AlexPSU
09-23-2003, 06:48 AM
Estrogen, no. Cortisol yes. Cortisol can be a very dangerous and potentially deadly hormone. Here are a few ways you can control your cortisol levels.
First, from WebMD... here's a brief description of cortisol:
"Cortisol is a hormone produced by the adrenal glands. Cortisol levels increase when the pituitary gland releases another hormone called ACTH (see an illustration of the pituitary gland. A cortisol blood test may be done to detect problems with the adrenal glands or pituitary gland."
From a Woman's World article, Nutritional Biochemist Dr. Shawn M. Talbott states:
"Studies at research centers across the country have now determined that stress—or more specifically, exposure to the stress hormone cortisol—can up your risk of obesity, memory problems, depression, diabetes, chronic headaches, even osteoporosis and heart disease!”
And earlier Talbott was quoted in Men’s Health (May 2002) as saying, “Over the longterm, elevated cortisol may be as detrimental to overall health as elevated cholesterol or elevated blood sugar.”
So we can now gather that elevated cortisol levels can cause several huge problems, all of these problems related either directly or indirectly to stress! But how can you control this nasty little hormone?
1- Get enough quality sleep, research shows that men over the age of 25 "men experience a decline in deep sleep that accompanied by a drop in GH production. GH deficiency is related to reduced muscle mass and strength, increased fat tissue, weakened immunity to infection, and other health declines." How much sleep is enough? Numerous studies have shown that consistently getting seven or eight quality hours of sleep a day are the key to balancing adrenal glands.
2 - Supplementing with DHEA and 7-keto-DHEA have shown to lower cortisol levels, somewhat. The research on DHEA lowering cortisol is out there, however, it is not always consistant. What is consistant is the fact that DHEA seems to work much better for women than men. Typically 30-90 mg a day in postmenopausal women will work just fine.
3 - Eat smaller, more frequent meals. Everyone that knows me, knows that I am religious about eating six meals a day and here's another reason why! Studies have shown that eating a small meal once an hour, as opposed to three meals, lowered cortisol levels on an average of 17%!
4 - Get out in the sun! Unfortunately, as humans most of us work inside for eight hours a day... then we go home and spend the rest of our day inside! A simple solution would be to spend an hour a day outside, and even more time than that on the weekends! There are a ton of fun activities that can take place outside, a group sport, hiking, grilling, reading. Take advantage of this during the summer when it's nice outside. The reason you need to get out in the sun to manage you cortisol levels? Scientists tested this on hampsters and here's what they had to say...
"In the scientific team's experiments, hamsters living in short-day conditions maintained higher blood levels of various immune-system cells than their summer-living brethren did. The short-day animals also had greater concentrations of the stress hormone cortisol.
What's more, under acute stress, immune cells in the short-day animals were quicker in manning their posts in the skin and other key points of defense against injury and infection. Such "trafficking" of immune cells is mediated by hormones called glucocorticoids, which include cortisol."
5 - Number five directly corelates with number four, however, sometimes you just can't get out in the sun (i.e.: the winter)! What can you do to trick your body into getting the sun's benefits? Supplement with a high quality fish oil. I personally switch back and forth from cod liver oil and salmon oil. This is of extreme benefit in the winter because fish oil contains good amounts of vitamin D, which your body produces more naturally during the summer months, but not the winter. During the summer I usually supplement with flax oil, while I switch to fish oil around mid-october.
So in summary, don't let cortisol get the best of you. Following my recommendations will help you keep your adrenal glands in proper balance.
First, from WebMD... here's a brief description of cortisol:
"Cortisol is a hormone produced by the adrenal glands. Cortisol levels increase when the pituitary gland releases another hormone called ACTH (see an illustration of the pituitary gland. A cortisol blood test may be done to detect problems with the adrenal glands or pituitary gland."
From a Woman's World article, Nutritional Biochemist Dr. Shawn M. Talbott states:
"Studies at research centers across the country have now determined that stress—or more specifically, exposure to the stress hormone cortisol—can up your risk of obesity, memory problems, depression, diabetes, chronic headaches, even osteoporosis and heart disease!”
And earlier Talbott was quoted in Men’s Health (May 2002) as saying, “Over the longterm, elevated cortisol may be as detrimental to overall health as elevated cholesterol or elevated blood sugar.”
So we can now gather that elevated cortisol levels can cause several huge problems, all of these problems related either directly or indirectly to stress! But how can you control this nasty little hormone?
1- Get enough quality sleep, research shows that men over the age of 25 "men experience a decline in deep sleep that accompanied by a drop in GH production. GH deficiency is related to reduced muscle mass and strength, increased fat tissue, weakened immunity to infection, and other health declines." How much sleep is enough? Numerous studies have shown that consistently getting seven or eight quality hours of sleep a day are the key to balancing adrenal glands.
2 - Supplementing with DHEA and 7-keto-DHEA have shown to lower cortisol levels, somewhat. The research on DHEA lowering cortisol is out there, however, it is not always consistant. What is consistant is the fact that DHEA seems to work much better for women than men. Typically 30-90 mg a day in postmenopausal women will work just fine.
3 - Eat smaller, more frequent meals. Everyone that knows me, knows that I am religious about eating six meals a day and here's another reason why! Studies have shown that eating a small meal once an hour, as opposed to three meals, lowered cortisol levels on an average of 17%!
4 - Get out in the sun! Unfortunately, as humans most of us work inside for eight hours a day... then we go home and spend the rest of our day inside! A simple solution would be to spend an hour a day outside, and even more time than that on the weekends! There are a ton of fun activities that can take place outside, a group sport, hiking, grilling, reading. Take advantage of this during the summer when it's nice outside. The reason you need to get out in the sun to manage you cortisol levels? Scientists tested this on hampsters and here's what they had to say...
"In the scientific team's experiments, hamsters living in short-day conditions maintained higher blood levels of various immune-system cells than their summer-living brethren did. The short-day animals also had greater concentrations of the stress hormone cortisol.
What's more, under acute stress, immune cells in the short-day animals were quicker in manning their posts in the skin and other key points of defense against injury and infection. Such "trafficking" of immune cells is mediated by hormones called glucocorticoids, which include cortisol."
5 - Number five directly corelates with number four, however, sometimes you just can't get out in the sun (i.e.: the winter)! What can you do to trick your body into getting the sun's benefits? Supplement with a high quality fish oil. I personally switch back and forth from cod liver oil and salmon oil. This is of extreme benefit in the winter because fish oil contains good amounts of vitamin D, which your body produces more naturally during the summer months, but not the winter. During the summer I usually supplement with flax oil, while I switch to fish oil around mid-october.
So in summary, don't let cortisol get the best of you. Following my recommendations will help you keep your adrenal glands in proper balance.