It sounds like a Spanish lite beer, and it can give you a saggy midsection… but what is Cortisol, really? It’s commonly referred to as “the stress hormone”, but that’s only part of the picture. Cortisol is like Adrenaline’s less-popular, slower-moving sidekick. They both hang out in the adrenal glands, but for the purposes of the superhero analogy let’s call it the Bat Cave. Somewhere, something startling/dangerous is happening in Gotham! Quick, Adrenaline, race out of the Bat Cave and make things happen! Heart rate, up! Blood pressure, up! Muscles, contract! Cortisol will mosey along later, once Adrenaline is exhausted from saving the day. Cortisol’s superpowers are a little more laid back… it hangs around longer, dumping stored glucose into the bloodstream, improving immune system activity and reducing inflammation.
They sound like a fantastic dynamic duo, and in a lot of cases they are. In the event of an acute stressor, like a physical attack, it’s important to act quickly. Adrenaline can give you super strength and reduce the sensation of physical pain. Cortisol aids Adrenaline using its glucose-releasing action to provide sustained energy, and helps clean up from the aftermath of the Adrenaline dump using its anti-inflammatory powers. If the stressor persists (i.e. final exams), however, a sustained Cortisol response turns its otherwise immune-raising action into an immune-supressing action, meaning that you’re more likely to succumb to a viral or bacterial infection while under longer-term stress.
Adrenaline and Cortisol are a great line of defense to have ready for rare, unexpected stress… and it’s under these circumstances that this dynamic duo really shines. If you ask them to save the day all day, every day, however, they get tired and sad and stop being so ready to come to the rescue… if you’re stressed out all the time, your resident superheroes wind up too beat to leave the Bat Cave and you can end up with a nasty case of adrenal fatigue.
Next we’ll look at the link between elevated Cortisol and abdominal fat… in the meantime, have a cup of tea, maybe meditate a little, get some sleep and r-e-l-a-x.
Workout
Complete as many around as you can in 20 minutes of:
- 20 Double-unders
- 15 GHD sit-ups
- 10 Wall ball shots (boys: 20#; girls: 14#)
