Are You Suffering from the 21st Century Epidemic?
How Stress Effects Your Health
Every spring that dreadful day seems to sneak up on us: Daylight Savings. Most of us will wake the morning of, and many mornings after, feeling drowsy or like we are "off" and need more sleep. This lack of energy will continue until our biological clock reprograms itself and evolves to the new time setting. Our natural rhythm has been disrupted—our internal clock is still saying it is one hour earlier than the time on the alarm clock.
Because of the earth's rotation, almost all organisms function under a 24-hour day/night cycle called the Circadian Rhythm. This daily rhythm is not simply a response to alternating changes of day and night, it arises from an intrinsic timekeeping system referred to as the “biological clock.” This clock prepares us for changes in our physical environments, such as the rising and setting of the sun, and enables our cells and body systems to behave appropriately at the right time of day.
Mammals have an area of the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) that functions as the master circadian pacemaker, controlling when we sleep and rest, and when we are awake and active. Circadian rhythms also control:
- Body temperature
- Blood pressure
- Heart activity
- Oxygen consumption
- Hormone secretion
- Metabolism
Disruption of the circadian rhythm due to lifestyle factors plays a role in the development of metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes.
It is widely accepted that an adrenal steroid hormone called Glucocorticoid (cortisol) has a daily variation in its circulating levels and is directly under the control of the circadian rhythm. Cortisol plays a crucial role in our adaptive response to various types of stress. Cortisol levels for a normal circadian rhythm look something like this:
When we are under stress, our circadian rhythm is affected. There is, however, a huge variety when it comes to different types of stressors. The three major categories are:
- Emotional
- Death of loved one
- Working with or for someone that is unpleasant
- Financial changes
- Divorce
- Moving to a new location
- Dietary (glycemic dysregulation)
- Low carb diet
- High carb diet
- Alcoholism
- Skipping meals
- Ingesting foods that trigger an immune or allergic response such as gluten, dairy, corn or peanuts
- Pain and hidden inflammation/infection
- Physical trauma such as motor vehicle accidents, sports injuries, surgeries
- Diseases such as arthritis, bursitis, or anything that ends in “itis,” which means “inflammation”
- Unknown influences such as liver toxicity due to heavy metal exposure, or infections that have gone undetected such as parasites and poor gut bacteria
Humans were not designed to endure chronic stress.
We have not evolved to handle the modern day stresses listed above. Our bodies hold on to our innate need for survival—that is why the stress response is called "fight or flight."
When we are locked in any of the situations listed above, we cannot handle it and, additionally, we have a revved up system that is unable to act. When this happens, cortisol levels go up and stay up. Consequently, we suppress our immune systems, causing blood sugar handling dysregulation, and we become unable to handle mental or emotional stress because we are stuck in over-reactive mode.
With constant overstimulation, many people experience HPA-D and cortisol dysregulation (the amount of cortisol available throughout the day and throughout our circadian rhythm cycle). HPA-D is a brain-to-body hormone dysregulation that affects many processes throughout and is the root cause of many chronic health conditions. HPA-D and an inefficient circadian rhythm can display any or all of the following symptoms:
- Excessive fatigue
- Dry skin
- Neck/back pain
- Inability to hold a chiropractic adjustment
- Food allergies
- Environmental allergies
- Hair loss
- Hormone imbalance
- Irritability
- Inability to lose weight
- Fatigue headache
- Poor immune response
- Insomia
- Depression
- Cravings
- Dizziness
- Anxiety
- Lack of concentration
- Poor memory
- Gastrointestinal issues such as indigestion or bowel problems
I see this daily in my practice as a functional nutritionist. We run a lab-based saliva panel that tests the cortisol level several times throughout the day to determine what the patient’s rhythm looks like and when it is deficient. Then we treat the underlying causes rather than the symptoms. This is functional medicine.
People have chronic health issues not being addressed by mainstream medicine. While these health issues may require lifestyle and dietary changes, they also most likely require healing of HPA-D. If you are experiencing these symptoms, contact me. I know how to help you so your body can start healing. Sign up for a 20-minute Health Discovery Session
with me for $49 and we’ll get you started on a path toward better health today.
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