Did you know that stress is harmful to your immune system? Stress hormones have such a strong influence on your resistance that doctors give organ transplant recipients stress hormones to prevent the immune system from rejecting the 'new foreign organ'. Because many people are currently experiencing more stress than usual, we asked orthomolecular therapist Karlijn Hoebe to explain. What exactly is the disruptive effect of the stress hormone cortisol on your hormone balance? And what can you do to restore the equilibrium?
Cortisol: the silent saboteur of your hormone balance
Karlijn: 'When you experience stress, your adrenal glands produce stress hormones, including cortisol. One characteristic of stress hormones is that they switch off the immune system. This is to preserve the body's energy so that you can run away from the perceived stress factor, that proverbial 'sabre-toothed tiger' from times long past. In doing so, cortisol does what it is supposed to do: it helps you to perform/survive, and after the period of stress the amount of cortisol decreases again to healthy levels.
Prolonged stress
So cortisol is a hormone with an important function. The problem only arises when there is prolonged, persistent stress. Because this keeps cortisol levels continuously high and your body does not get the chance to recover. Prolonged stress is responsible for up to 90% of illnesses, including heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Did you know that stress hormones are so effective at undermining the immune system that doctors therapeutically give organ transplant recipients stress hormones? They do this to prevent the immune system from rejecting the foreign implant.
The influence of cortisol on your hormonal orchestra
Cortisol also has a very large influence on your hormone balance. You can think of all the hormones in the body as one large hormonal orchestra. When one hormone plays out of tune, this affects the other hormones in the orchestra. For example, elevated cortisol levels can lead to a reduced production of thyroid hormones. These thyroid hormones are essential for regulating our metabolism, and therefore also for maintaining a healthy weight and good energy production. The chronic elevation of stress hormones also causes the body to respond less effectively to insulin. As a result, your blood sugar levels are thrown off balance. People with a lot of stress therefore run a greater risk of becoming overweight and developing diabetes.
Counterparts
Cortisol and the night hormone melatonin are antagonists, in other words each other's counterparts. When cortisol rises, the amount of melatonin falls, and vice versa. If there is still too much cortisol 'in your system', it is difficult to fall asleep and you often do not get the good, deep sleep you need. This while a good night's rest is essential for your recovery.
Sex hormones
Cortisol also influences the production of sex hormones. From a biochemical point of view, progesterone is the precursor of the stress hormone cortisol. Progesterone can therefore be converted into cortisol. During periods of prolonged stress, when a lot of cortisol has to be produced, progesterone can therefore drop. After all, the production of stress hormones such as cortisol takes priority over the production of sex hormones. Possible complaints you might experience with a progesterone deficiency are: PMS, headaches/migraines, an irregular cycle and reduced fertility. An excess of cortisol also causes less testosterone to be produced, in both men and women. A low testosterone level can, among other things, make you feel more dejected and cause your libido to drop.
From nocebo to placebo effect
From the above we can conclude that stress is anything but helpful to your body. Among other things, media reporting causes many people to live in stress and fear at the moment. This is the result of negative thinking, or the nocebo effect. That is the opposite of the placebo effect, which manifests itself through positive thinking. It is not so much the situation, but above all our thoughts about the situation that determine the eventual emotions. We have no influence on the situation, but we do on our thoughts. While the majority of the world's population is worried, fortunately there is also a beautiful movement underway. People are turning inward and pausing to take stock. Accepting the situation and making the best of it is all we can do right now. You can see this period as a great exercise in surrender. Should this cause your stress levels to drop, then that has a positive effect on your physical, mental and emotional health.
Regulating cortisol in your body
Fortunately, there are plenty of things you can do yourself to better regulate the cortisol in your body. Here are a few tips:
Sport and exercise help to reduce cortisol. During exercise, happiness hormones such as endorphins and dopamine are produced. These hormones regulate the production of cortisol. In addition, exercise makes your body and mind stronger and more resilient so that you can better cope with stressful situations. However, do not exercise for longer than an hour, as this can actually cause cortisol levels to increase too sharply again. On YouTube there are plenty of workouts you can now do from your living room.
When you are stressed, your breathing becomes faster and shallower. Research shows that breathing exercises are a quick way to reduce stress and cortisol. The nice thing is that you can do breathing exercises anywhere.
Do not drink too much caffeine, because caffeinated drinks increase the amount of cortisol in your body. A cup of coffee a day can do little harm, as long as it does not become more than 2 to 3. Green and black tea also contain caffeine, so be moderate with these too. Research shows that many types of herbal tea actually have a beneficial effect.
It is also best to avoid fast sugars. It is a good idea to avoid fast sugars anyway because they are simply not good for your body, but all the more so if you are dealing with a lot of stress.
Eat enough healthy, unprocessed food rich in vitamin C, B5, magnesium and omega 3 fats. Red bell pepper in particular is a vitamin C powerhouse. You can choose to take supportive nutritional supplements, but do get good advice about this from an expert. Very regularly I hear it said about nutritional supplements that 'if it doesn't help, it won't hurt'. However, there is a lot of 'junk' on the market and that is not always true.
And should you experience a lot of stress, do not stress about that ;-). Above all, be very kind to yourself and to each other.
Bron: Holistik.nl - Karlijn Hoebe - orthomoleculair therapeut