Immune system – cortisol can disrupt the body's inflammatory response, which is key to controlling infection.Digestion – too much cortisol can affect your gut lining and gut flora balance, reducing your protection against microbes that you don’t want in your system.Brain function – stress can increase brain fog, memory loss, focus, concentration and creativity.This can result in PMS, bloating, breast tenderness, heavy/painful periods, and increased risk of fibroids, endometriosis and breast/ovarian cancer. Cortisol can impact the production of progesterone, leaving higher levels of oestrogen in your system. Oestrogen/progesterone – you need a good level of progesterone to balance out the effects of oestrogen.The more insulin around the more fat storing is likely! Insulin – when cortisol raises blood sugar, insulin is needed to take the sugar to our cells for use as energy.When we are low, everything struggles and we can suffer sluggish symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, memory loss, weight gain, constipation, hair loss, poor nails, PMS, low mood, low libido. Thyroid hormones ensure every cell has the energy it needs to function properly. Thyroid – when stress is prolonged, cortisol can affect our thyroid function.Effects on other hormonesĬortisol is the life saving hormone, so it takes priority over all the other hormones – Our bodies have evolved and adapted in many ways since caveman times, but our adrenal stress response is exactly the same. sex hormones – reproduction, monthly cycle, sex drive, bone health.digestive processes – digesting and absorbing vital nutrients, keeping out toxins.When you are in danger, all your reserves are diverted to survival mechanisms. cortisol has priority over everything.all that sugar that is mobilized for energy to fight or run from your source of stress isn’t being used up (unless you are exercising after each meal) – so it gets stored as FAT – usually around the middle where it can be easily accessed.We can’t escape from our modern day stresses – there is no rest & recover time – it’s unrelenting it’s designed to be temporary – once you escaped or killed the lion, you could rest in your cave and recover.Why our stress response can be problematic That’s the ‘fight or flight’ one that evolved to keep us alive. Unfortunately we only have ONE stress response. These days, not so many lions….But plenty of modern day stresses like pandemic viruses, job losses, isolation, relationship issues and lockdowns ! Our ‘fight or flight’ response would kick in – the brain would send a message to the adrenals to release adrenaline and cortisol When our brains think we might be in danger (in the old days a lion attack, these days ANYTHING).
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suppress other systems to conserve energy.pump sugar in to the blood so that your muscles and cells have the energy to run or fight.Cortisol's job is to keep us alive, so it’s pretty damn important! It’s released from the adrenal glands to wake us up in the morning, keep us alert during the day and help us manage any dangers or threats that come our way.