Cooling the Fire Within - Part 1 Understanding Stress and the Body.

STRESS.  FRAZZLED. OUT OF CONTROL.  TIRED and WIRED... 

How often do you feel just off.  The stress of the day leaves you physically and emotionally exhausted and you just cannot handle one more thing on your plate. 

Or maybe you are carrying a bit of belly fat around with you that you haven't in prior years.  Stress is a pretty fascinating thing in that we are surrounded and in it all the time.  In fact the number one stressor in our life is actually just our digestive process.  Think about that.  Just the act of digesting puts a huge stress on our body.  Add to that workouts, daily work, our families and friends, what to make for dinner, how to get Johnny and Susie to practice and how to do it all with a smile on your face and think about how high our stress load is on a good day. ​

There is a complex science to hormones, however let's back it up to the basics and focus for this example, only on the stress response to the Hypothalamus, Pituitary gland,  and Adrenal glands in the greater endocrine system.  

The image below illustrates the hormonal stress response.

Trigger (stress either real or perceived) activates the hypothalamus to secrete CRH



CRH then calls for the pituitary gland to secrete ATCH



ATCH then calls for the adrenal cortex to secrete Cortisol



Cortisol then courses through the bloodstream signalling to numerous other entities that we are STRESSED and READY TO TAKE ACTION!  

​Cortisol, the so-called stress hormone, affects many areas of the body and if you have high levels of cortisol coursing through you continually, chronic stress, you run the risk of adrenal fatigue ultimately, and even more common ailments of hypertension (high blood pressure), chronic fatigue, poor sleep (which fosters more cortisol to be released), excessive cravings, and mood swings to name only a few. 

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Additionally, over time, high stress hormones make your body store fat, especially in your belly.  High cortisol is also linked to depression, food addiction, and craving high-sugar foods.  In other words, stress can make you fat.

To make the situation even more complex, if you are under chronic stress, your hormones shift.  Stress in a way pulls the hormone synthesis within the adrenal gland away from converting the master hormone (pregnenolone) into all the various hormones (DHEA, Testosterone, Estrogen, Progesterone and Cortisol) by stealing it's efforts and forcing it to only make Cortisol.  This is called the Pregnegalone or Cortisol Steal. 

So the longer you remain stressed, the more cortisol you will continue to make at the DETRIMENT of your other hormones!

The interesting catch here is that having high cortisol for too long means that you can ultimately have low cortisol as well - even high and low cortisol at the same time, on the same day.   Is your mind blown yet?

The big take away is that chronic stress leads to many health issues, weight gain, chronic illness, and a reduction in your overall health status.  

How to Manage Stress and mitigate the effects of high cortisol?  In my next post I will share with you the lifestyle interventions and targeted supplementation to help Cool the Cortisol Fire! 

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In health!










Jenniferlyn Kryvicky, MS, CFSPP, CHHC​
Certified Functional Nutritionist

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