We will all suffer from high states of stress at some point in our lives. In
today’s busy society we are involved in regular stressful life situations, along
with frequent and exhausting training schedules.
This stress is a burden on the body, and if the stress becomes chronically
elevated and prolonged, we can end up massively fatigued and run down. It
can also put a halt on any body composition changes.
What we don’t always realize is the potential damage this is doing on the
inside of our bodies and how it affects our health.
Stress 101
To show exactly what happens internally during a typical ‘stressful’
situation which we may encounter, let’s look at an example:
Say you are walking on the pavement and start to cross the road after
checking it’s clear in both directions. Suddenly a car appears out of nowhere
and is forced to swerve out of the way to avoid a collision with you.
Shortly after this event you will find your heart is racing, you are breathing
heavily, sweating and shaking. You are in a state of shock.
Here’s what happened internally:
Above the kidneys you will find a pair of triangular shaped glands known as
the adrenals. Their main role is to help your body manage and survive during
stressful situations, such as in the previous example.
At the time of noticing the car hurtling towards you, the brain has sent a
nerve impulse directly to your adrenals, which will cause them to secrete
adrenaline.
Adrenaline is the reason for the heightened state you feel after the event, as
its role is to ensure you have the focus and energy to survive the life
threatening situation. This results in high blood pressure, respiration and
heart rate.
The brain also decides it requires more glucose during this stressful time, so
that the body and brain has more energy to survive the situation.
This causes the release of a hormone – corticotrophin releasing hormone
(CRH) – which tells the pituitary to release – adrenocorticotropic hormone
(ACTH) – which tells the adrenals to produce cortisol.
The increased blood glucose levels we see associated with stressful events
are due to the increased cortisol levels. Cortisol is one of a class of hormones
called – glucocorticoids (GC’s).
Our bodies have actually adapted well to these sudden stressful events and
can therefore effectively manage our near-death experience.
We also see cortisol being released during other stressful situations such as
intense training sessions. Under normal conditions, cortisol rises
rhythmically throughout the night, and peaks first thing in the morning.
These natural ‘one off’ releases of cortisol can actually be a good thing for
the body, as they help regulate immune function, repair tendons/ligaments
and may even accelerate fat loss.
The problems we see with cortisol are when the hormone is elevated for long
periods of time. It is chronic, low level stress that never quite goes away that
leads to physical problems.
So, lets look at this process again, but in a little more detail.
What Is Stress?
One of the most common medical issues seen in the health care industry is
stress-related illness.
There are a number of stresses, whether we recognize them or not that we
will come into contact daily with. It is the intensity of each stress, the
frequency with which it occurs and the length of time exposed to it that all
combine to form our total stress load.
There are four major categories of stress:
Physical Stress – such as overworking, poor nutrition, lack of sleep or athletic
over training, etc.
Chemical Stress – from environmental pollutants, food intolerances or IBS,
poor diet and endocrine gland intolerances.
Thermal Stress – from over heating or over chilling of the body.
Emotional and Mental Stress – from family, friends, money, work etc.
It’s the combination of these stresses on the body over time that can cause
stress related illnesses. Research has shown that those identified with stress
related illnesses follow a series of events that occur as a reaction to chronic
stress.
This series of events is know as ‘General Adaptation Syndrome’ (GAS) and
consists of 3 key stages.
1. THE ALARM REACTION
This is the body’s initial response to stress and kick starts the amount of
adrenal activity, also known as a hyperadrenic response.
This pushes the body into ‘full alert’ mode, forcing the adrenals to produce
extra amounts of hormones to respond to this heightened state of stress.
Following this state of alert, the body will need 24-48 hours to recover from
this overactive phase, so it begins to down regulate the over stimulated
mechanisms. The person will feel more tired and want to rest, while
internally the hormones involved become resistant to more stimulation.
2. THE RESISTANCE STAGE.
If the chronic stress is continued on long enough then the adrenals begin to
adapt and to re-build themselves to deal with the added workload. This
stage of resistance can last many months or even 10-20+ years. This
prolonged hyperadrenic response can exhaust and deplete the adrenals,
leading to stage 3.
3. THE EXHAUSTION STAGE.
This prolonged alarm reaction know as hyperadrenia will eventually lead to
hypoadrenia, the point where the person loses the ability to adapt to stress.
Essentially, the body can no longer handle any further stress and the person
may experience a total collapse of body function or specific organs or
systems. Professional medical treatment is necessary here.
Not everyone will experience stage 3, or at least not for some time, but they
will probably experience a number of other negative symptoms:
• Increased blood sugar levels (store more body fat)
• Suppressed pituitary function (low testosterone)
• Suppression of the immune function
• Insomnia
• Reduced liver detoxification
• Increased inflammation
• Learning and memory issues
The above are typically what occurs on the inside, but spotting the issues on
the outside can be difficult.
Common symptoms are:
• Difficulty falling asleep
• Feeling lethargic most of the day
• Suffering from allergies or falling ill frequently
• Suffering from mood swings or feeling emotional
• Excessive perspiration, dizziness or blurred vision
Nutrition And Stress
When we are stressed, our body can experience a variety of effects that can
get in the way of our training, nutritional goals and social life.
For example, fatigue and lethargy are common effects observed in those
with chronic stress. This can lead to a reduced capacity for exercise and thus,
reduced expenditure. As we have learned a reduced rate of expenditure
paired with your normal (or greater) energy intake will promote weight gain.
In addition, when we are stressed, our drive (known as a hedonic drive)
increases for salty, sugary and fatty foods. This is the scientific mechanism
behind stress eating and can create a pretty big roadblock for weight loss.