The Skin and cortisol.
Stress affects every aspect of our lives. Whether the stress comes from physical, chemical, or nutritional origins it affects multiple systems in our body. These three categories of stressors can include accidents, trauma, broken bones, falls, nutritional imbalance, heavy metal toxicity, divorce, marriage, work assignments, financial obligations, and many, many more. A common result from stress, no matter the origin, is our body’s ability to increase cortisol to help us cope with the presenting stressor. This does not mean cortisol is the enemy, or even bad. We need cortisol to be healthy, active, and stress free. Cortisol has many beneficial functions in the body such as regulating blood sugar when we sleep and helps balance glucose (sugar) handling of our cells. Cortisol is so important that it provides approximately 95% of all glucocorticoid activity. Glucocorticoid hormones are made by the adrenal glands, which are the stress regulating glands in our body. Chronic stress (stress over a long period of time) causes the adrenal glands to over produce cortisol. Sustai ned cortisol stimulation in the body can begin to present with multitude of symptoms. Some of these symptoms include impaired immune system, weight gain, menstrual abnormalities, fatigue, and poor digestion.
The skin is another organ system that can present with symptoms when chronic stress alters our normal cortisol balance.
The skin is the largest organ in our body. It has nerve, blood, and lymphatic supply to it. When cortisol levels increase over a long period of time, the skin can present with symptoms such as oily skin, acne, eczema, and roughness. Elevated cortisol also decreases the skin’s ability to regenerate leading to wrinkles, sagging, and impaired wound healing.
The best approach to improving our skin is to reduce our stress. As mentioned before, stress has many origins, and as we recognize the stressors in our lives, we can reduce them. This will produce less cortisol, and improve our skin (as well as many other areas). B e mindful of your stressors, and look for alternatives.
