SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATIONS: STRESS
On top of each kidney is a gland called the adrenal. The adrenal glands have a number of roles to play in the body, one of them is to enable us to cope with the many different stresses we encounter in life. When we are under stress the adrenal glands release the stress hormones adrenalin, cortisone and testosterone.
Adrenalin is released to speed up the metabolism of all cells of the brain and body giving us the energy we need to meet the stress. It achieves this by stimulating the liver to release all its stores of glucose. It also shuts down the digestive processes by sending the blood from the digestive tract to the brain, eyes and muscles. Because of this we don’t digest and absorb our food properly when we’re under stress and run the risk of malnutrition if the stress is prolonged. Unfortunately, we need extra nutrients during times of stress to sustain the high revving metabolism. Imbalances in the metabolism develop when these nutrients are not forthcoming. Putting food in the stomach at this time causes the abdomen to distend giving us that same uncomfortable, bloated feeling we get from eating a food we’re allergic to or feeding a gut-borne Candida infection with sugar- and white-flour-containing foods.
Cortisone is released to dissolve the proteins collagen and elastin into amino acids. These amino acids are converted to glucose by the liver in an effort to prevent a glucose shortage. (More glucose is needed when we are under stress.) A glucose shortage would produce such severe metabolic imbalances as to cause serious shock, fainting and even coma. Sluggish, unhealthy livers have trouble converting amino acids quickly enough and shock and fainting spells are common in highly stressed people with unhealthy livers. (Lack of oxygen and vitamins and minerals as well as excess of alcohol, drugs and nicotine are the major cause of an unhealthy liver.)
Unfortunately for us, collagen and elastin are the major structural proteins of the skin, muscle and blood vessels. If they are dissolved faster than we can replace them the skin, muscles and blood vessels lose their tone and elasticity. In this way stress ages us prematurely (wrinkles, stretch marks, blue spider veins and purple patches in the skin). Weakened blood vessel walls are prone to leaking water and plasma proteins into the tissues, causing fluid retention. Vitamins C, A and B6 and minerals zinc, manganese and silica are the principal nutrients needed for collagen and elastin manufacture and should always be taken in supplementary form during times of stress. To be fully effective they must be taken with all the other vitamins and minerals, that is, in a complete multi-vitamin tablet.
As well as dissolving proteins to provide glucose, cortisone acts as nature’s own built-in anti-inflammatory. Adrenally produced cortisone has served man well since the dawn of time, reducing the inflammations encountered from the stresses of hunting wild animals and fighting invaders. These stresses for the main part were significant but short lived. When the danger was over the adrenal glands would relax and the levels of stress hormones would return to normal. The more subtle but prolonged stresses modern man is subjected to keeps high levels of cortisone in the white blood cells. This suppresses their normal function and predisposes the body to allergies and infections. Resting levels of cortisone do not have this effect.
Testosterone accelerates the processes of growth and repair of damaged tissue that results from stress. Broken bones, hair line fractures, bruises and sprains encountered as a result of over-exercise (running marathons) and heavy contact sports are examples of this. It also stimulates the sebaceous glands to produce extra sebum which pours out into the skin giving it an oily appearance. This oil acts as an insulator which retains body heat.
Increased body temperature speeds up tissue repair and protects us from the cold which, in itself, is a major stress. Unfortunately, the sebaceous glands often become so stimulated during times of stress they produce sebum faster than they can release it onto the skin. The glands swell and burst, releasing the sebum into the dermis of the skin where, being a foreign body, it causes allergic reactions that give rise to acne.
The adrenal stress hormones served ancient humans well. Adrenalin to give them the energy to cope, cortisone to reduce inflammation and provide the glucose (sugar) energy, testosterone to speed the repair of damaged tissues and beta endorphins to kill the pain encountered during fighting or running barefoot over rough terrain.
So often do modern humans misuse their adrenal glands that this misuse becomes part of everyday life and hard to recognise. Hard-chargers are the main culprits here. Being highly motivated people they force themselves on, even when the body has had enough and wants a rest. This pushing of themselves whips the adrenal glands, forcing them to produce more and more of the stress hormones.
Tired bodies come to rely on adrenalin for energy instead of normal cellular respiration. They rely on cortisone to suppress the inflammation of allergies that can develop in tired bodies, instead of letting normal body resistance prevent sub-clinical allergies from flaring up. They rely on beta endorphins to kill the pain that wouldn’t exist if allergies hadn’t flared up and to buoy the spirits that would be naturally high in a body that isn’t stressed. Hard-chargers become more and more reliant on bodily produced chemical highs lo maintain feelings of well-being. In time the adrenal glands become so tired they are unable to produce enough stress hormones to satisfy demand and the symptoms of stress, particularly chronic fatigue, set in. By this time beta endorphin production has also dropped significantly.
The adrenal glands are tough and can take a lot of stress before they become seriously fatigued. It takes time to wear them down. During this period of wearing down, the major symptom that the glands are tiring is tiredness on the cessation of activity. In those who have allergies, a worsening of allergy symptoms usually accompanies the onset, of tiredness after activity.
Because it can take years to completely wear the glands down hard-chargers get into the habit of whipping their adrenals every time they want energy. So responsive are the tired glands that hard-chargers become lulled into a false sense of security, believing energy will always be there if they just use their willpower to push on.
Some people get so into the habit of this practice over the years they believe it’s natural and can’t understand it when chronic fatigue sets in and significant allergies develop. However, not all people experience the onset of their allergies at the point of adrenal exhaustion.
Some experience their onset during the wearing down period and get locked into the vicious cycle of pushing themselves to produce more cortisone to reduce the inflammatory symptoms of their allergy, not realising that the same cortisone is lowering their resistance and thus aggravating the allergy in the classic Catch 22 manner.
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