Your body is the most complex, perfectly engineered machine around. It grows and heals itself and it can also self-destruct. There is a lethal drug that corrupts and kills your body.  Surprisingly, this drug is manufactured by you! This drug is cortisol and if you live in the 21 st Century, you are most likely taking a daily dose. In an instant, your body secretes cortisol to help you cope with stressful situations and your performance switches from that of a Honda to more like a Ferrari. Cool, right? However, this ability comes at a high price: your life and health.

Causes of stress that prompt cortisol release in your body include food choices; caffeine; alcohol; work pressure; financial worry; family conflict; social commitments; the daily grind (like traffic jams); even sporting events – the outcome can be very stressful!

As Joyce Meyer put it in her latest book ‘Look Great Feel Great', imagine that you are a country which has been attacked. You go into Code Red revising your resources (funds and energy), you increase surveillance, mobilize the military and strengthen immigration check points. But this change in focus comes at a cost: temporary reductions to education and health care. This plan works well in the short-term but if a constant state of emergency (stress) persists, it will lead to internal breakdown: a sick population and an uneducated generation. Do you get it? Your body can only take these cortisol attacks for so long. It will eventually break down and you will pay the price.

While cortisol instantly boosts physical abilities: sharpening your senses and increasing your ability to withstand pain, just listen to some of the negative effects cortisol has on your body:

· Increased heart rate, blood pressure and cardiovascular disease

· Shut down of “unnecessary systems” [to survival] including digestion, reproduction, sexual interest, short term memory and rational thought

· Disrupted sleep patterns

· Slows healing

· Speeds aging

· Messes immune system and increases likelihood of cancers and autoimmune diseases including  MS & rheumatoid arthritis

· Causes overeating

Get yourself out of this vicious addiction cycle. Put your foot down and refuse to live in the fast lane: the lane that leads to dis-ease and pain. Choose life!

Next Issue: 6 Ways to De-stress! (But don't stress over it. If you can't wait for help, email me for some ideas)

Past Newsletters:

July 24 - Learn to Slow Down

July 31 - Get Motivated

August 7 - Fire up your Metabolism!

August 21 - Code Red - Stress Alert