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Don’t Let the
Cortisol Blues
Get You Down
This Holiday Season |
By John R. Johnston M.D.
Holidays are full of great memories, fun gatherings, and
wonderful food. For many though, the season can derail
our goals for health and vitality. Full of temptations to
eat and drink the wrong things, spend too much money,
and obligate ourselves to too many functions. Stress,
lack of sleep, rich foods and alcohol can have its toll.
Historically this is the time of year that doctor’s offices and hospitals are
full of sick and anxious patients. January brings a clinic full of regretful
people looking to find the antidote for their holiday indulgences.
Your adrenal glands are the first responders to stress. They are
small glands that sit atop both your kidneys. If they are healthy and
functioning well they will produce cortisol to energize the body.
Normally your cortisol levels will follow a daily rhythm. They rise
early in the morning preparing you for the day and will taper off as the
day proceeds. Stressful events, poor sleep, rich foods and alcohol can
disrupt this pattern, playing havoc with our metabolism and causing
us to gain weight, lose energy and affect our mood. This can lower
our immune system and make us more prone to the illnesses that we
associate with the winter months. The adrenals also produce the basic
hormones that are essential to create estrogens and testosterone.
There are accurate ways to measure your adrenal function and
therapies that restore the normal production and rhythm. Cortisol
levels that are too high can cause weight gain, increased blood sugar,
and hypertension. They can also contribute to anxiety. This is especially
troublesome if they rise at night and disrupt sleep. It is only during
sleep that our body has a chance to heal and restore itself, and it is only
during quality sleep that we release growth hormone and melatonin.
Growth hormone is important in healing and maintaining appropriate
testosterone levels. Melatonin is a powerful antioxidant. High cortisol
levels can affect our thyroid function as well. The thyroid helps to
set our metabolic rate – the rate at which we burn calories at rest.
Thyroid also has an influence on the quality of your skin and hair. It is
important to the function of your heart and intestines. High cortisol levels are associated with premature aging.
Stress occurs with positive and planned events such as weddings,
as well as negative and unanticipated ones. Unfortunately, we don’t
have to have external stressors to provoke our adrenal glands. We can
stress our adrenals when we worry about things that we think MIGHT
happen. If our adrenals are stressed for too long they become exhausted.
They fail to produce enough hormones to meet the body’s demands,
and early morning fatigue, achiness, and depression can manifest itself.
We tend to crave salt and sugar. As with high cortisol, thyroid function
is diminished. You can be tested for this deficiency and the function
of your adrenals can be medically restored. I can testify to this from
personal experience.
We also know that there are specific nutrients and vitamins that
support the adrenal glands. For instance, the adrenals are very rich in
vitamin C. Vitamin D supplementation has been shown to increase
the production of the adrenal hormone dehydroepiandosterone
(DHEA). As many as one third of Americans are deficient in vitamin
D. It is important to be tested and replace these essential vitamins
and nutrients with products that are safe and reliable. Pharmaceutical
grade neutriceuticals (vitamins and supplements that are held to
pharmaceutical standards) are not sold in health food or vitamin
stores. They have to be prescribed by a qualified health care provider.
Another important strategy for managing stress and avoiding weight
gain is exercise. Make an effort to be proactive this year and establish
a fitness regimen.
Your health is not a destination. It is a continual journey. None of
us maintain perfect health habits all the time, but I would encourage
you to start thinking about your health as an investment. A successful
strategy is one that consistently and continually contributes to positive
growth. Try to develop and maintain some reserve for unforeseen
setbacks.
From my family to yours, have a happy and stress free holiday season.
(john.johnston@gulfcoastmed.com)
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