Stress and Hormone Imbalances

Which comes first, the chicken or the egg. Does stress cause hormone imbalance or hormone imbalance cause stress? Adrenaline is the hormone responsible for increasing the heart rate, elevates the blood pressure and boosts energy. Cortisol is the primary hormone that responds to stress via increases blood glucose, but also enhancing your brains ability to utilize glucose – increasing your ability to repair damaged tissue. Cortisol is known as a hormone that can slow the response to certain aspects of the body such as the immune system. This is induced during a state of fight-or-flight. But what triggers the release of these hormones? Stress, triggers the release if these hormones. Needless to say, that if you are under longer term stress, meaning your adrenaline and cortisol levels are elevated that you will tend to see more health effects. So, when it comes to which came first the answer is STRESS. Stress wreaks havoc on the body in many ways. So, when you are stressed make sure to take some time to relax and figure out WHY you are stressed and try and problem solve for the root cause of the problem! Great ways to do this is by exercising (yoga, weight lifting, walking), meditation or making a list of ways to improve your situation. Don’t take life too seriously, Meg