Stress has some pretty nasty effects on your hormones and your body.
With respect to your thyroid, the stress hormones( adrenaline and cortisol) that your body produces actually inhibit the conversion of your non-active thyroid hormone( T4) to your active thyroid hormone( T3). It also increases your production of a hormone called Reverse T3( rT3), which blocks your body from properly using your thyroid hormone. Both of these effects cause hypothyroidism.
It’ s also worth noting that your body does this for a reason and it’ s not just to punish you. When under stress, your body naturally down regulates your thyroid because all it cares about is conserving energy. It does this as a survival mechanism so that you can conserve enough energy to outlast the stress.
Another problem with the stress hormone adrenaline is that it forces your body to increase the concentration of free fatty acids in your bloodstream. Because most people have large concentrations of polyunsaturated fats in their fat cells, when these fats are forced into your bloodstream they block your thyroid hormone from reaching your cells.
And those are just a couple of examples of how stress causes hypothyroidism.
There are also a large number of other negative effects that are caused by an overproduction of stress hormones as well including …
• Osteoporosis
• Damage to brain cells
• Accumulation of fat, especially on the back and abdomen.
• Damage to blood vessels
• Aging of the skin
• Damage to your immune system
• Damage to your nerve cells What You Can Do To Reduce Your Stress Hormones
First, the most obvious answer is to reduce as much outside stress as possible. You can’ t eliminate all outside stress, but you can do a lot to minimize it. I recommend that you pinpoint your greatest source of stress and then brainstorm what you can do to help minimize that stress. Work on each source one at a time.
And don’ t push yourself too hard. In our society, more is always better, but sometimes you have to stop, rest, and smell the roses.
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