Cortisol: too much or too little ...

Edited by Alessandro De Vettor

How it is produced, how it acts, how to control its secretion

Nowadays the problems caused by cortisol - also known as "the stress hormone", as produced under particular situations of psycho-physical stress - are well known.

But perhaps not everyone knows that although its "excessive production" is unquestionably harmful to the organism, its "underproduction" is equally harmful, as minimum levels of cortisol are still necessary for the proper functioning of our body.

A particularly interesting example is that of a person suffering from chronic stress or depressive syndrome. The over-production of cortisol at first creates a "toxic" effect as the hormone counteracts the working of brain cells appointed to good humor, destroying them. In a second phase, however, when a natural mechanism of self-protection against cortisol intervenes in the brain, if this were suddenly reduced drastically, a cortisolic deficit would be created in the brain cells, with consequent psychological and memory problems.

Now we come to the stress of physical exercise: we know that during physical activity cortisol levels increase and then return to normal as soon as the subject returns to a state of rest and tranquility. This "short term" effect produces benefits for our health, strengthening the immune system, memory, appetite control, weight loss, energy levels, inflammation levels and sexual health.

Problems arise when physical activity is continued too long over time and / or too frequently. In this case the production of cortisol increases; but be careful: in the long run there will be lower levels of cortisol during training, and a continuous excess production during the resting phases. This means that the state of stress to which the body is subjected becomes chronic, resulting in fatigue, weight gain, depression and poor performance, similar to what happened in the aforementioned example of self-defense of the brain.

The aim of a correct training management should therefore not be so much or only to avoid "cortisol peaks", but rather to avoid chronic situations (lasting over time) in which this hormone is produced in excess or in defect. The ideal would be to maintain normal oscillations in response to stressful and relaxing situations.