We’ll talk about the long-term effects of stress and why it can lead to hormonal problems down the road.
Hello friends! How are you? I hope you are having a great day so far! I’m taking an F45 strength training class and have calls scheduled for the rest of the day.
In today’s post, I want to spend a bit of time talking about stress. I talk to clients every day, and it’s a huge subject. We all get stressed. Stress can be emotional, physical, or due to environmental factors, and over time the results get worse. When stress becomes chronic, it unfortunately wreaks havoc on the body, affecting digestion, the immune system, glucose tolerance, sleep, hormones, and more.
Today I want to focus specifically on hormone imbalances caused by stress and what you can do about it. As always, please keep in mind that this post is not medical advice. Consult your doctor for advice tailored to you and get the help and support you need. If you are interested in functional lab testing to find out how stress is affecting your body’s balance, email me at gina@fitnessista.com with the subject line “TEST.”
How stress causes hormonal imbalance
When we feel stressed, our bodies secrete cortisol, known as the stress hormone. In small amounts, cortisol is helpful. It gives us the energy and adrenaline to help us deal with the challenges ahead. When stressors become chronic, our bodies become flooded with excess cortisol and eventually stop responding. Elevated cortisol eventually leads to lower cortisol levels, leaving us feeling lethargic, fatigued, and depleted.
Cortisol also affects the production of sex hormones such as estrogen, progesterone, DHEA, and testosterone. Having enough hormones is important for menstrual cycles and reproductive health. High stress levels also affect thyroid function, which plays a major role in metabolism and energy.
High cortisol can lead to mood swings, weight gain, and mental health issues. The adrenal glands that produce cortisol can become overworked, leading to adrenal fatigue, also known as adrenal insufficiency, where your body no longer responds to cortisol in the same way it did before.
This ongoing imbalance can cause a variety of symptoms, from irregular menstrual periods and infertility to fatigue, anxiety and depression.
Here are some things we can do about this:
How to Manage Stress-Related Hormonal Imbalances
Managing stress is one of the hardest things to do, but it’s also one of the best things you can do for your health.
Here are some of my favorite strategies.
1. Get into the habit of regular exercise
It’s important to remember that exercise is a great way to reduce stress, but it can also put extra stress on the body, especially if it’s long and intense. Exercise in general lowers cortisol levels and increases the production of endorphins (the body’s natural mood enhancers), which is obviously good for your overall health. I’m sure many of my reader friends are already active, but this is simply a reminder to keep moving and make exercise part of your routine. Vary the intensity and make sure to take at least one or two days of rest each week.
2. Practice meditation and mindfulness
The impact of meditation and mindfulness strategies is profound. They help lower cortisol levels, making a huge difference in mood, productivity, focus, digestion, and sleep. Meditation also helps with insulin sensitivity.
It doesn’t have to be a formal meditation session. Instead, it can be doing whatever puts your mind at ease, like solving a puzzle, reading a book, chatting or taking a walk with a friend, or just staring at a blank wall in silence. The key is to transfer the sense of zen you feel during these moments into the chaos of the rest of your day. It’s easy to feel at peace during meditation, but how will that feel for the rest of your day?
3. Maintain a healthy diet
The foods we eat can affect our hormone balance. For example, many women produce enough estrogen but don’t properly detoxify it, which can lead to symptoms of estrogen dominance. Make sure you eat plenty of leafy greens, broccoli, asparagus, artichokes, and healthy fats. Highly processed foods, sugar, and caffeine can also affect your body’s stress response and hormone levels. I try to eat protein and plants with every meal, as well as plenty of healthy fats.
Balancing your blood sugar also makes a big difference. Make sure you have protein, carbs, and healthy fats at every meal and snack, and take a walk or do some light exercise after a carb-heavy meal. I also try to eat carbs and dessert last, so the protein and fiber can cushion any blood sugar spikes.
4. Prioritize sleep
Quality sleep is essential for hormonal regulation. Extreme stress (and chronic everyday stress) is one of the first things that disrupts sleep and increases cortisol levels. Aim for 7-9 hours of sleep each night. If you need help improving the quality of your sleep, shoot me an email and we can work on it together. Troubleshooting sleep is one of my favorite things to do, because sleep is one of my favorite things.
5. Stay connected and ask for support
I think there’s a lot of value in real-world, face-to-face connection and support. Surround yourself with friends and family who lift you up and don’t keep draining your energy and joy. Talking about stress helps reduce it, and it’s powerful to know you’re not alone. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, seek the support of a therapist or counselor.
6. Incorporate stress management techniques into your daily life
As well as elements of mindfulness, try to incorporate an activity each day that brings you joy, whether that be a hobby, time in nature, crocheting, reading, etc. Even if your whole day feels like chaos, even five minutes is worth it.
It’s a kind reminder that managing stress isn’t just about reducing stress in the moment, but about developing long-term habits that impact your overall health and well-being.
If you struggle with stress or suspect hormone imbalance may be to blame, check out this post on how to combat stress. Even though it’s an older post, I still stand by these tips! 🙂
So tell me guys: what are your daily stress-reducing habits?
Kiss
