Transcript Hormonal Balance The Impact of Exericse

Hormonal Balance
The Impact of Diet and
Exercise
Robyn W. Jacobs, MD
24 January 2007
The What, Why and
How of Hormones
What are Hormones?
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Hormones are Chemical Messengers
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They direct the biochemical reactions which
happen inside of our body (our metabolism)
These reactions can be Building
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i.e. making enzymes, building muscle, repairing
DNA
Or Using
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Breaking down fat, protein and carbohydrate
stores for energy
What are Hormones?
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Chemical Messengers
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Our hormones translate our environment into
chemical messages which tell our bodies
whether they should be in “building mode” or
“using mode”
We spend most of our waking hours in “using
mode”
“Building mode” generally feels uncomfortable
Why are Hormones Important?
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Our hormones allow us to move between using
and building modes
We can’t keep our metabolism constant because
our environment is always changing
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Sometimes its hot, sometimes its cold
Sometimes food is plentiful, sometimes its scarce
Sometimes we are under stress, sometimes we are
not
Without hormonal balance we lose the ability to
adapt to our environment
How do our hormones regulate
our metabolism?
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Hormones work by a variety of
mechanisms
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Direct the creation/destruction of certain
enzymes
Control the rate of action of enzymes
Control the ratio of activity of enzymes
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i.e. which direction the enzyme moves our energy
How do our Hormones control
our Metabolism?
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Many hormones throughout our body
interact with one another to send
messages to our cells
The ratio of one hormone to another plays
a role in cellular function
The amount of one hormone can up or
down regulate the amount of another
hormone
The Major Hormones
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Major Hormones are those which are
immediately necessary for life
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We would not be able to survive if any one of these
hormones was missing.
INSULIN – Building, Our “digesting” hormone
ADRENALINE – Using, Our “saber tooth tiger
hormone”
CORTISOL – Mostly using (builds fat), Our
“chronic stress” hormone.
The Minor Hormones
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These hormones are not immediately
essential for life but work to help keep the
metabolism balanced for our health
Examples
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Human Growth Hormone, Estradiol,
Testosterone, DHEAS, Thyroid Hormone
Because our hormones keep us
responsive to our environment, our
hormonal balance changes based upon
our environment. Therefore, we can
utilize our environment to control our
hormonal balance and subsequently our
health.
Diet and Exercise are two environmental
inputs which significantly effect our
hormonal balance.
The Dual Role of Food
 Building
Blocks/ Nutrients
 Chemical messengers
Food as Building Blocks
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Macronutrients
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CHO – immediate energy, only energy source
for the brain
Proteins – lean body mass, enzymes, energy
Fats – cell membrane, steroid hormones,
energy, nerve conduction
Food as Building Blocks
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Micronutrients
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Vitamins – important in generation of energy
and production of enzymes
Minerals – necessary for many enzymes and
carrier proteins to function properly
Phytochemicals – compounds which interact
with our hormonal receptors
Food as Chemical Messengers
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Total and relative amount of macronutrients
signals body as to availability and quality of food
in our environment.
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Macronutrient balance has significant effect on
INSULIN
Total and relative amount of micronutrients
determines which enzymes are functioning
optimally and which are not
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Lack of adequate micronutrients prevents body from
going into “building” mode or impairs efficiency of
“building” mode.
How we eat effects our
metabolism
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Consuming food too low in CHO robs our
body of energy and forces us into a
“using” mode even when we are trying to
“build”
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This is the premise of ultra-low carbohydrate
diets which do cause weight loss but cause
loss of lean body mass as well as fat mass.
INSULIN is necessary to build muscle.
How we eat affects our
metabolism
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Consuming food to which we are sensitive
causes inflammation in the GI tract and
stimulates ADRENALINE release
Consuming foods high in refined CHO
causes sudden steep rises in INSULIN
Chronic fluctuations in INSULIN or
repeatedly elevated ADRENALINE lead to
excess CORTISOL production
The Hormonally Balanced Diet
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Frequent Small Meals
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Ideally 3 meals and 2 snacks each day
Each meal/snack should have CHO and Protein
in an approximately 2:1 ratio
Each meal/snack should have healthy fat
Each meal/snack should have a non-starchy
vegetable
One ounce of pure water for each Kg of Body
Weight (dehydration increases stress hormones)
When we eat correctly
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We use carbohydrates for brain fuel
We use protein to build hormones,
neurotransmitters and enzymes
We use fat to build hormones, cellular
structures and nerve sheaths
We rebuild and restore (“building” side of
metabolism) the biochemicals which were
utilized (“using” side of metabolism)
during the day.
Additional Tips
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Avoid food allergens to minimize adrenaline
spikes and inflammation.
Chew food thoroughly to prevent partially
digested food particles from causing irritation to
the GI tract and to maximize nutrient delivery.
SIT while you eat – eating is a “building” phase
activity. We confuse our metabolism when we
try to “use” and “build” simultaneously.
Additional Tips
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Never skip a meal – metabolism becomes
unbalanced if we fail to nourish ourselves
adequately.
Avoid artificial sweeteners and
preservatives – our body wasn’t designed
to break these down efficiently
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Eat “organic” or “natural” as much as possible
Avoid processed foods
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Shop the periphery of the food store
Hormonally Balanced
Exercise
Exercise
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What is exercise
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The American Heritage Dictionary, 1985
1. An act of employing or putting in to play;
use
3. Activity that requires physical or mental
exertion, esp. when performed to develop or
maintain fitness
Exercise = using our bodies
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What side of our metabolism are we on here?
Three General Categories of
Exercise
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Aerobic/Endurance/Cardiovascular
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Strength
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Flexibility
* See Table
Potential Benefits of Aerobic
Exercise
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Decreases risk of all-cause mortality by 30%
Improves Cardiovascular Function
Improves Endocrine Function
Improves Immune Function
Reduces Stress
Improves Sleep
Reduces risk of colon, breast and prostate
cancers
Potential Benefits of Resistance
Exercise
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Builds more lean body mass
Improves metabolic rate
Aids in weight loss
Decreases risk of falls and injuries
Improves balance
Potential Benefits of Stretching
Exercises
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Helps to Maintain Range of Motion
Helps to Maintain Strength
Lowers Adrenaline
Impact of Exercise on
Hormonal Balance
A focus on the Major Hormones:
Insulin
Adrenaline
Cortisol
Impact of Exercise on Insulin
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Light to moderate exercise
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Prolonged (>40 minutes) or intense
exercise
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Insulin levels unaffected
Insulin levels decline
Does not impact blood sugar levels in the
short term due to alteration in counterregulatory hormones
Impact of Exercise on Insulin
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Training leads to decreased basal insulin levels
Training leads to increased sensitivity to insulin –
increasing V02 by 15-20% can increase insulin
sensitivity by 20-30%
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Increased tissue binding of insulin
Rapidly reversed when exercise is stopped even for a
few days
Not modified by acute exercise
May not be seen in obese men with high triglycerides
and insulin resistance
Impact of Exercise on Adrenaline
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Adrenaline increases with the onset of
exercise and (with noradrenaline) is
responsible for:
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Increase in heart rate (E)
Redistribution of blood flow (NE)
Glycogenolysis/lipolysis (breaking down fat
and glycogen for energy) (E)
Impact of Exercise on Adrenaline
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Mild Exercise
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Moderate Exercise
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Little or no Adrenaline response
Signficant noradrenaline response
(hemodynamics)
Minimal adrenaline response
Intense or prolonged exercise
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Adrenaline increases significantly
Impact of Exercise on Adrenaline
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Exercise induced changes in adrenaline
levels persist for 24 hours
After the anaerobic threshold is reached
adrenaline increases out of proportion to
additional work load
Impact of Exercise on Cortisol
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Low intensity exercise (<50% VO2 max)
decreases Cortisol levels
Prolonged or high intensity exercise
increases Cortisol
Ultra endurance exercises abolish the
normal circadian rhythm of Cortisol
Cortisol can increase in ANTICIPATION of
exercise
Impact of Exercise on Cortisol
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For Women, Cortisol changes which occur
during training will persist for some time
after training stops (ie post season for
seasonal athletes)
For Men, changes in Cortisol response to
regular exercise return to baseline at the
completion of the training season.
Training blunts the Cortisol response to
exercise
Why are you working out?
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Exercise – fitness, health, well being
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Training – competition, goal oriented
Training
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When we train we are choosing to stress
(use) our bodies in order to reach a goal.
This is OK but we must be sensitive to our
bodies need to rebuild. Impeccable
attention to diet and sleep/stress
management is essential in order to keep
our metabolism balanced while training.
Exercise
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Exercising for fitness, health and well-being is
important for all of us. In order to reap the
benefits, without allowing our exercise to
become an additional stressor we must remain
cognizant of how exercise impacts our
metabolism. Focus should be on low intensity
exercise most of the time with moderate
intensity exercise a few times a week. There is
really NO ROLE for high intensity exercise in a
wellness oriented routine.
Summary
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Our Hormones are critical to our health
and well-being
Hormonal Balance allows us to remain
responsive to our environment
We can control our environment to
maximize our hormonal balance and
therefore our physiologic flexibility
Eat well, sleep peacefully,
play joyfully