Our "hormonal stress response" is designed to "help us", so why does it cause us so many "problems"?

A little biology to start:

Our hormones are the most powerful compounds in our body. They control everything from our blood sugar levels, to our blood pressure, sexual appetite, fat storage, hair growth, digestion, mood, and so much more.

The hormonal systems we have today evolved over the past 800,000+ years to help us cope with the environment we lived in.

For 99% of human evolution, that "environment" consisted of 2 main themes:

1. A "dangerous" environment: we needed to get away from a physical threat "once every 2-3 days"

2. A "scarcity" environment: where food wasn't available 24/7 from fridges and supermarkets.

Cortisol & Adrenaline

These are our "stress hormones". They are designed to help us "get away from a physical threat".

Imagine you're living 10,000 years ago. You're out there gathering food when suddenly a lion appears! You jump higher than you thought possible and climb quickly up a tree faster than you thought possible!

That's your "stress response".

When it "kicks in":

- Cortisol & Adrenaline get released by your "adrenal glands"

- They tell your liver to "dump sugar" in the blood to give "emergency fuel" for your muscles to "act fast"

- They increase your blood pressure to drive that sugar to your muscles

- They shut down all "non-important" systems, like immunity & reproduction

This "Stress Response System" is designed to act "quickly and fast" and then "calm back down" right after the threat is over.

It's designed to be used "once every day or 2".

In modern times however: you get exposed to dozens of "stress stimuli" every day! Work stress, traffic, noises, TV news, etc.

So your "stress response system" gets activated over and over again! And every time it does, it shuts down your immunity & reproduction, increases your blood pressure, and dumps sugar in your blood.

Except you're not under "physical threat": your muscles are NOT using all that sugar and not compensating for the higher blood pressure.

You end up with "chronic" high blood sugar and "chronic" high blood pressure, which causes you a myriad of health problems...

You need to "teach yourself" how to "switch off" your stress response:

- Practice mindfulness for 10-20min per day (I use the Headspace app and do so multiple times a day for 5min)

- Practice deep nasal breathing: 2min of deep nasal breathing lowers blood pressure and boosts heart rate variability

- Journal: writing down at the end of your day helps you "let go" of stressful things

- Plan: Plan your days / week - it helps you significantly lower the stress of the unknown

- Save: don't overspend and get yourself into debt - money is the single biggest source of modern stress

- Exercise: it helps you "eliminate" stress & excess blood sugar, lowers blood pressure - taking walking breaks & sunshine exposure during the day

- Eat well: eating crappy food is one of the biggest stress triggers for your body - especially sugar!

- Sleep! Focus on quality over quantity - fully dark room, cooler temps, 0 noise (I use earplugs & facemask)