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How to lower your stress, without changing your thinking

We all intuitively KNOW, being STRESSED OUT, is not good for health. But the stress that should be on our radar, is not psychological, it’s physiological

We all intuitively KNOW, being STRESSED OUT, is not the recipe for good health.

Now the hormone most often implicated in being stress out, is cortisol.

It’s seen as a bad guy………. but, that’s probably not fair.

Cortisol is a  helper, not a hurter

Cortisol levels rise, NOT to cause you MORE stress, but to help you deal with the STRESS, you are experiencing.

So yes, high cortisol IS PROBLEMATIC.

But, blaming cortisol for the trouble is misguided.

The million dollar question is what sparked his rise.

Well, being STRESSED…………….. dah !

The faces of stress

When we mention the word STRESS, thoughts of deadlines, money troubles or bad bosses, comes first and foremost to the mind.

No doubt about it, THESE ARE STRESSFUL.

And, they do mobilize the cortisol release.

But, they’re actually quite a small component, to the stress response.  You see the body, for the most part, views stress as a body issue, NOT a head issue.

So the REAL triggers of the cortisol story……………….. are body stressors, not head stressors.

Triggers of stress

Now there are a whole lot of body stressors that can wind up the cortisol response.

Waking up…………… is seen as a BIG STRESSOR.  Seriously.

Getting up and going every morning is a mammoth undertaking.

FOR EVERYONE.

Not just the sleep deprived.

So, to get you up and going, a dollop of cortisol is drop kicked into play, shortly before you open your eyes.  The whole thing, is regulated by the master clock…… who clock watches, a high percentage of hormones and things.

Cortisol in the morning

The rise in cortisol does a few important things.

It ties up insulin, momentarily.

Now in all honesty, at this time of night, there shouldn’t be too much insulin circulating.

Since, insulin is meant to be a day time hormone….

A bite to eat

Under normal circumstances, the trigger for insulin’s activity is the arrival of food.  All food, but particularly carb rich food and to a less extent, protein rich food.

He pops out, to put away the groceries.

Now,  putting away the groceries is a valuable exercise, when you’re swimming in nutrients – which happens when you tuck into that roast beef sandwich.

At 4 am groceries should be thin on the ground…….

NOTE : This doesn’t necessarily happen when you’re diabetic. 

An energy boost

So, this situation requires a little management.

The dollop of cortisol, ensures all the goodies being cooked up by the liver, in the process of gluconeogenesis, are available…………….for the cells that need it the most.

The energy boost, facilitates getting OUT OF BED.

With a bang, not a wimper.

NOTE :  If you find yourself,  whimpering EVERY morning, despite sleeping enough – this is a sign, you’ve got insulin issues.

It’s a love hate relationship

So cortisol, STOPS insulin from doing his job, in the middle of the night.

And this…………… is a stress reliever.

BUT eating is a rather STRESS FULL, so insulin, enlists the help of cortisol too.

This is what a group of researchers from Korea recently uncovered.  The team found, insulin kickstarts steroidogenesis in the adrenal glands.

Steroidogenesis

The way that insulin does this, is it fires up the SF-1 transcription factor………….

This little guys job, is to rush into the nucleus of cell’s and fire up the half a dozen different enzymes involved in the process of turning cholesterol, into the steroidogenic hormones.

Yes, it is hormones with an S.

The adrenal steroids include

• Cortisol
• Aldosterone
• DHEA

All three’s production is momentarily ramped up, by insulin.

Unfortunately, when insulin levels are continuously high, something that happens when you’re insulin resistant…………..

The moment lasts “forever”

Leaving cortisol levels high, morning, noon and night.

Which does not make for a recipe for good body chemistry. Eish !

NOTE : Initially, the immune system is suppressed………. increasing the risk of infections, but the longer the situation goes on for, the more likely, the adrenal gland is to shut down completely. 

So if you want to take a little STRESS out of your life…….. work on reining in your insulin.

For tips & strategies, download the WILLPOWER REPORT, it’s free.

Further reading

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