cortisol – Wilson's Syndrome

Stress: A one-two punch to the thyroid

Tags: adaptogen herbs, cortisol, endocrine, hypothyroid, iodine, selenium, stress, T3, thyroid|

Last month I wrote about the endocrine system and how adrenal overload can cause fatigue, weight gain, and eventually affect the thyroid. This month, I’d like to focus on how life’s stresses impede the production and utilization of thyroid hormone and what you can do about it.

You already know that long term, chronic stress is one of the most common factors for adrenal dysfunction. When adrenals suffer, it influences other related endocrine organs, such as pituitary and hypothalamus. Collectively, this is called the “HPA” axis, or the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis, which works on a feedback system. The

Optimize Thyroid – Adrenal Cross-talk

Tags: adrenals, cortisol, fatigue, hypothyroid, stress, thyroid, TSH|

Last week we talked about how chronic stress and cortisol wears out the adrenals, and how tired adrenals affect thyroid function. But there’s actually more to the story. Did you know that not only is thyroid hormone activity regulated in part by stress hormone activity, but the reverse is also true. The two hormonal systems interact throughout your body, in different tissues. Thyroid hormone sets a kind of “baseline” activity level and stress hormones, secreted from your adrenal glands, speed it up or slow it down.

The interaction is complicated and affects body heat, blood flow, heart rate, blood

Where does belly fat come from?

Tags: abdominal fat, adrenal fatigue, cortisol, low temperature, metabolism, overweight, thyroid f|

Call it a spare tire, a pooch, or even a beer belly; despite the cute names, it’s still frustrating. Abdominal fat is associated with aging-related shifts in fat deposition, drops in sex hormone levels, and especially with chronic stress.

Here’s how it works: high blood levels of the main stress hormone, cortisol, change the way your body handles fat. Belly fat cells have more cortisol receptors on their surface than fat cells in other places in the body. They are primed to take in fat when cortisol levels are elevated. If you combine that with high insulin levels from too much