Stress and your hormones

Stress in the body may have multiple causes. Emotional pressure, overload at work, inadequate nutrition, poor fluid intake, digestive upsets, excessive toxin overload, or blood sugar instability to name but a few. Even overexercising may be a burden on a body which is already performing too much and in desperate need of a rest.

Short term stress is easily accommodated in a generally healthy person, if it is followed by a period of rest and recuperation, the body (and mind) recover well and go on to fight another day.

However longer term or continual stress causes constant production of cortisol and adrenalin which depletes essential vitamins and minerals and dehydrates the body.

The blood sugar levels become unstable, the digestive system is upset, and the immune system is disrupted. Hormonally, cortisol and adrenalin will be prioritised over fertility hormones, as the body thinks it has gone into emergency status and needs to run from the proverbial tiger. Reproduction is demoted to a non essential body function.

Prolonged stress will eventually interfere with Thyroid hormone production, which among other things plays a central role in menstrual cycle and fertility health.