Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal axis Dysregulation, HPA-D for short, is the chronic activation of the body’s stress-response system. If the HPA axis is constantly in overdrive, the body’s cells, tissues and organ systems become resilient to changes in physiological needs (stress) and the metabolic reserve is depleted. 

I find in my clinic that there are three reasons a person has HPA-D: emotional stress, dietary stress, and pain/hidden inflammation. Sugar and processed foods are major contributors to two of these three. If you’ve been reading along with this four-part series, you have learned that sugar really does a number on our hormones. 

The adrenal glands, a major part of the HPA axis, are in charge of maintaining the correct ratio of hormones throughout the body, especially cortisol (the stress hormone). In small quantities, cortisol speeds tissue repair. In larger quantities, it depresses your body’s immune defense system. In a perfect world, our adrenals should only produce extra cortisol in a flight or fight scenario (running from a saber tooth tiger, to be extreme). Sugar and processed foods, however, trick the body into thinking it’s in trouble (stress) so it produces cortisol to compensate. This creates a roller coaster requiring the adrenal glands to fire each time sugar is consumed in order to manage blood sugar drops. 

Sugar is also highly inflammatory, causing damage to every cell in the body. It forms a sticky coating over many cells (glycation), causing an inability for the body to recognize insulin because too many cells “look” like insulin. The body doesn’t know which to process and, in all truth, starts to freak out. Thus insulin resistance is created--a condition in which you have both elevated blood sugar and elevated insulin production. 

People with insulin resistance tend to be chronic snackers who eat sugar for pleasure. They often crave sweets and must have dessert after every meal. Symptoms of insulin resistance include fatigue (very common after every meal), depression, and infertility. Weight gain also a symptom as excess sugar is stored as fat.

Blood sugar dysregulation and insulin resistance are primary causes of many diseases. Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are created when glycated proteins begin to harden. If AGEs bind with collagen inside a joint, arthritis is developed and can sometimes lead to the need for amputations of the lower extremities. AGEs can also clog smaller capillaries inside a cornea and cause blindness. This is why some diabetics lose their eyesight. AGEs also bind to nerve receptor sites in the brain, creating a link between sugar consumption and Alzheimer’s. In fact, some are starting to call Alzheimer’s diabetes type 3.

Likewise, sugar is hard on your heart. If glycation starts on the inside of arteries or blood vessels in the heart, the process injures walls and blocks the function of the immune system, preventing white blood cells from getting in. The immune system then beefs up its inflammation response, but inflammation inside the arteries is bad--it opens the door to heart disease. Over-consumption of sugar is turning out to be more important to heart disease than cholesterol.