Cortisol and Stress

If you've ever been stressed out – and who hasn't? – your body has experienced a flood of cortisol. When you're faced with a stressful situation, your body enters the “fight or flight” response, when cortisol is abundant in your bloodstream. The surge of this hormone, secreted by the adrenal glands, causes physical changes that help you deal with the situation at hand: lessened sensitivity to pain, a burst of energy, and heightened memory function. (Though it's popularly known as the “stress hormone,” cortisol is always present; it's responsible for several metabolic functions, including the maintenance of blood sugar; immune function; regulation of blood pressure; and inflammatory response, among other things. Cortisol levels are high in the morning and low at night.) Some people release more cortisol than others in times of stress – it's just that they're more biologically “wired” to respond to stress that way.

If you find yourself under stress quite often, you may have a prolonged increase in cortisol. While it's extremely helpful in smaller, normal doses, higher and more prolonged levels have been shown to cause negative effects, such as higher blood pressure, trouble falling/staying asleep, blood sugar imbalances, increased body fat, lower immunity, impaired brain function, slower healing of wounds and decrease inflammatory response, and weakness in both muscles and bones. In order to keep cortisol levels optimal, it's important to manage the amount of stress in your life. This can be achieved by using relaxation techniques such as journaling, doing yoga, listening to music, deep breathing, and meditation. In addition, herbs like Ginseng, Ashwaganda, Rhodiola and Licorice root can further help the body deal with stress and cortisol reduction.

Candida Overgrowth

You have most likely heard of Candida before; it's a genus of infection-causing yeast. You've probably heard of it within the context of female yeast infections, but did you know that Candida is hardly limited to “down-there” difficulties? In fact, once it becomes systemic – meaning that it enters the bloodstream – Candida can cause symptoms that many physicians are calling an “epidemic.” It can affect anyone: man, woman, or child.

Candida isn't always bad; in fact, it is present in the naturally occurring flora of the mouth, throat, skin, digestive system (in both men and women), and in the vagina, and its growth is controlled by the presence of good bacteria. But when we are exposed to things that kill off the protective bacteria, the yeast can grow out of control. If it is allowed to grow unchecked, it actually becomes a mold, with roots (or rhizomes) that puncture the intestinal walls. Once that happens, undigested proteins, food particles, and more Candida can leak from the intestine into the bloodstream – which can cause a host of other problems, such as food allergies/sensitivities, that are typically misdiagnosed as something else. Or, worse yet, never diagnosed at all; many sufferers of chronic Candida infection have tried, and failed, to control symptoms with a variety of treatments (including antibiotics, which can make the infection worse) – only to give up and live with the discomfort.

You may have Systemic Candidiasis – a chronic yeast infection of the bloodstream – or be at an increased risk if you have:
• Taken oral antibiotics or oral acne medication
• Been on birth control pills
• Used corti-steroids, such as prednisone
• Weakened immunity due to illness or stress
• A diet with an overabundance of sugar, which feeds the yeast
• Recurrent yeast or fungal infections of the skin, nails, or mucus membranes
• White patches or a white coating on the tongue

Systemic Candida infections can cause a myriad of seemingly unrelated difficulties, including:
• Chronic fatigue
• Difficulty losing weight
• Recurrent yeast, fungal, or urinary infections
• Acne
• Mood swings, irritability or emotional instability
• Aching joints
• Unexplained muscle pain
• Poor memory and/or lack of concentration
• Allergies
• Severe symptoms of pre-menstrual syndrome, or PMS

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, especially if you fit into one or more of the high-risk categories listed above, it may be time to consider a systemic yeast infection as a possible suspect. Systemic Candidiasis can be successfully controlled through several methods, including dietary changes (a complete refrain from simple, refined sugars and a cutback in carbohydrate intake) and intravenous ozone therapy.