00:00:00
It's all about getting back to the basics.
00:00:02
And so, you don't have to be at the mercy of stress, right?
00:00:05
Your body's not broken, it's actually extremely adaptive.
00:00:08
And when you can support the foundations, which are sleep, food, rhythm, and recovery, you're
00:00:14
gonna give your body that permission to heal.
00:00:17
Welcome to Health Decode, your number one source for real health information, with your
00:00:21
hosts, doctor Alessi and Matt Tack.
00:00:27
Hey, Health Decoded listeners.
00:00:29
Doctor Alessi here.
00:00:30
Let me ask you a serious question.
00:00:32
Are you tired of waiting until something goes wrong to finally see a doctor?
00:00:37
At Alessi Functional Health, we take a different approach, the right approach.
00:00:42
We believe true health care isn't about chasing symptoms.
00:00:45
It's about preventing them in the first place.
00:00:48
That's why we created the Alessi Total Care Program.
00:00:52
This is a functional medicine based membership that gives you proactive, personalized care
00:00:57
year round.
00:00:59
You'll get access to comprehensive blood work and functional testing, custom doctor grade
00:01:04
nutraceuticals, deep discounts on labs, protocols, and follow ups, as well as twenty
00:01:11
four seven direct access to your doctor, not just a ten minute checkup that ends with
00:01:16
another prescription.
00:01:18
And here's the best part.
00:01:19
As a Health Decoded listener, you'll get your first three months completely free when you
00:01:25
sign up for an annual membership.
00:01:27
That's on top of hundreds in savings already built into the program.
00:01:31
This is your chance to take responsibility for your health and join a movement that's
00:01:35
redefining what primary care should look like.
00:01:38
Head on over to alessifunctionalhealth.com, click on our services tab, and go to Total
00:01:44
Care.
00:01:45
Learn more about this program and claim your exclusive podcast listener offer.
00:01:50
Your health is your greatest asset.
00:01:52
Let's protect it proactively.
00:01:55
Welcome back to another episode of Health Decoded.
00:01:59
I am your host, doctor Alessi, and I'm excited to have you guys back today.
00:02:04
Really great topic that we have for you and really excited to get into this.
00:02:09
This is something that I believe is very misunderstood in health in general and
00:02:14
something that a lot of doctors really don't know how to test for or how to look for.
00:02:18
And ultimately, patients end up getting and people end up getting kind of bad advice in
00:02:25
this topic.
00:02:25
So, what we're going to talk about today is cortisol, and realistically how elevated
00:02:29
cortisol can hijack your health in the long term.
00:02:34
And so, you know, what I want to make sure I clear up right away is that cortisol is not
00:02:38
your enemy.
00:02:39
People throw it around as if it's a negative thing.
00:02:41
In fact, you wouldn't survive without it.
00:02:44
Cortisol is a steroid hormone.
00:02:46
It's produced by your adrenal glands, which sit like little hats on top of your kidneys, and
00:02:51
it's part of a very finely tuned system called the HPA axis, the hypothalamic pituitary
00:02:57
adrenal axis.
00:02:59
This system is essentially your body's stress command center.
00:03:02
It decides when to mobilize resources, when to rest and how to respond to everything from a
00:03:08
physical threat to emotional tension.
00:03:11
Now, here's what cortisol is supposed to do in a healthy system.
00:03:15
It helps regulate blood sugar so that you can have stable energy, reduce inflammation when
00:03:20
appropriate.
00:03:21
It controls and manages your sleep wake cycle, your circadian rhythm.
00:03:26
It supports metabolism and the conversion of food into energy.
00:03:30
It manages blood pressure and it mobilizes your body's fight or flight response in times of
00:03:36
danger.
00:03:37
So, picture this, you're hiking in the woods and suddenly you come across a bear.
00:03:41
Your brain immediately signals your adrenal glands to release cortisol and adrenaline.
00:03:47
Cortisol is going to increase your blood sugar so that your muscles will have energy, narrow
00:03:51
your blood vessels to raise blood pressure, it sharpens your focus and reaction time, and it
00:03:57
tells your immune system, Hold on, we have more pressing matters at hand.
00:04:01
So, it's going to also halt digestion and reproduction to conserve resources.
00:04:07
In that moment, cortisol could be a lifesaving ally.
00:04:11
But the problem is that we're not always in that position, right?
00:04:15
But your brain doesn't differentiate between a bear and your boss who just sent you a rude
00:04:20
email at 9PM.
00:04:21
Or maybe a toxic relationship or financial struggles or maybe doom scrolling on Instagram
00:04:28
for two hours before bed.
00:04:30
All of those micro stressors when experienced daily are going to trigger the same cortisol
00:04:35
release as if you were in that situation.
00:04:38
So, it's like your body thinks you're being chased by a bear 20 fourseven and it never gets
00:04:43
the signal to stand down.
00:04:45
When cortisol stays elevated for too long, that acute survival response becomes a chronic
00:04:50
health disaster.
00:04:52
So, here's a quick study spotlight from Psycho Neuroendocrinology in 2016.
00:04:58
Chronic psychological stress is associated with sustained elevations in cortisol, contributing
00:05:04
to metabolic dysfunction and immune suppression.
00:05:08
That means that high cortisol, when elevated for a long time, can disrupt your immune system
00:05:13
making you more vulnerable to infections.
00:05:16
It can also increase belly fat because cortisol tells your body to store fat in the abdomen for
00:05:21
fuel.
00:05:22
It'll cause insulin resistance, unstable blood sugar, it can wreck your energy and your sleep
00:05:27
and literally blunt your brain's ability to function.
00:05:31
And over time, your adrenals are going to burn out leading to low cortisol, exhaustion and
00:05:37
then ultimately complete burnout.
00:05:39
So, this episode isn't just about feeling stressed and that biochemical process, we're
00:05:45
talking about how do we maintain and manage cortisol long term to then ultimately avoid
00:05:51
this kind of thing in the first place.
00:05:53
And so, isn't bad, but chronically elevated cortisol is.
00:05:57
So, in this episode, we're going to fix that.
00:05:59
We're going to unpack how cortisol affects your weight, sleep, mood, metabolism, hormones, and
00:06:05
more.
00:06:06
And then, I'll show you how to take back control naturally.
00:06:10
So, how does cortisol wreck your body?
00:06:12
Alright, now that you understand what cortisol is, and why it matters, let's talk about what
00:06:17
happens when it's out of balance, especially when it's chronically elevated or eventually
00:06:22
bottoms out.
00:06:24
Because when your cortisol rhythm is off, your entire system will suffer.
00:06:28
So, let's break it down and let's go symptom by symptom of what happens.
00:06:34
So, the first one on the list here is weight gain, right?
00:06:37
Especially belly fat, abdominal adipose tissue.
00:06:41
Cortisol raises blood sugar to fuel your muscles in a crisis, but when the crisis never
00:06:46
ends, that sugar isn't burned, it's stored.
00:06:49
Especially as visceral fat around the abdomen and organs.
00:06:54
This belly fat isn't just cosmetic, it is metabolically active and inflammatory, which
00:06:59
can feed the cortisol cycle even more.
00:07:02
Even worse, chronically high cortisol will crank up your cravings for sugar and carbs,
00:07:07
pushing you more towards an emotional binge type of eating.
00:07:11
The next one on the list is insomnia.
00:07:13
The thought of being tired but then wired at night.
00:07:17
Cortisol is supposed to follow a diurnal rhythm.
00:07:20
It should spike in the morning when you wake up and it should taper down to let melatonin rise
00:07:25
towards the end of the day so you can sleep.
00:07:28
When cortisol is too high at night, you're going to feel wired but you're exhausted.
00:07:32
Lying in bed, maybe scrolling on your phone, your mind is racing and you can't fall asleep.
00:07:38
Eventually, you're not going to wake up refreshed anymore, you're going to start the
00:07:41
day already behind because your diurnal rhythm has now been flipped.
00:07:46
The next thing that we can experience is brain fog.
00:07:48
I've experienced this before.
00:07:50
Chronic cortisol can impair your hippocampus, which is the part of your brain responsible for
00:07:55
memory, focus and learning.
00:07:57
So, you might feel like you can't remember basic things, you can't stay on task or you
00:08:01
feel just mentally sluggish all day.
00:08:03
It's not a motivation issue, it's a neurochemical imbalance.
00:08:08
Chronically elevated cortisol can also impair hormone balance and cause low libido.
00:08:14
Cortisol and your sex hormones share the same raw materials, primarily pregnenolone.
00:08:20
When your body is under stress, it prioritizes survival over reproduction, a phenomenon called
00:08:26
the pregnenolone steal.
00:08:28
This can lead to low testosterone or estrogen, PMS, irregular periods or fertility issues, or
00:08:35
total loss of libido or sexual energy.
00:08:39
Another one is blood sugar spikes and insulin resistance.
00:08:42
Chronically elevated cortisol raises blood sugar to help you survive, but if that sugar is
00:08:46
not used, it creates insulin resistance over time.
00:08:50
Go back two episodes and listen to our episode on blood sugar, that will make more sense.
00:08:56
This can then lead to blood sugar crashes, mood swings, sugar cravings, and eventually this
00:09:01
becomes prediabetes or even full blown type two diabetes.
00:09:06
Another thing cortisol can do is suppress the thyroid gland.
00:09:10
So, high cortisol can inhibit your conversion of T4 to T3, basically your active thyroid
00:09:16
hormone.
00:09:17
It can also increase reverse T3, which then blocks your receptors from using thyroid
00:09:23
hormone effectively.
00:09:25
So, what does this mean?
00:09:26
Even if your thyroid labs are looking normal, you could still have slow metabolism, the cold
00:09:32
hand and feet symptoms, constipation, thinning hair and chronic fatigue.
00:09:37
And then, next, last on the list here is immune dysfunction.
00:09:40
We touched on this for a second.
00:09:42
Cortisol has an immunosuppressive effect, which is great for short term inflammation control,
00:09:47
but it's a disaster when this is sustained long term.
00:09:51
So, you might find yourself getting sick more often, experiencing long recovery from colds,
00:09:56
or developing or worsening autoimmune flares like Hashimoto's, rheumatoid arthritis or
00:10:01
eczema.
00:10:03
And now, here's the kicker, the longer you stay in this stress state, the more depleted your
00:10:08
adrenal glands become.
00:10:09
And eventually, your body cannot sustain the output anymore and your cortisol production
00:10:14
crashes.
00:10:15
This is where people move from the wired and tired to just plain exhausted and the body
00:10:21
totally burns out.
00:10:23
They wake up fatigued, no motivation, they feel emotionally numb, depressed, physically heavy.
00:10:29
That's not just burnout, it's what we call HPA axis dysfunction, or adrenal exhaustion.
00:10:35
And it is a serious thing.
00:10:37
So, here's a real case study, and this is a patient we worked with.
00:10:41
I'm not going to say any names, but we worked with a 42 year old entrepreneur type A, high
00:10:47
performer, early riser, late night emails until really he started breaking down and noticing
00:10:52
about over the span of six months to a year.
00:10:56
He noticed he was gaining weight, even though he was working out like crazy and eating clean.
00:11:01
He couldn't sleep.
00:11:02
He lost all drive, libido, sex drive with his partner, and even his creativity.
00:11:08
Event everything eventually felt kind of like a chore to him, even just getting out of bed.
00:11:13
So, we ran his labs, we looked at a full hormone panel, thyroid panel, inflammation, and
00:11:18
his cortisol was basically flat lined in the morning, when it should have been at its
00:11:22
highest.
00:11:23
And it was spiked at night when it should have been at its lowest.
00:11:26
So, this is what we just alluded to, this was that adrenal dysfunction.
00:11:30
Classic HPA axis dysfunction.
00:11:33
His stress response system had burned out from chronic overuse.
00:11:37
But the cool thing here was that we implemented a strategy with lifestyle, supplements, and
00:11:43
nutritional interventions.
00:11:44
And he put in the work and eventually we rebuilt his body's HPA axis to be functional
00:11:50
again.
00:11:52
Now, the takeaway here is chronic cortisol imbalance is really a silent saboteur of modern
00:11:59
health.
00:11:59
And again, this is something not a lot of doctors talk about, because not a lot of
00:12:02
doctors know about.
00:12:04
So, if you're struggling with weight, energy, mood, or sleep, or hormones, it's time to start
00:12:09
asking yourself, what is my cortisol rhythm actually doing?
00:12:12
And start getting some answers.
00:12:14
And that's exactly what I want to get into now in this next segment.
00:12:17
Labs, testing, what to look for, and ultimately what most doctors are gonna miss.
00:12:22
But before we do that, here's a quick word from one of our sponsors.
00:12:27
This episode of Health Decoded is brought to you by Authentic Nutrition, the brand
00:12:34
redefining what it means to fuel your body the right way.
00:12:37
Authentic Nutrition, they believe that what you put into your body matters.
00:12:41
That's why every single product is crafted with clean, premium ingredients and dosed with
00:12:47
maximum efficacy to ensure you're not just meeting your health goals, you're exceeding
00:12:52
them.
00:12:53
No fillers, no shortcuts, no gimmicks.
00:12:56
Whether it's their advanced supplements for energy, recovery, or gut health, you can trust
00:13:01
that what's on the label is exactly what's in the bottle.
00:13:04
Fentic Nutrition delivers science backed formulations that work as hard as you do.
00:13:09
If you're tired of products that promise the world but don't deliver, it's time to make the
00:13:13
switch to Fentic Nutrition.
00:13:16
Elevate your health with transparency, quality, and results you can feel.
00:13:21
Check them out today at authenticnutrition.com and use promo code Alessi 15 to get 15% off.
00:13:28
That's thenticnutrition.com.
00:13:33
Promo code, a l e s s I one five to save 15% and take the first step toward real, lasting
00:13:42
health.
00:13:43
Authentic Nutrition, fuel your best self.
00:13:46
Now back to the episode.
00:13:49
Okay.
00:13:50
Welcome back.
00:13:51
Now let's get into testing the stress response and what your labs can ultimately reveal and
00:13:57
what most doctors are ultimately missing when it comes to testing this.
00:14:01
So, say you're dealing with symptoms, you've got brain fog, fatigue, cravings, maybe even
00:14:07
hormone issues.
00:14:08
Here's the truth, if you don't test these things, you're just guessing.
00:14:12
And if you test the wrong things, you're still guessing.
00:14:15
So, let's talk about how do you properly assess cortisol and the overall stress response, and
00:14:21
why average blood tests and your CBC are really not going to cut it.
00:14:26
The problem with conventional testing is you walk into your doctor's office feeling off,
00:14:31
fatigued, overwhelmed, not yourself.
00:14:34
If they run anything, it's going to be a single blood cortisol level and maybe they take that
00:14:39
at 8AM.
00:14:39
And they say, Oh, you're in range.
00:14:41
First off, what does in range actually mean?
00:14:44
Right?
00:14:44
Are you on the higher end of reference range?
00:14:46
The lower end, but you're still within range?
00:14:49
Those are two different things.
00:14:51
That one number doesn't give us enough of a picture of how cortisol is flowing throughout
00:14:56
the day or how it's affecting your hormones, thyroid, immune system, or brain.
00:15:01
So, think of it like this, you wouldn't judge an entire movie by one still frame, right?
00:15:06
So, why would you judge your entire stress system by one number?
00:15:10
So, the functional medicine approach, what we test and why is that, you know, we want to see
00:15:16
a full picture of what this is doing and what your body is doing throughout a daily basis.
00:15:22
So, the number one thing we're going to look at is what's called a cortisol awakening response
00:15:26
or a CAR.
00:15:28
This is a saliva test taken multiple times in the first thirty to sixty minutes after waking,
00:15:34
as well as throughout the day.
00:15:36
This is going to measure how quickly your cortisol spikes start, as well as what that
00:15:41
rhythm looks like midday, end of the day and at night.
00:15:46
And so, a spiked CAR may mean chronic anxiety or inflammation.
00:15:51
Another test we often use is a Dutch test.
00:15:54
This is a dried urine test for comprehensive hormones.
00:15:57
This is going to give us cortisol and cortisone patterns, both the free and the metabolized.
00:16:03
This is going to give us estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and how your body
00:16:07
is processing them.
00:16:08
Melatonin levels, as well as the organic acid markers for how your body is metabolizing
00:16:13
vitamins, glutathione and more.
00:16:17
And so, you get an hour by hour map of your hormones and your stress response.
00:16:22
This is not something that a basic blood test will show.
00:16:25
The other things we need to see is fasting insulin and glucose and your hemoglobin A1C,
00:16:31
because these are tightly linked to cortisol.
00:16:34
So, cortisol is often going to lead to insulin resistance even if your glucose looks normal.
00:16:39
We discussed this back in the blood sugar episode as well.
00:16:42
Go back and listen to that.
00:16:44
So, these tests are going to show us how well you're handling sugar and stress.
00:16:50
Next, what we look at is a full thyroid panel.
00:16:53
We want to see not just TSH, we want to see free T3, free T4, reverse T3, as well as
00:17:00
antibodies.
00:17:01
Remember, discussed there's a link between immune suppression and worsening of autoimmune
00:17:05
conditions.
00:17:06
So, we want to see those thyroid antibodies.
00:17:08
Because chronic cortisol will slow thyroid conversion, increase reverse T3 and even mask
00:17:15
hypothyroid symptoms.
00:17:17
Another thing that we want to see that this is not 100% necessary but is beneficial is looking
00:17:22
at key nutrients.
00:17:23
So, key nutrients for adrenal and stress support are going to be B12, zinc, magnesium,
00:17:29
vitamin D, ferritin and selenium.
00:17:33
These are the raw materials that your adrenal glands and nervous system use to function.
00:17:38
And so, people are walking around with borderline or even deficient levels, especially
00:17:43
magnesium and B12 and they don't even know it.
00:17:46
And the worst part is most doctors are going to miss this because they consider within range to
00:17:51
be okay.
00:17:53
So, some of the red flags that get overlooked every single day is normal cortisol on a blood
00:18:00
test but a reverse daily rhythm, flat in the morning, high at night.
00:18:04
Low free T3, so even if TSH is normal, this can signify early thyroid dysfunction.
00:18:12
Estrogen dominance in both men and women.
00:18:16
Low DHEA, which is a key adrenal hormone that often crashes with chronic stress.
00:18:21
And then B12 in range, but functionally low, especially if you have fatigue or brain fog.
00:18:29
So, here's a quick study spotlight from the Journal of Psycho Neuroendocrinology in 2018.
00:18:35
Salivary cortisol patterns often offer a more precise insight into HPA axis dysfunction and
00:18:43
psychological stress than single serum values.
00:18:47
Now, that's exactly what we just talked about, that snapshot versus looking at the whole
00:18:51
picture.
00:18:51
So, the takeaway here is if you've been told that everything looks normal, but you feel
00:18:57
anything but, your labs may be incomplete or misinterpreted.
00:19:01
And it's time to take a functional approach.
00:19:03
You need to look at rhythms, patterns, and the full hormone landscape, not just a snapshot of
00:19:09
numbers.
00:19:10
Now, that brings us to the fun part.
00:19:12
In the next segment, I want to talk through how to actually fix it naturally without jumping
00:19:17
straight to medications or hormone replacement.
00:19:21
So, how do we restore and balance our stress system naturally?
00:19:27
Now that we've uncovered what cortisol is, how it becomes dysregulated, and how to properly
00:19:33
test it, let's get into the solution.
00:19:36
So, good news that I want you to take away from this is that your body wants to heal.
00:19:40
You just need to give it the right input.
00:19:43
This isn't about suppressing cortisol, it's about restoring rhythm, resetting stress
00:19:48
system, and ultimately your HPA axis.
00:19:52
So, step one, this is takeaways that I want you, if you need to write it down, things that
00:19:57
you can integrate and start doing today.
00:20:00
Step one, reset your nervous system.
00:20:04
Chronic stress is not just in your head, it's hardwired into your autonomic nervous system.
00:20:09
And we need to shift from fight or flight into rest and repair.
00:20:13
So, here's how you do it.
00:20:14
Daily breath work.
00:20:16
Commit five to ten minutes.
00:20:18
Start with an exercise like box breathing.
00:20:20
This is where you do a four inhale, four second hold, four second exhale, four second hold,
00:20:26
repeat.
00:20:28
Or focusing on more of an extended exhale where you do four seconds in and then six to eight
00:20:33
seconds out.
00:20:34
This has been proven to lower cortisol and activate the parasympathetic system.
00:20:39
You could also use things like cold exposure.
00:20:42
Try for two to three days a week.
00:20:44
It doesn't have to be a plunge or an ice bath.
00:20:46
Just start with a cold shower for thirty seconds to two minutes a day.
00:20:50
This will help build resilience to stress and retrain your cortisol reactivity.
00:20:57
Also, practice grounding or nature therapy.
00:21:00
Being barefoot on the grass and walking outside with the sun on your face can work numbers for
00:21:06
lowering inflammation and modulating your cortisol naturally.
00:21:11
Now, step two is you need to stabilize your blood sugar.
00:21:15
Cortisol rises when blood sugar crashes.
00:21:17
So, to heal your adrenals, we need to stabilize your energy supply.
00:21:21
We talked about this as well in a previous episode, but protein with every meal.
00:21:26
20 to 30 grams minimum.
00:21:28
Healthy fats like avocados, olive oil or nuts, these are going to help stabilize that insulin
00:21:33
response and blood sugar spike.
00:21:35
And then using complex slow digesting carbs like sweet potatoes or berries or quinoa, This
00:21:41
is gonna provide you with not such an elevated quick spike in blood sugar.
00:21:46
And then, the constant snacking.
00:21:48
Try not to graze every two hours.
00:21:50
Let your body feel hungry, let your blood sugar get back to normal.
00:21:54
Another thing you can try is considering intermittent fasting.
00:21:58
But only if cortisol is stable.
00:22:00
You don't want to fast if you're already tanked.
00:22:02
Now, you're adding more stress to an already stressed state.
00:22:05
We discussed fasting and how to implement it a few episodes back as well.
00:22:10
Go back and listen to that one if you've never tried fasting and you're interested.
00:22:14
Step number three, heal your gut.
00:22:17
Your gut and brain are in constant conversation with each other and inflammation in the gut
00:22:22
drives stress signals to the brain and vice versa.
00:22:25
So, start by removing the inflammatory triggers: gluten, dairy, processed sugars,
00:22:31
alcohol.
00:22:33
Then, rebuild the gut with L glutamine, zinc carnosine, probiotics, bone broth and collagen.
00:22:40
For a deep dive on this, go revisit episode 16 on gut health where we gave you a whole game
00:22:45
plan for that.
00:22:48
And now step four, you have to, have to, have to rebalance your circadian rhythm.
00:22:54
Cortisol is supposed to rise in the morning and fall at night.
00:22:57
But a lot of people have this backwards.
00:22:59
So, here's how you reset it.
00:23:01
Your morning routine should look like bright light within thirty minutes of waking.
00:23:05
Ideally, natural sunlight or a high lux lamp, 10 amps.
00:23:11
Movement, so walking, stretching, mobility work, and a protein rich breakfast.
00:23:16
Get rid of the sugary cereals and the sugary coffee in the mornings, which is only going to
00:23:21
spike your cortisol anyway.
00:23:23
And then the night routine, which is basically setting you up for this, no screens one hour
00:23:28
before bed, I prefer two.
00:23:30
And then using some kind of blue light blocker if you are going to be on your screen.
00:23:35
You need those glasses that can help filter the blue light because the blue light stimulates
00:23:39
the optic nerve which stimulates cortisol.
00:23:43
Dim the lights after sunset, let your body kind of understand that now it's starting to get
00:23:47
time for bed.
00:23:49
Use things like magnesium glycinate or L Theanine if needed at night.
00:23:53
And then the biggest thing I think you can do that makes the biggest impact is going to bed
00:23:59
and waking up at the same time every day, even on the weekends.
00:24:03
Even if your schedule changes, try to do it at the same time.
00:24:07
Because sleep is your most powerful hormone therapy.
00:24:12
And then, step five, you can supplement with things like adaptogens.
00:24:17
These are not magic pills, they're not going to replace anything we just talked about, but they
00:24:21
can support the rebuilding process when you use them strategically.
00:24:25
A fantastic one is Ashwagandha.
00:24:27
This helps to lower those elevated cortisol levels, get you back towards a normal balance.
00:24:31
Rhodiola, phosphatidylserine, magnesium and then a vitamin C and B complex.
00:24:38
These are essential co factors for adrenal hormone production.
00:24:42
If you don't know where to start, work with a practitioner or functional medicine doctor to
00:24:46
make sure you're dosing these properly based on your labs.
00:24:50
And then step six, as always, move.
00:24:53
Move your body.
00:24:54
But don't burn it out.
00:24:56
Exercise is a stressor and so when you're already fried, intense exercises can push you
00:25:02
further off the cliff.
00:25:03
So, start with walking.
00:25:05
10 steps a day is a great goal.
00:25:07
Get into some zone two cardio.
00:25:09
Lower heart rate but longer duration.
00:25:12
And then practice strength training, two to three days a week, but keeping the intensity
00:25:16
more moderate at first until you can handle it.
00:25:19
If you feel worse after working out, you're overdoing it.
00:25:23
This is a great, great warning sign.
00:25:26
So, you know, in cadence here, lifestyle wins before pills, right?
00:25:32
So, me be clear, there's a time and a place for hormone replacement therapy or medications.
00:25:37
I'm not knocking them completely.
00:25:39
I just think they're overused when there's other things we can do fundamentally first.
00:25:44
So, if you skip over the lifestyle foundations we just covered, you're basically building on
00:25:48
sand.
00:25:49
Supplements aren't going to work, prescriptions aren't going to hold, and you're putting the
00:25:53
cart before the horse essentially.
00:25:55
And so, here's a real great quote from the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine in 2021.
00:26:01
It said, Lifestyle interventions should be the first step in addressing HPA axis dysfunction
00:26:07
and cortisol related disorders.
00:26:09
This is one of the most popular journals for lifestyle medicine that exists.
00:26:13
And so, that should just tell you that there's it's all about getting back to the basics.
00:26:18
And so, don't have to be for a final takeaway here, you don't have to be at the mercy of
00:26:22
stress, right?
00:26:23
Your body's not broken, it's actually extremely adaptive.
00:26:27
And when you can support the foundations, which are sleep, food, rhythm, and recovery, you're
00:26:33
going to give your body that permission to heal.
00:26:36
Now, if you want to take this a step further, and you want to learn more about how we help
00:26:40
people to diagnose, reverse, and heal adrenal fatigue and hormone imbalances within our
00:26:46
functional medicine programs, go to AlessiFunctionalHealth.com, schedule a
00:26:51
consultation where you can meet with me or one of my teammates, and let's create a
00:26:55
personalized plan for lifelong health.
00:26:58
If you're a listener of the podcast, you're always going to get exclusive discounts and
00:27:01
price reductions on all of our lab protocols and testing.
00:27:05
As always, if you found any value in today's show, I just ask you please like, subscribe,
00:27:10
and then share this with someone who you think would need to hear it.
00:27:13
That's the only way we're gonna get to grow this message.
00:27:15
We don't spend and take money to do any marketing for this.
00:27:20
We just wanna provide value and we just ask that you share in return.
00:27:24
If you wanna get in touch with us, if you ever wanna be featured on an episode, share your
00:27:28
story or get a question answered, email it to us at ask@AlessiFXHealth.com.
00:27:34
You can also visit AlessiFunctionalHealth.com, sign up for our newsletter, and check out our
00:27:39
resources page.
00:27:40
You're gonna learn more about our approach to nutrition and cutting edge therapies.
00:27:44
I wanna thank you again for being a part of this and for joining us on today's episode.
00:27:49
Thanks for tuning in, where we break down the science, we bust the myths, and we help you
00:27:54
take control of your health naturally.
00:27:56
So until next time, I'm doctor Alessi.
00:27:59
Stay curious, stay empowered, and remember that your health is in your hands.
00:28:03
Thank you for tuning in to Health Decoded, where we break down the truth about all things
00:28:09
health and empower you to take charge of your well-being.
00:28:12
If you found value in today's episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with
00:28:18
someone who needs to hear this.
00:28:20
For more resources and personalized support, visit us at AlessiFunctionalHealth.com and sign
00:28:25
up for our newsletter.
00:28:27
To hear your questions answered live on the show, send them to ask@AlessiFXHealth.com.
00:28:33
That's ask@alessifxhealth.com.
00:28:38
Until next time, stay curious, stay empowered, and remember, your health is in your hands.