Chronic Stress, It Doesn't Look Good on You

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Ah, Stress

Stress in small amounts, good. Relentless stress that never ends, bad.

Chronic stress is an ugly destructor of the body, believe me I know. From a hormone perspective, it up-regulates cortisol, which in-turn leads to elevated insulin levels (1).

Elevated Insulin Levels = Weight Gain

In addition, chronically elevated cortisol also steels the precursors for our sex hormones which can lead to hormone imbalances (2). In me, this led to high estrogen and low progesterone and it looked a lot like:

  • sleepless nights

  • crazy emotional swings

  • anxiety

  • and the disparity of “one more thing” on my plate

When we’re in a chronic state of stress, whether it be for a reason or a season, we have to reduce the contents of our stress bucket, so it stops overflowing. This might mean trading in those high intensity workouts for daily walks or hikes instead.

Context is everything. Knowing when to dial things back or push through is essential for balancing the body and getting back on track.

References
(1) Fung, Jason, MD (2016). The Obesity Code. Canada: Greystone

(2) Nutritional Therapy Association. Module 9 Endocrine. Olympia, WA.

Laura Snyder