Stress hormone or cortisol, might be one of the complex hormone to deal with. It is very important to be able to do things, like lifting heavy object, running, walking on a hike, and so on, which require the cortisol to be working for us. But at the same time, if no managed properly, it literally destroy the body.
Functions of cortisol are:
Increase focus, energy, awareness, and drive
Increase heart rate and heart contraction strength
Increase muscle contraction strength
Utilize stored energy
Maintain blood sugar level
Inhibits immune system
For our daily life, presence of cortisol is very important. However, chronically elevated cortisol can lead to unwanted health and fitness issues.
Cortisol in muscle growth
Promotes muscle breakdown - muscle growth is balance between protein breakdown and protein synthesis. If your protein breakdown is higher, it is difficult to have muscle growth. That is why, not only post nutrition important but also managing your cortisol after the workout is also important.
Decrease nutrition uptake - this will not be easy to restore muscle breakdown since amino acid transport is also shut down.
Increases Myostatin - Myostatin is a protein released by muscle which inhibits muscle growth. So when you have chronically elevated cortisol, muscle growth is limited.
Decrease Testosterone - This may not happen immediately, however, chronically elevated cortisol will decrease the production of testosterone.
Decrease rate of muscle tissue repair - This is mostly due to decrease in immune system. Chronically elevated cortisol can make muscle damage repair less efficient.
Cortisol and fat loss
Decrease the conversion of T4 to T3 - T3 is the thyroid hormone that has impact in your metabolic rate. More T3 is created, higher your metabolism is. Which will lead to more calorie burn.
May lead to insulin resistance - Cortisol increase blood sugar by releasing glucose that we have stored. When blood sugar level is up, so does your insulin to bring the blood sugar level down. It the cortisol elevation is just a temporarily, like just during the workout, then it is not an issue. However, stress factors nowadays can come from anywhere and can lead to insulin resistance. Elevated cortisol can not only decrease production of T3 but also increase the possibility of becoming insulin resistance.
Cortisol and mood
Noradrenaline depletion - Adrenaline which is used by cortisol for muscle contraction, heart rate elevation and increase in focus and energy. Adrenaline is made from noradrenaline. Decrease in noradrenaline can lead to decrease in focus, low blood pressure and possible anxiety and depression.
Dopamine depletion - Noradrenaline is made from dopamine. When over-produce adrenaline, you are also depleting dopamine, which leads to lack of motivation and pleasure, depression and laziness.
Desensitize beta-adrenergic receptor - Running your body on adrenaline all the time is dangerous. However, when the cortisol level is high all the time, adrenaline is being produced around the clock, which eventually lead to desensitizing beta-adrenergic receptor to avoid adrenaline running the body. This can lead to high blood pressure and cardiovascular repercussion.
Managing Cortisol
It has been becoming more challenging to manage stress because stress factors are every where. When we were caveman and cavewomen we only had to get cortisol level up when hunting or when the food was not available.
However, now work environment, social factors, technology devices, daily chemical usage has been causing more stress to the body than we think.
From exercise stand point, if you are working out with heavy weights, then you should be lower the volume of workout. If you do have weak immune system, then you may need to workout less frequently to balance with the recovery until your immune system get stronger.
Be mindful about cool down and post exercise nutrition. Elevating cortisol level during the workout is great, but you want to bring them down immediately by resetting breathing and proper nutrients for faster recovery.
From nutrition perspective, avoid inflammatory food and beverages. Also you should be avoiding food sources that does not suit to your body. Consuming food that are sensitive to your body, even if it is a healthy, can also lead to stress factor.
Kota Shimada
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