This video explains how stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline negatively impact women's overall health, including weight, immune system, and blood sugar. It details how chronic stress can keep the body in a "fight or flight" state, disrupting normal hormonal balance. The speaker also offers practical advice on diet and stress management techniques, such as meditation and specific herbs, to help regulate these hormones and improve health.
Key Takeaways
1
Stress significantly impacts overall health, with 75-90% of doctor visits being stress-related.
2
Our nervous system has a "fight or flight" mode that releases stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, and a "resting and digesting" mode essential for long-term health and hormone balance.
3
Chronic stress, even from small daily upsets or unresolved childhood trauma, can keep the body stuck in fight or flight, leading to hormonal imbalances.
4
Elevated cortisol from chronic stress can cause weight gain around the waistline, increase cravings for unhealthy foods, and lead to muscle loss.
5
High levels of cortisol suppress the immune system, making you more susceptible to infections and illnesses, and can also accelerate cellular aging.
6
Stress directly impacts blood sugar, potentially causing initial spikes followed by dangerous drops (hypoglycemia) due to insulin overcompensation, ultimately leading to insulin resistance.
7
A balanced diet focusing on protein, healthy fats, and high-fiber vegetables, while limiting simple and starchy carbs, is crucial for preventing stress-induced blood sugar swings.
8
Effective stress management techniques include meditation, mindfulness, exercise, hobbies, spending time in nature, journaling, and using adaptogenic herbs and nutrients.
No matching segments found
0:01
good morning and welcome to another
0:03
edition of today's nutrition where we
0:05
look at what is new in research what is
0:07
hot in the news or any topic that can
0:10
help us lose weight feel great or live
0:12
longer better so today's topic is the
0:16
stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline
0:19
and how it's really hitting women's
0:21
hormones and really overall health these
0:25
days in fact 75 to 90% of all doctors
0:30
visit
0:31
are for stress related complaints and
0:34
ailments stress plays an important part
0:37
in like everything headaches high blood
0:40
pressure heart problems diabetes skin
0:42
conditions asthma arthritis depression
0:45
anxiety hormone disruptions and even
0:48
immune problems like autoimmunity and
0:51
cancer 75 to 90% of complaints it is
0:56
practically the whole day for the doctor
0:59
and what are the going to give you
1:02
something to take for the problem you
1:05
know I want to give you information so
1:07
you know where it's coming from why it's
1:12
happening and then give you some tips on
1:15
what kind of action to take so you have
1:17
to understand our nervous system it's
1:20
amazing and a big part of it is just
1:23
automatic it controls our body's
1:26
functioning without a thought from you
1:29
thank goodness you don't have to think
1:31
about okay now it's time to digest or
1:34
now it's time for the heartbeat you know
1:36
now it's time to control blood pressure
1:38
hormones everything this part of the
1:41
nervous system is divided into what I
1:44
like to call the fight or flight
1:47
emergency preparedness or the resting
1:50
and digesting longevity
1:53
preparedness all the long-term good
1:55
things happen in the resting and
1:57
digesting hormones balance immune system
2:01
is effective healing takes place sleep
2:05
of course the resting and digesting in
2:08
the fight or flight stress hormones like
2:10
cortisol and adrenaline are released and
2:13
all of this is necessary we need both
2:17
but at appropriate
2:19
times cortisol is that vital component
2:24
for the survival tool kit it primes us
2:28
for Action it sharpens our awareness it
2:30
mobilizes energy you know so if we need
2:33
to fight or flee it's our nervous system
2:36
you know that puts us in figh ORF flight
2:39
without cortisol our ancestors would not
2:42
have survived that tiger it wouldn't
2:45
even been scanning the grasses for the
2:47
tiger that predator-filled environment
2:50
of the past yeah and today you know if
2:53
your cortisol doesn't Elevate when
2:56
you're walking down a dark alley in a
2:59
bad part of town first of all I don't
3:00
know why you're there and but you see
3:03
someone lurking in the shadows well if
3:06
your cortisol is not activated well I'm
3:08
going to tell you you're
3:10
toast that hormone is what saves us but
3:14
it also gets us up in the morning you
3:16
get a little boost in the morning makes
3:17
you alert ready to greet the day it also
3:20
fuels our capacity to face
3:23
challenges do our best at work and it
3:27
supports our ability to adapt
3:30
even more our hormonal responses are
3:34
designed to maintain balance that's how
3:36
they're designed balance
3:39
homeostasis normally it does a great job
3:42
at putting on the gas and then letting
3:44
off the gas and getting back into the
3:46
resting and digesting mode as soon as
3:49
the challenge over that's where we
3:51
should be most of the time but when we
3:54
do face challenges hormones adjust our
3:57
heart rate our blood pressure and our
4:00
energy supplies to survive that short
4:03
term this response is subject to a lot
4:07
of disruption after long-term stress
4:10
because it can get stuck in that high
4:12
alert state or if there has been a
4:17
traumatic situation or an emotional
4:20
upset that is not resolved so who hasn't
4:23
had that you know trauma big te big
4:27
trauma or Little T little trauma little
4:30
up sets that just keep you riled up all
4:32
the time difficulties at work
4:34
difficulties at home politics being over
4:36
scheduled overcommitted anything that
4:40
keeps you ruminating about the problem
4:43
these are the little teas that can start
4:47
to disrupt our normal resilience and
4:50
then we get stuck in that fight or
4:53
flight which throws a whole monkey
4:56
wrench into the hormone system and the
4:59
Big T
5:00
well there have been studies lots of
5:03
studies and a famous one is called the
5:06
ace study and that stands for acute
5:10
childhood
5:11
experience and that followed the health
5:15
of people who had unresolved trauma as a
5:19
child well it turns out they were at
5:23
huge increased risk for heart disease
5:25
cancer autoimmune disease all sorts of
5:28
things I mean they get stuck in that
5:30
fight or flight when they're very young
5:33
did not get resolved they didn't get
5:35
support and that disruption stayed
5:39
simmering in the background they stayed
5:41
on high alert their whole lives so they
5:46
also die much younger so we need to be
5:49
on top of these hormones and know what's
5:51
going on I often recommend women run the
5:55
Dutch test which stands for dried urine
5:58
test comprehensive hormones you know we
6:02
are just prone to hormonal upset we are
6:05
complex creatures and those hormon
6:09
hormonal upsets can give you symptoms of
6:12
anxiety depression anger irritability
6:16
fatigue weight gain night sweats hot
6:20
flashes insomnia cramps Mis periods
6:25
maybe even just being impatient or
6:27
feeling disconnected from the ones you
6:30
love I mean the list goes on and you can
6:33
tell from that list it's not pleasant
6:36
sex hormones run our life and can ensure
6:42
the quality of our life when I look at
6:45
the results people bring in from the
6:47
Dutch test most often I see cortisol
6:51
either elevated or tanked and there is a
6:55
direct correlation on how sex hormones
6:58
are being hijacked by our stress when we
7:01
get stuck in fight ORF flight things go
7:03
into emergency road mode and nothing
7:06
longterm or associated with longevity is
7:10
prioritized so starting with weight a
7:14
favorite place to learn about the stress
7:18
hormone
7:19
cortisol is going to suppress estrogen
7:22
and progesterone and that is disastrous
7:25
for women's hormones in several ways
7:28
number one cortisol add absolutely
7:30
causes weight to be unevenly distributed
7:34
to the waistline instead of the hips and
7:37
thighs where normally women should gain
7:39
weight that chronic elevated cortisol
7:43
leads to subtle but significant changes
7:46
in appetite
7:49
metabolism and body
7:51
composition it promotes fat storage
7:55
around the middle visceral fat is what
7:57
it's called and you know and not really
8:01
just an aesthetic cosmetic concern but
8:04
serious health risk when it wraps around
8:07
your vital organs liver pancreas
8:09
intestine that's been related to a lot
8:12
of health problems blood sugar blood
8:15
pressure heart disease gallbladder
8:18
disease cholesterol triglycerides I mean
8:21
even certain types of cancer so that
8:25
weight gain around the middle is not
8:28
good next thing it causes Cravings that
8:32
are so disrupting to
8:34
self-esteem women think they don't have
8:37
enough willpower something's wrong with
8:39
them they can't control themselves when
8:41
in fact cortisol is going to drive that
8:44
behavior in attempt to calm the stress
8:47
and Elevate dopamine that feel-good
8:49
hormone stress is the driver cortisol
8:52
directly influences the appetite and
8:55
craving for those high calorie high fat
8:59
sugary Foods under stress people turn to
9:02
that food those are the foods that are
9:05
also going to be highest in calories so
9:08
it's not you it is hormones are
9:12
us third thing it does for weight
9:16
long-term stress is going to favor fat
9:20
and eat up muscle which is where you
9:23
burn calories 24/7 so that that cortisol
9:27
has what they call a catabolic or a
9:29
breaking down effect on muscle the
9:32
reason two reasons first it's going to
9:35
stimulate the conversion of muscle
9:38
tissue into glucose so the body can like
9:41
get that energy so it can fight or flee
9:45
so that's what it's doing it for you
9:47
know it's going to be good to help you
9:50
survive in the long in the short term
9:51
but not long term second it prevents the
9:55
synthesis of new muscle so it does this
9:59
by decreasing the formation of protein
10:01
and increasing the rate of breakdown so
10:03
this imbalance not only prevents new
10:06
muscle growth but also weakens existing
10:08
muscles so for those of you going to the
10:11
gym or working out and not seeing any
10:14
gain this is why you got to get the
10:17
cortisol balanced fourth thing thyroid
10:22
what I thought we were talking about
10:23
adrenals well yeah adrenal stress
10:26
hormones are going to con inhibit the
10:28
conversion of thyroid hormone T4 which
10:32
is inactive to T3 the active hormone and
10:36
we all know thyroid is the gland that's
10:38
most associated with weight and
10:40
Metabolism fifth thing for
10:43
weight it's going to have a priority not
10:46
only for cortisol over estrogen and
10:49
progesterone but also over testosterone
10:51
and women have that hormone too it's not
10:54
just men but it also governs everything
10:57
from muscle to metabolism to libido
11:01
stress is just a bugger in so many ways
11:04
and it also inhibits human growth
11:05
hormone which is associated with all
11:08
things good okay moving on to the next
11:12
problem that is associated with too many
11:14
stress hormones so as if weight's not
11:17
bad enough it also affects our immune
11:19
system this constant state of alert
11:22
reaks Havoc high levels of
11:26
cortisol are going to suppress the
11:28
immune system by lowering your white
11:31
blood cell count those lymphocytes that
11:34
fight off infection this also reduces
11:37
the body's ability to produce new
11:40
antibodies and that decreases
11:42
communication between cells so there's
11:44
no immune response compromise immune
11:47
system leaving us susceptible to
11:50
infections and illnesses it basically is
11:53
just too preoccupied with the fight or
11:56
flight emergency and it just doesn't see
11:59
the infection ction it's just
12:01
preoccupied moreover that high cortisol
12:04
is going to lead to other health
12:06
problems that further impact the immune
12:09
system you know when we're talking about
12:10
all the things before like the blood
12:12
pressure the diabetes and
12:14
obesity cortisol impacts all of those
12:18
and in turn they're all going to be even
12:20
harder on the IM immune system and I
12:24
thought this was like very disturbing it
12:27
causes a 25% increase in cellular aging
12:32
and old cells are not going to be as
12:36
immune robust so each of these
12:39
conditions impair our immune system and
12:41
so it's like a you know just a vicious
12:44
cycle it's a Snowball Effect and that
12:46
evil inflammation that gets even built
12:50
up by the uh elevated cortisol so
12:54
inflammation oh and autoimmune disease I
12:57
mean it's just like so many bad things
12:59
are happening happening so prolong
13:01
cortisol and all these health risk boy
13:03
you got to be on top of it you know so
13:05
if you're having symptoms of persistent
13:08
tiredness
13:09
irritability concentration problems just
13:13
out of sorts might be your body just
13:15
pleading for a
13:17
change next thing that I am very
13:20
familiar with from way back when because
13:23
of my sugar and
13:25
carb
13:26
addiction is a critical yet often
13:30
overlooked aspect of stress and that is
13:34
direct impact on blood sugar
13:37
specifically
13:39
hypoglycemia or low blood sugar and
13:42
there is a strong correlation between
13:44
two of these stress hormones key role
13:48
one of the key roles is to increase
13:51
glucose get that blood sugar up so you
13:54
know you can fight you can flee you can
13:57
think however what happens when it's not
14:00
followed by physical activity that uses
14:02
up the glucose and in Modern Life stress
14:06
doesn't necessarily lead to physical
14:08
exertion so that glucose builds up and
14:12
accumulates in the bloodstream initially
14:15
this may cause an increase in blood
14:17
sugar but then you know you get the
14:20
insulin
14:21
overcompensating leading to a
14:23
significant drop which is low blood
14:26
sugar and it can be dangerous but at the
14:30
very least it's going to make you feel
14:33
shaky maybe even make your heart race
14:36
going to make you dizzy you're not going
14:38
to think you're not going to be able to
14:39
concentrate don't even try to take a
14:42
test and ultimately this leads to
14:45
insulin resistance as well you know so
14:47
the irony is here the body's own
14:49
response to protect itself ends up
14:51
causing more stress and chronic stress
14:56
and you know people that have diabetes
14:59
that makes it even worse because they're
15:01
really at risk to having problems with
15:03
stress and blood sugar irregularities so
15:06
what can we do to prevent stress induced
15:09
hypoglycemia I got to say diet first and
15:12
foremost but maybe monitoring monitoring
15:16
how your diet is affecting your stress
15:19
response that's why I like a continuous
15:22
glucose monitor a test you know
15:25
immediately oh my gosh when I eat that
15:27
my blood sugar goes up higher than it
15:29
should oh my gosh then insulin is going
15:31
to be coming out and then I'm going to
15:33
have low blood sugar not what you want
15:35
to be doing you don't want to be chasing
15:37
that roller coaster so second thing
15:40
adopting effective stress management
15:43
techniques are essential you know we're
15:46
going to talk about that in a minute but
15:48
first let's talk diet you know eating
15:51
balanced meals and snacks if
15:54
necessary really focusing on protein
15:58
fats and and vegetables that are high
16:01
fiber and that's going to prevent the
16:02
big swings avoiding Foods in simple and
16:06
even starchy carbs are going to be a
16:09
primary way to prevent spikes and
16:13
drops so you know nine servings of
16:16
vegetables limiting fruit to no more
16:19
than two every day that's really
16:22
important healthy fats like olive oil
16:25
and nuts are going to keep blood sugar
16:27
steady up to 12 hours afterwards and
16:31
plenty of protein current
16:33
recommendations keep getting bigger but
16:36
protein really is key and we're talking
16:38
try to get 30 grams at every meal for
16:43
stress hormone
16:44
balancing and I haven't said much about
16:48
getting the stress response under
16:49
control in the first place but there are
16:52
some key players meditation and prayer
16:56
mindfulness where you're aware of those
16:58
thoughts and you learn to control them
17:01
exercise Hobbies being in nature
17:04
journaling and then the herbs and
17:06
nutrients that are wonderful little
17:08
bandages while you're getting the stress
17:10
managed and getting your quality of life
17:13
back ashwagandha magnesium passion flow
17:17
valarian root eleanine skull cap Gaba
17:20
holy
17:21
basil kavak Cava so many wonderful ones
17:24
in fact every culture we've studied has
17:27
a whole list of herbs for stress
17:31
humankind we're just worriors so it's
17:34
kind of normal to have to learn how to
17:36
control that Galloping mind so we are
17:40
well adapted doing that but we have to
17:43
take those steps so anyway thanks for
17:45
listening to another edition of today's
17:48
nutrition I hope you can listen to this
17:50
again on on my website Deb for.com on
17:53
iTunes or any place you listen to
17:56
podcast under today's nutrition have a
17:59
great day and consider this being a
18:02
great day to stop stressing
Start a conversation
Ask anything about How To Keep Stress From Derailing Your Hormones
100/100 free messages remaining
AI responses may be inaccurate. Verify important information.
How To Keep Stress From Derailing Your Hormones
Deb Ford DCN RDN
31 views
Jul 24, 2024
18:05
Stress can play a part in problems such as headaches, high blood pressure, heart problems, diabetes, skin conditions, asthma, arthritis, depression, anxiety, hormone disruption and even immune problems like autoimmunity and cancer. Listen to what you can do.