STRESS and the Impact it has on your Hormones

Stress, we have all heard it and in the past few years it has become very clear just how important it is to our livelihoods.

Cortisol(stress hormone) is produced by the adrenals. The adrenals sit just above the kidneys and when our brain senses stress it tells your adrenals to produce cortisol.

When you have a lot of cortisol being produced in the body, we see chaos starting to happen. Adrenals support metabolic function, inflammation, blood pressure, forming memories (it is connected to your brain function!), blood sugar regulation, stress and anxiety, mood stabilizing, hair thinning and hair loss, skin issues, period issues, sleep issues (hard time falling asleep, staying asleep), and also hypothyroidism (impacted by cortisol).

Your adrenals are your body’s SWAT team, they get called in when your body needs it. If your cortisol is high or low, it is that way for a reason. Your body is always seeking equilibrium so a high level or a low level of cortisol is your body telling you that it needs help.

There are 3 stages to stress, alarm, adaptation and exhaustion.

In the alarm stage, your cortisol and DHEA levels are high and you recognize that you are stressed and that you are doing too much, you may feel anxious or have trouble sleeping. If your stress is short lived you bounce back and recover.

The adaptation stage is when you have unrelenting stress over time and your adrenals begin to tire because they can’t keep up. Your cortisol levels and DHEA come down and look normal but this is the tipping point if you don’t correct your stressors.

The exhaustion stage is where the adrenals give up and less and less cortisol is produced, you become fatigued and become dependent on that “pick me up” to get through the day.

When cortisol is high it lowers estrogen levels which can result in deposition of fat. If you experience chronic stress, your estrogen is continually lowered and hormone imbalance symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, sleep problems and mood swings can get much worse. High cortisol also reduces serotonin levels which may make your moods even worse, can lead to depression or trouble sleeping.

Stress is a given in everyone’s life but if we can help mitigate it, our body’s will be better for it.

How to balance cortisol levels through lifestyle:

• Parasympathetic work for your body (rest, breathing, heart math, getting outside in nature)

• Exercise

• Meditating

• Yoga

• Vagal nerve exercises (gargling, humming, singing)

• Contrast showers (hot/cold)

• Dry brush to stimulate nervous system

• Balance your blood sugar (unregulated blood sugar = unregulated adrenals)

• Stop fasting

• Expose yourself to sunlight

• Blue blocker glasses, use F.LUXX on your computer

• Eye mask at night to make it completely dark

• Red light therapy

• Petting a dog/cat or any type of pet (maybe a babydoll sheep!)

Adaptogens that help support healthy cortisol levels:

Alarm stage

• Phosphatidylserine – helps to regulate cortisol levels

• Amino acids L-theanine and GABA , these guys help reduce anxiety and stress

• Ashwagandha can help with relaxation and balancing for the adrenal glands

Adaptation stage

• Rhodiola

• Holy Basil

• Maca

• Ashwagandha

Exhaustion stage

• Combination of above herbs with additional adrenal support

• DHEA to balance cortisol

Women and men respond to stress differently. When a woman is stressed, she usually cares for the home and children and goes to her trusted friends for help and support, this is in place of a man’s response to stress which is usually the fight or flight response.

If a woman can find things that bring her happiness that involve things other than toxic foods that are not nourishing to her body, she can lower cortisol levels and increase oxytocin.

The bottom line is that we need to focus more on nourishing our bodies instead of focusing on how much work we are getting done in order to gain acceptance into society. Our health depends on it.

If you or someone you know is under alot of stress, reach out to them or help them get the help they need, check your local resources or the many that are available online. Sometimes it is as little as a shoulder to lean on.

Find the beauty in your journey.

Your health is your wealth,

Kyla