This theme repeats itself often in clinic….
I want to let you in on one of the themes that I see daily in clinic and that is easily remedied. Every day I see people come to me for help with chronic stress or pain conditions, insomnia, infertility, hormone conditions, fatigue, headaches, anxiety….conditions that make day to day living difficult and not enjoyable…and who … drumroll please…upon investigation are ‘intermittent fasting’! Upon deeper probing 99% of the time these scenarios they are not eating until lunchtime. Another term for this is skipping breakfast. Why is this a problem? (Where do I start!)
To begin with, our body relies on circadian rhythm. This is our internal clock that regulates bodily function. It is essential for proper hormone release, efficient digestion, sleep-wake cycle, temperature regulation and metabolism. Melatonin is a sleep promoting hormone, while cortisol is it associated with wakefulness, its counterpart. Cortisol is the theme of this story!
In a healthy circadian rhythm, cortisol peaks in the morning, preparing the body for the day. It then should decline throughout the day, swapping dominance with melatonin which then promotes sleep and respiration.
So…upon waking, our digestion and metabolism requires fuel to begin the day. When you skip breakfast, your body may initially respond by releasing cortisol to maintain blood sugar levels and energy, as it might perceive a lack of fuel. However, if breakfast is consistently skipped, this can lead to a disrupted cortisol rhythm, potentially resulting in chronically elevated levels.
What do elevated cortisol levels look like in the body? Stress. Plain old stress. It looks and feels like stress. Or anxiety, irritability, mood swings, reduced metabolic function such as weight gain. It increases risk of type 2 diabetes, obesity and heart disease. Yuk
Cortisol levels in more detail:
-Breaks down fat, muscle, skin and even bone to maintain blood sugar and provide cells with energy under stress
-Suppresses functions not essential to immediate survival like fertility, digestion and immune function
-Normal response if for cortisol levels to come down after stressful event (fight or flight, is it a tiger, or someone cutting you off in traffic). But chronic stress leads to high levels as the body becomes more resistant to cortisol anti-inflammatory effects
-High cortisol levels are associated with cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, depression and fatty liver. Chronic stress can lead to atrophy of the adrenal glands (site of cortisol production).
-Inhibits thyroid function
-Hormone disruptions include lowers progesterone by ‘stealing’ pregnenenlone, while also blocking progesterone receptors, creates estrogen excess by promoting aromatase expression (enzyme that makes estrogen).
Enough said? I will post some Dr Clancy approved winter breakfast ideas on our Instagram.