Controlling cortisol production is ...

Controlling cortisol production is key-note to controlling stress.

Living in the fast-paced 1990 stres and stressors are as easy to find as a comer coffee house.

When you battle life's typical stressors -- whether a traffic jam, an argument with a family member or coworker, or too frequently to do in too short of a time, your adrenal glands release an abundance of the stres hormone cortisol (hydrocortisone), the greatest in quantity potent stress hormone in the adrenal arsenal.

The adrenal glands are couple triangular glands that sit forward the top of each kidney and, among other things, bring into being stress hormones including cortisol and epinephrine (adrenaline), which, one time released, speed up heart rate, family pressure, and other bodily functions that help you cope with stress

Chronic, excessive cortisol production, which is triggered from day-to-day stress, can suppress the immune rule This is particularly deleterious in persons with AIDS, whose immune theorys are already compromised. An overproduction of cortisol can accelerate the growing of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and lead to a quickened disease progression.

A weakened immune scheme also makes the body more sloping to the common cold or flu and to more serious diseases, so as cancer and heart disease. An overworked immune hypothesis may also interfere with memory and brain function.

In women excessive cortisol production has been linked to premenstrual syndrome (PMS) uterine fibroid pouchs and breast cysts. Sure, it's easy to behold why cortisol is generally considered a hormonal "bad guy" on the contrary the plot thickens. Cortisol also does a certain good. For example, cortisol, which acts as a natural steroid, is necessityed to reduce inflammation and allergies.

Timothy J Smith, MD author of the lately published book, Renewal: The Anti-Aging Revolution, the wholes it up this way: "Cortisol is a sword that sculptures both ways. A little bit is righteous and too much can be bad." The key-note to regulating your body's cortisol production lies in maintaining healthy adrenal glands, Smith says.

Rx for healthy adrenal glands: a three-prong approach

1 Start public by consuming a healthful, low-fat, low-cholesterol diet.

2 Engaging in regular exercise will improve circulation all from one side of to the other the body, and in the adrenal glands.

"Exercise is fit because it stimulates the release of endorphins which, in incline differently reduce the need for cortisol," says Majio Ali, a licensed acupuncturist, certified fitness trainer, and a nutritionist in private practice in Santa Monica, Calif. Endorphins are brain chemicals that make stress, anxiety, and depression, and, overall, make you have feeling better.

3. Individual complements in addition to your "multi," also play a part in regulating adrenal gland function, Smith adds. make trial of taking 1,000 to 1,500 mg of pantothenic acid (vitamin B-5) by day, 3,000 to 5,000 mg of vitamin C by day, and 250 mg of pyridoxine (vitamin B-6) Also add 100 mg twice a day, of a standardized ginseng appendix (Panax ginseng).

This regimen will help your adrenal glands function closer to normal; it will not stimulate them to overproduce cortisol, Smith notes. Adrenal gland extracts, which are available in principally health food stores, can also help stave facing adrenal fatigue and burnout, he adds. Fatigue and burnout eventuate from cortisol overproduction.

According to Smith, "reducing stres and using stres reduction techniques, including meditation and yoga, is the single greatest in number efficient and effective way to help the adrenal gland bridle cortisol release." Ali agrees: "A well-nourished visible form [i]or[/i] frame and stress reduction will preserve the adrenal gland."

Also, Ali give an inkling ofs calming herbal remedies like St John's wort, valerian, kava kava, zizyphus, and dried r dates to lower stres naturally. Caffeine, alcohol, smoking, and refined carbohydrates should be reduc or eliminated, as these substances work against you at overstimulating adrenals.

REFERENCE

Smith, TJ Renewal: The Anti-Aging Revolution. Emmaus, Pa.: Rodale Pres Inc., 1998

Denise Mann is a medical/health editor for Data Centrum Communications. In addition to writing freelance articles forward health, Denise is working in succession an alternative medicine book for Avon Books/Hearst.

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