleep. You can always catch up on weekends or some other time, which would make a difference as well. Basically, the only way to really catch up on sleep is to get it. But I will say that as far as caffeine goes, if you want to get a really restorative sleep, drinking caffeine around the time that you want to go to bed is really unproductive. I did a whole documentary about this and there is no great answer on sleep. We’re not even sure exactly why a human being sleeps the way it does. We know that there seems to be a sweets spot for sleep and if you’re hitting it you will be much more productive.

BT: What is that “sweet spot?” How do you know if you’re hitting it?

SG: I think there is a set point that varies person to person. Probably some people need less, but seven to eight hours is a good amount. One way you can test yourself is put yourself in a dark room and sit or lie down on a chair. If you fall asleep within ten minutes, you’re probably sleep deprived. When I was shooting my documentary, I did that and was asleep in two and a half minutes! I used spend a lot of time with president Clinton, who was famous for getting only five hours, when I was working for him and I noticed that even he would catch up. He would catch up on plane rides and on the weekends. I think overall he was still recognizing the importance of sleep, which is a critical message.

BT: Is there any advice you would give the overworked student or the stressed out intern?

SG: I think that as with most things in life, whether you’re studying for a test or finishing a paper, you want to do your best, but everyone has to recognize at some point that the enemy of good is perfect. I also want to say that, as far as thinking about school and the future, don’t forget to do the things that really excite you.