The stress of her husband's death and her increased work responsibilities led Irene to start overeating junk foods that triggered high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels. This best illustrates that persistent stress often:

encourages unhealthy behaviors that contribute to poor health.

Explanation:

Stress which is an emotional response to real or imagined challenges or threats, if not handled properly could influence one's health negatively. Persistent stress or excessive stress could encourage unhealthy behavior (not having time to eat good food) which would promote ill health.

The stress of her husband's death and her increased work responsibilities led Irene to start overeating junk foods that triggered high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels. This best illustrates that persistent stress often:  encourages behaviors that contribute to poor health.

Explanation:

Too much stress or a strong response to stress, is harmful. It can set you up for general poor health as well as specific physical or psychological illnesses like infection, heart disease, or depression.

Persistent and unrelenting stress often leads to anxiety and unhealthy behaviors like overeating and abuse of alchohol or drugs.

Emotional states like grief or depression and health conditions like an overactive thyroid, low blood sugar, or heart attack can also cause stress.