Beating Burnout

Could stress be wreaking havoc in your body? Understanding burnout is crucial to beat it!

 

Your body is designed to handle a great deal. Humans are primed to be resilient and to bounce back after adversity. Yet there is only so much your body can take before it starts to falter – or worse.

 

That is known as ‘adrenal dysregulation’ or ‘HPA axis dysfunction’. The latter stands for hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis dysfunction, the current term for what we used to refer to as ‘adrenal fatigue’.

 

Adrenal gland ‘dysfunction’ is largely overlooked in conventional medicine, and yet it is pervasive and contributes to dozens of health problems.

You have two protective systems to ensure your survival: the stress response and the immune system.

The stress response – your fight-or-flight mechanism – is designed to protect you against external dangers. The HPA axis governs it. The HPA axis is activated only when you’re under threat. When there is no danger, it is inactive.

While the HPA axis is activated, stress hormones are constantly produced. However, cell growth requires that the stress response be switched off. Cell growth is crucial because cells inside our body continually reach the end of their lives and must be replaced. Within a cell community of 50 trillion cells, each cell has a job, and we need them to renew.

The other protective system, the immune system, protects us by fighting outside invaders, such as bacteria and viruses. The stress hormones released by the HPA axis block the immune system.

Knowing this, it is easy to see how something that seems minor at first glance – stress – could mess with your health in different ways and other areas of your body. If you’re feeling below par all the time, perhaps it is time to give your HPA some TLC.

The brain still reacts to acute stress today as it did when we roamed the savannah. Humans who encountered a predator had two options: to run or to fight. Stress hormones enable the body to do that. They cause blood sugar to rise, providing the energy required for physical exertion. At the same time, they widen the airways, make your heart beat faster, and increase blood pressure to transport sugar and oxygen to the muscles of the extremities, which are needed most right now.

To ensure an adequate supply to the muscles, blood is temporarily withdrawn from other areas, such as the digestive tract or the reproductive system. At the same time, the capillaries near the surface of the skin contract. This is to reduce bleeding in case of injury. Moreover, cortisol is a powerful painkiller, so if you get injured, you’re not going to know about it until later, enabling you to keep fighting for your life despite injury.

In addition, cortisol leads to increased brain excitability and has an anti-inflammatory effect, partly via a pronounced immune system inhibition. Thus, the brain is poised for split-second decisions – but it’s not good at conscious decision-making and logical thinking.

From an evolutionary point of view, the physical stress response is perfectly designed to put the body on alert in case of imminent danger and to mobilise the energy required to escape. But the key here is that these are meant to be temporary measures.

If acute stress persists, the systems become exhausted, the counter-regulation fails, and the body is permanently activated. In addition to adrenaline, which impairs your ability to rest, large amounts of cortisol keep circulating in the blood.

Cortisol massively suppresses immune reactions, so if it remains in the blood for a long time, the immune system is weakened. Constant stress costs enormous energy due to the continuous activation of performance reserves, resulting in a permanent lack of energy. Long-term stress, therefore, has a toxic effect on the body.

The stressors modern life has in store for you are rarely of the kind that require you to run or fight, so the historic stress response is no longer ideal.

Many people feel stressed all the time. After all, there seems to be a continuous parade of reasons to worry: economic uncertainty, climate change, job losses, health threats, debt, and loneliness, to name but a few. None of these is relieved by running or fighting. Worry, by the way, can trigger the stress response as if the event you worry about was happening. That means you rarely get a break, and your body pays the price!

With a constantly activated HPA axis, you may be left with high blood pressure, high blood sugar, palpitations, sleep disturbances, depression, and tiredness. On top of that, you are more vulnerable to infection, inflammation and disease.

Stress is present in everybody’s life and is nearly impossible to escape. However, that doesn’t mean you must take it lying down. You have options.

You can take a long, hard look at your life and health, eliminate the stressors you can eliminate, and increase your resilience to the stressors you cannot control.

With so many factors playing a role in HPA dysfunction, it is no wonder you are overwhelmed. Doing anything about it seems like another task on your to-do list already, as long as it’s your arm. And is there any point if stressors are coming at you from all directions? There sure is. You can take it one day at a time, chipping away at the things stressing you out. 

Start with the easy part: eliminate those tasks that add to your workload but that you do not have to do.

Avoid stressful situations where you can. Be honest with yourself about the activities/tasks you do each week that drain your energy. Ditch what doesn’t serve you.

Schedule some daily me-time – like it is an essential event in your diary. Do something you do just for your pleasure. Whether reading a novel, painting, a quiet cup of tea in the garden, a phone call to your sister, or soaking in the bath … Whatever it is, you must make time for enjoyment—every day.

Learn techniques to direct your mind and body away from stress and into a restful state. The fight-or-flight response is automatic and can be triggered just by worry (justified or not), so relaxation must be learned and PRACTISED. Breathing exercises and guided meditation are perfect for this.

Repair and recovery during sleep oppose the destructive effects of cortisol. Your body NEEDS you to sleep to get a chance for necessary repair and maintenance.

That includes your brain. During sleep, the spaces between brain cells widen and get ‘rinsed’. That way, the body cleans away waste products of metabolism and cell debris, including amyloids, the proteins linked to Alzheimer’s disease. This process takes approx. Eight hours, so do not cut back on your sleep, even if you think you don’t need it. Also, you cannot compensate for lost sleep, and a chronic sleep deficit significantly increases cortisol.

Exercise increases your feel-good hormones – endorphins – and improves mood, reduces anxiety and depression, burns excess sugar and oxygen circulating in your system, and improves sleep quality. Exercise may also increase body temperature and blood circulation in the brain. It even impacts the HPA axis and thus increases your resilience to stress.

Studies found that rhythmic, aerobic exercise of moderate and low intensity that uses large muscle groups (e.g. jogging, swimming, cycling, walking) was the most effective when done for just 15 to 30 minutes a day for a minimum of three times a week in programmes of 10 weeks or longer.

However, when you’re stressed, it’s essential not to overdo it. Overexercising stimulates cortisol production—the opposite of what you want right now. The idea is gentle exercise, such as walking, or—better still—Eastern-type exercises, such as yoga and tai chi, because they encourage the movement your body needs and elicit the relaxation response.

What you eat matters. Everything that happens in your body is ultimately chemistry. The chemicals involved are the nutrients that come from your food, and your body can only work with what you provide – or not.

Don’t diet:

Your body needs nutrient-dense food to recover, and caloric restriction is another stressor, stimulating cortisol secretion.

Eat real food:

You would not expect a petrol car to run on diesel. In the same way, the human body cannot function with a diet based on ultra-processed foods packed with sugar, salt, trans-fats and extra ingredients you cannot pronounce. The body just wasn’t made for that and needs proper fuel. Fruit, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, meat, fish, eggs, seafood, herbs and spices have worked for humans for millennia.

Follow a low-carb approach:

It’s been found to reduce cortisol. Overeating highly refined foods and overindulging in starchy carbs may contribute to permanently elevated cortisol, triggering a vicious cycle of chronic stress and unhealthy eating.

Chew food at least 30 times per mouthful:

This takes a load off your digestive system. Once you swallow, there is nothing more you can do to help, so make the most of it. Chewing also stimulates the production of digestive juices, providing stomach acid, digestive enzymes and bile. If you eat slowly, you are giving your digestive system time to get everything ready.

From caffeine, refined carbohydrates (sugar, flour, bread, fruit juices, baked goods, chocolate), nicotine and alcohol. Stimulants increase the secretion of the stress hormones!

You have two protective systems to ensure your survival: the stress response and the immune system.

If acute stress persists, the systems become exhausted, the counter-regulation fails, and the body is permanently activated. In addition to adrenaline, which impairs your ability to rest, large amounts of cortisol keep circulating in the blood.

Implementing healthy habits, like rest, quality sleep, exercise, healthy eating habits and avoiding stimulants can reduce stress and improve your overall health.