In order to understand how lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise, sleep and stress management contribute to health and well being we have to have some understanding of the stress response in the body.

Stress is one of the most potent contributing factors to health especially for those suffering with auto-immune conditions or other chronic health problems.

When we are considering the stress response we also need to recalibrate our understanding of what stress is. When we think of stress we think of the obvious external factors that cause it – screaming kids, job related pressure, relationship problems or just trying to do too much in the time we have. However a huge amount of stress comes from invisible internal factors such as:

·        Lack of sleep

·        Blood sugar imbalance

·        Chronic pain

·        Food intolerances

·        High Carbohydrate diets

·        Autoimmunity

·        Chronic inflammation

·        Exposure to environmental toxins

The stress response is complex and involves many factors. The main players are the nervous system, Adrenal glands and hormone production, which effect organs like the brain, heart, liver and muscles to respond accordingly. 

When we experience stress whether that is from a sports injury to having an argument, adrenal glands produce the hormones adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol, that help us respond to stress. This is know as the sympathetic response or commonly refereed to the “fight or flight response which was outlined early in this article.

This fight or flight response can do some damage to your body or brain tissue but in a normal situation when the stressor is gone the system will reset to the parasympathetic state often refered to as the “rest and digest” phase when tissue damage can be repaired and therefore any detrimental effects of the fight or flight response are temporary.

These stress responses are all normal physiology but the fact is that we lead very different lives nowadays to that of our hunter gathering ancestors, in fact we lead very different lives from our own parents and grandparents. The advance of technology, changes in work practice and home life, changes to diet and nutrition, how we socially interact are all significant and continuous stressors that we have to deal with. This means that fight or flight response is constantly activated and cannot reset accordingly.

One of the primary issues that this constant stress causes is too much cortisol and high cortisol can damage tissues in the brain and throughout the body, which can be linked to:

• Depression
• Insomnia
• Increased belly fat
• Insulin resistance and diabetes
• High blood pressure
• Low energy
• Suppressed immunity
• Heart problems
• Other health issues

Cortisol – Not just the Stress Response

Cortisol is one of the main players in our stress response. In order for us to function properly we have to have adequate cortisol to help deal with inflammation and the stress response by prompting the liver to stabilise blood sugar.

But cortisol also has a role to play in the normal circadian rhythms of life. That is the daily cycle of sleep and being awake.

As we go through each day, our body releases various hormones to keep us functioning.  For instance, cortisol is ideally high in the morning, which wakes us up and gives us energy to get going for the day. Cortisol gradually drops during the day and melatonin levels go up as it’s close to time for bed. This is what makes us feel sleepy.

This melatonin release is accompanied by a significant release of growth peptides and growth factor that “prime,” or activate, our immune cells. These cells include natural killer cells and T-cells, which are vital to fighting infections such as viruses. In other words, these vital immune cells need sleep in order to function properly. Melatonin also has significant effects on tissue and wound repair.

Once we understand how important cortisol is for our bodies when there are levels of cortisol that are chronically high or low it can lead to health problems and exacerbate other existing problems so for anyone to and underlaying chronic condition making lifestyle changes to reduce stress becomes an important part of managing your condition.

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