09/29/2026
Your body doesn't know the difference between running for your life and the stress response that comes from the news, the road rage you encounter on the way to drop the kids off for school or the busyness of your work day. YOUR BODY REACTS THE SAME...by doing the following...
Cortisol:
1. decreases immune
2. increases blood glucose (breaking down glycogen, fat, protein into glucose - because you need energy to run for your life.
3. decreases natural killer cells (the cells that would kill cancer cells)
4. decreases wound healing
5. causes you to make less insulin
6. damages the hippocampus cells in the brain that cause memory and learning
7. decreases the neurotransmitters in the brain responsible for mood (norepinephrine, serotonin, dopamine)
8. decreases serotonin means you don't convert as much to melatonin, causing sleeplessness
9. causes vasoconstriction, which raises blood pressure
ON THE OTHER HAND, when you are not in "fight or flight," your body produces more DHEA, which does the following...
1. increases bone deposition & growth of muscle
2. lowers LDL
3. increases muscle mass
4. lowers body fat
5. increases energy, vitality, mental clarity
6. helps sleep
7. recover better from exercise
8. helps recover from emotional trauma
9. increases HGH
10. off sets the detrimental effects of cortisol listed above
During stress the Hypothalamus in the brain releases a hormone that travels throught the blood and tells the pituitary to release ACTH. ACTH then travels through the blood and tells the Adrenal Cortex to release cortisol. This is called the HPA axis.
ADAPTAGENS work on this HPA axis, helping the body with the stress response.
Frontline healthcare workers have reported elevated levels of stress and increase prevalence of burnout symptoms since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. With these heightened levels of stress and burnout comes a need for more evidence-based ...