Are Hormones Wreaking HAVOC In Your Body??

Part 2

If you have ever uttered the phrase, “I’m so stressed out!” (and who hasn’t?!), you are likely very aware that experiencing high doses of stress can have a tremendous impact on your entire state of being—mentally, emotionally and physically—sometimes to the point of compromising your overall health. In fact, stress is commonly considered to be at the root cause of ALL health problems in the human body. For this reason, it’s easy to conclude that stress is BAD.

In reality, stress is neither bad nor good…it’s simply way to describe the natural forces that occur when things interact. Lying down on a bench places a certain degree of force, or stress, on the bench and on your body, but this is not necessarily a positive or negative stress. What may create a problem, however, is the SUMMATION of stressors that together exert excessive amounts of force…just as lying down on a bench and progressively stacking 10 lb weights on your chest might result in a breathing problem.

In daily life, our bodies are subject to countless stressors that affect our bodies, thoughts, emotions and overall health. Whether the stress comes from carrying heavy loads, breathing polluted air, dealing with relationships, or worrying about work or finances, our bodies are constantly working to adapt and respond to every situation. Stressors today are much more plentiful than they were 10,000 years ago, so we are subject to a constant barrage of chemical, mental, and physiological forces that altogether place a HUGE demand on our biochemistry.

In this second part of this article series, I’ll discuss how your body adapts to stress from a hormonal standpoint, focusing on one major hormone known as cortisol. You may have heard of cortisol commonly referred to as a “stress hormone.” But to understand its role in adaptation to stress, it’s important to also understand where it comes from…and it all begins within two important glands known as the adrenals.

What are the Adrenal Glands?

The adrenal glands are two pea-sized glands that each sit right above one of your kidneys. These incredibly important glands regulate some of the most critical hormones in your body. The adrenals work with the hypothalamus of your brain to regulate key stress hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol, which are released in your body in response to environmental stressors. The purpose of your adrenal glands is to help your body cope with stresses and survive. Your adrenal glands are literally your “glands of stress.” In today’s society, you can probably guess that these two little glands have a BIG job.

As noted by adrenal function expert, Dr. James Wilson:

“The hormones secreted by your adrenals influence all of the major physiological processes in your body. They closely affect the utilization of carbohydrates and fats, the conversion of fats and proteins into energy, the distribution of stored fat (especially around your waist and at the sides of your face), normal blood sugar regulation, and proper gastrointestinal function. The protective activity of anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant hormones secreted by the adrenals helps to minimize negative and allergic reactions to alcohol, drugs, foods, and environmental allergens. After mid-life (menopause in women), the adrenal glands gradually become the major source of sex hormones circulating throughout the body in both men and women. These hormones themselves have a whole host of physical, emotional, and psychological effects, from the level of your sex drive to the tendency to gain weight. Every athlete knows that muscular strength and stamina are acutely affected by the adrenal hormones, more commonly known as steroids.” (Pg. 4 Adrenal Fatigue, James Wilson.)

With these tiny organs playing such a consequential role in so many aspects of health, it’s no wonder I place such emphasis on proper adrenal gland function in my practice!
One of the key indicators of proper adrenal function is the level of cortisol hormones they produce.

What does Cortisol do?

Under any stressful circumstance, your body automatically kicks into some degree of a “fight-or-flight” response. As this happens, the adrenal glands release adrenaline and cortisol to tap in to your body’s immediate energy reserves by breaking down tissues, increasing blood sugar levels and preparing your body to take urgent action.

“Cortisol helps regulate blood pressure and cardiovascular function, as well as the metabolism of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Cortisol is secreted in response to any stress in the body, physical or psychological, leading to a breakdown of muscle protein.” (Kalish, Dan. Pg. 28-29)

Consider for a moment that every stressor prompts an adrenal response to release cortisol…and then consider how many stressors, large and small, bombard our bodies on a daily basis. You can imagine how hard our adrenal glands need to work to keep up with our daily lifestyles and how the constant production of cortisol can start to take its toll on our health. These are some of the effects of cortisol in response to stressors:

• Mobilizes energy (glucose) and other substances to fuel action during fight or flight response

• Increases glucose formation and protein breakdown

• Increases “insulin resistance” in the peripheral tissues

• Slows digestion

• Inhibits the production and effects of sex hormones

• Increases sodium retention, leading to high blood pressure

• Suppresses immune system function

• Alters thyroid function

• Depletes the body of key substances, such as Magnesium, Zinc, Glutamine, and Carnitine

Cortisol is by no means a “bad” hormone. In fact, its job is to keep our bodies functioning in states of stress. However, when your body is under a chronic state of stress, excessive cortisol can have very negative consequences. In the long run, chronic stress causes your adrenal glands to work overtime, and can actually start to exhaust their ability to produce cortisol.

“If the adrenal glands are perpetually called upon to produce cortisol, they eventually weaken, leading to adrenal fatigue and ultimately exhaustion—adrenal burnout—which can increase bodyfat and cause fatigue and depression, among other symptoms.” (Kalish, Dan. Pg. 28-29)

Even your propensity to develop certain kinds of diseases and your ability to respond to chronic illness is influenced significantly by the adrenal glands. The more chronic the illness, the more critical the adrenal response becomes. The following are some long-term effects of being stuck in a “chronic stress response”:

• Diabetes

• Cardiovascular Disease, High Blood Pressure, Elevated Blood Fats

• Infectious Diseases

• Gastrointestinal Illness

• Autoimmune/Inflammatory illnesses

• Menstrual Irregularities

• Osteoporosis

• Detoxification problems

• Depression

• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

• Cancer

• All sorts of physical aches and pains related to visceral-somatic reflex

Clearly, given the potential consequences of overworking the adrenal glands and the cumulative effects of elevated cortisol levels over time, it is worth understanding the extent to which your adrenals may already be exhausted in response to your chronic everyday stressors.

So, how do you know if your adrenal glands are fatigued?

In my experience, even individuals who come in for a fitness program and seem healthy on the surface are usually in some degree of adrenal stress. I have NEVER seen a normal adrenal test with a new client.

The best way to test for adrenal stress is through a simple saliva test. This test is taken on an average day of the week to measure your cortisol and another important hormone, DHEA-S, across four specific times throughout the day.

Cortisol rhythm testing is extremely useful in many ways. It allows you to know how stressed out your adrenal glands are, and at which specific times of the day you are most subject to stress responses. This allows you to determine more precisely when your lifestyle adjustments might have the most impact in reducing your stress levels.

Your cortisol levels also provide direction in establishing an effective exercise program at the right intensity for you. For instance, because elevated cortisol levels make it more difficult to lose fat, and because high intensity exercise raises cortisol even further, testing with high stress and cortisol levels means you would need to exercise at lower intensities in order to lose fat. The reverse is true as well; when cortisol is normal, then exercise intensity can be higher for fat loss.

Cortisol measurements can also be a major indicator of the effectiveness of your therapeutic programs. I recommend running the saliva tests every 3-5 months with my clients to provide a benchmark against which to measure their progress and make sure that their programs are continuing to have positive effects on their bodies.