The Impact of Chronic Stress on Health and Hormones
Stress: Even the word is stressful. We’ve ALL heard that stress impacts health…but do you really understand how? Let’s take a deep dive.
In the face of stress, our bodies unleash a series of responses, all dedicated to your survival. Imagine you're on a trail run in the woods, and suddenly a bear crosses your path. Your body shifts into overdrive, orchestrated by the nervous and endocrine systems. Here is what happens:
Activation of the Sympathetic Nervous System:
Your body initiates the fight-or-flight response.
Epinephrine and norepinephrine, stress hormones from the adrenals, begin to surge.
Blood glucose and oxygen spike, channeling energy to the brain, muscles, and heart.
Heart rate accelerates, redirecting blood flow away from the skin and gut.
Adipose tissue releases fatty acids.
Liver unleashes glycogen stores.
Kidneys retain sodium and water, gearing up for swift action.
This orchestrated symphony readies you for movement, accelerated breathing, rapid thinking – all while putting non-essential functions, like digestion, on pause.
Imagine the bear does not immediately run off and the stress persists for a few minutes:
The pituitary gland releases ACTH, signaling the adrenals to produce cortisol.
Cortisol, taking about 10 minutes to kick in, readies the body for prolonged stress.
Gluconeogenesis sparks, generating glucose to elevate blood sugar.
Proteins break down into amino acids through catabolism.
Stored triglycerides continue releasing from fat, producing ATP for cellular energy and cell repair.
Alertness, memory function, and vigilance escalate, fine-tuning your survival instincts.
Chronic Stress
The real challenge emerges when stress becomes constant. Here lies the issue – your body's protective mechanisms, designed for survival, now become the architects of wear and tear.
While the bear scenario is unlikely to become chronic stress, your body doesn't discern between a bear in the woods and the myriad stressors of modern life – traffic, sleep-deprived nights with a baby, excess sugar, poor hydration, too much coffee and alcohol, late nights, marital discord, financial woes, anxiety, stealth chronic infections, leaky gut, and more.
Let's revisit that physiological process triggered by stress, but now, imagine each protective mechanism is stuck in overdrive, never easing up.
Constantly Increased Blood Sugar:
Results in major blood sugar swings leading to cravings, crashes, excess insulin production, hormone imbalance, metabolic syndrome, pre-diabetes, and chronic inflammation.
Catabolism (Muscle Breakdown):
Leads to the breakdown of muscle tone, translating to weakened muscles, increased susceptibility to osteoporosis, joint issues, and more. Less muscle to store glucose contributes to blood sugar imbalances (see above) and increased fat storage.
Triglycerides Always Pumping:
Results in inflammation, elevated triglycerides, and high cholesterol levels…and more chronic inflammation.
Constant Cortisol Release:
Increased alertness and vigilance
A brain in perpetual need of oxygen, making it challenging to calm down, unwind, and achieve restful sleep.
Hinders the focus of energy on hormones, digestion, skin/hair/nail health, prevents the ability to relax and rest, and contributes to overthinking, feeling overwhelmed, and being easily triggered…and chronic inflammation.
Allostasis and Burn Out
Now, we all have that friend who can seemingly do it all without any apparent signs of distress. So the intricacies of how our bodies navigate stress might leave you wondering... Let’s talk about "allostasis," a brilliantly designed protective mechanism that allows the body to adapt, carrying the weight of stress without immediate symptoms. Essentially, our body adapts to the stress (for a time).
Allostasis is the body's knack for adaptation, a silent rearrangement of resources like energy and nutrients to combat stress effects.
It's not uncommon for individuals, especially moms, to feel fantastic initially as the body reallocates its resources to tackle stressors.
However, this is a delicate balancing act. While some may thrive for a while, continuously pushing the limits can lead to burnout. Burnout manifests uniquely for each individual and may include:
Loss of Energy
Weight gain or difficulty losing weight
Inability to gain muscle
Difficulty recovering after exertion
A deep sense of exhaustion
Thyroid and Adrenal Indicators
Autoimmune Conditions
Loss of feeling pleasure, joy, passion, or excitement (dopamine centers are numbed)
The sneaky nature of cortisol can mask these issues temporarily, creating a false sense of well-being. You are adapted and have become numb to the amount of cortisol in your blood. Your blood pressure rises, your heart rate increases, and this becomes your new baseline. Cortisol, in its role as a stress hormone, suppresses the immune system, breaks down muscles, causes ulcerations in the GI tract, and contributes to fatigue, body aches, pains, and blood sugar issues. Inflammation has to increase cholesterol to keep up with repairing damaged cells from the cortisol. Not only are your organs making a new normal, but you may mentally feel numbed out to the world as well- exciting things have lost luster, you go through the motions and make it through. When you stop and rest you may feel an increase in anxiety because of the addiction to the feeling of cortisol! Many women can bounce between the adaptation and burn-out phases multiple times.
Hormone and Fertility
Hormones orchestrate a delicate symphony in the body, and their balance is crucial for overall well-being. Cortisol is a hormone that is seen as an emergency, so it takes center stage in times of stress, diverting resources to ensure survival. The ovaries (and testes in men) produce estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone - our main sex hormones. They ALSO are responsible for producing adrenaline. Constant production of adrenaline uses all hormonal resources to make the adrenaline needed to handle your stress. Estrogren, progesterone, testosterone, etc all will be low because the ovaries are busy making adrenaline. Fertility, libido, menstrual dysregulation, hormonal imbalance will occur as a consequence.
Hormonal Cascade:
Cortisol and adrenaline become the priority hormone…your body’s goal is your survival, and that’s it.
In chronic stress, resources are consistently channeled towards cortisol and adrenaline production.
Other hormones not deemed necessary for immediate survival may be sidelined, such as progesterone and estrogen.
Protective Measures and Fertility:
The body, perceiving stress and survival mode, adopts protective measures.
Ovulation may be suppressed as the body prioritizes diverting resources away from reproductive functions.
This protective mechanism aims to prevent pregnancy during stressful periods when survival is the primary focus.
Understanding this intricate dance of hormones emphasizes the far-reaching impacts of chronic stress on reproductive health and overall hormonal balance. Prioritizing stress management becomes pivotal in fostering hormonal harmony and supporting overall well-being.