“I feel like I am falling apart” whispered the woman. She was hardly 45. But somewhere along the way of making a living she had forgotten to actually live. A series of tests had been done. Nothing seemed to be drastically wrong with her. Yet she knew she was not feeling healthy. She had come to her doctor in the hope he would provide some form of magic pill to get her health back. But the doctor was not reaching out for his prescription pad.
Doctor: You have to change your lifestyle. There is no medicine I can give you.
Woman: But doc! How about some vitamins! Probably calcium and protein supplements. I also heard a lot about needing digestive enzymes and detox cleanses.
Doctor: What you need is good food, enough water and adequate rest!
The doctor could literally read the woman’s mind voice ‘what a waste of time and money coming to this man!’ He smiled and replied
Doctor: You know even we doctors cannot put a broken egg back into its shell! If you want health you have to take the responsibility of your body. There is no way anybody – your gym instructor, your cook or your health practitioner can do it for you! Its your body. So it is your responsibility!
Woman: But I am sure you can give me some supportive mechanisms. I am already eating the right calories…
Doctor: (Interrupting her) That is where most people are wrong. Let me ask you this. We know calorie is a unit of energy. Like how we have inches and centimetres to measure distance, calorie is the unit of energy we use for bodily functions. Now tell me, when you say this particular food has so many calories – is that a potential energy or a kinetic energy?
Woman: I guess it is potential till it actually enters our body and gets converted to energy.
Doctor: Exactly! So that food by itself is not energy it only has the potential to give you energy provided your body can digest it properly! I wonder why it is so difficult for people to understand that if drugs can have side effects of overweight, headaches and gastrointestinal distress, why do we find it unthinkable that food might do the same?
Woman: Are you telling me the food I eat is causing stress to my body?
Doctor: My dear, there are different kinds of stress – physical, emotional, nutritive, thermal, chemical, electromagnetic but to the body all these are chemical reactions. What ever may be the source of your stress, the body will process it through chemical pathways. And that is the miracle of God because, everything that your body does has its own counter mechanism. The body is capable of self healing – all we need to do is not keep tampering with it!
Science was listening in to this conversation with deep satisfaction. God gently placed His hands on Science and asked:
God: You seem to be very satisfied!
Science: Father Thomas Edison had said ‘The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease’ I am seeing that beginning to happen…
God: Hmmm… That is good to see holistic approaches become more popular. But don’t you think you should also teach them the science of what happens during stress?
Science: Indeed father! It is in that spirit that the good doctor has spoken about how the body processes all stress as a chemical reaction. Now this woman’s problem is directly related to adrenal exhaustion. She has to bring about certain lifestyle modifications.
God: Oh! I thought your children only highlighted the role of oestrogen and progesterone for women’s hormonal imbalances.
Science: Recent research has revealed the great impact of adrenal hormones in women who experience too much stress for too long. Many people know the role of cortisol which is secreted in response to any stress in the body. The body has an elaborate system for controlling cortisol secretion. With stress, a surge of cortisol prepares the body to fight or flee activating the sympathetic nervous system. This is expected to be followed by a long period of rest and recovery with the Parasympathetic nervous system. However, today man in permanently in a state of stress leaving many restorative functions continually sacrificed or impaired. When the adrenal glands are perpetually called upon to produce cortisol, they eventually weaken, leading to adrenal fatigue and exhaustion.
God: But I am sure you also highlight that cortisol is not all bad! Small increases of cortisol are necessary for daily living…
Science: Of course Father. When cortisol levels are too low, they will feel like a cornered animal feeling paralysed between confrontation and escape. Small increases of cortisol provides quick bursts of energy for survival. It heightens the memory, increases immunity, lowers sensitivity to pain and helps maintain homeostasis. A good structured exercise program does this to keep the level of cortisol right. But when they continue to act in ways that increase cortisol enormously, it becomes catabolic or tissue destructive in nature and the body goes into enormous stress. To the point producing cortisol itself becomes a stress! This also tampers with the immune system as cortisol is an immune suppressant and ‘mutes’ the white blood cells leading to enormous bodily dysfunction.
God: So how do you plan to motivate people to stop being stressed. They seem to know the ill effects of cortisol and still keep getting stressed.
Science: I think the magic of awareness can be created if we can explain the role of DHEA to them, Father! Dihydroepiandosterone or DHEA is another adrenal hormone produced through the action of the hormone pregnenolone. This is also the precursor to oestrogen. Now if one is constantly stressed the pregnenolone is used for producing cortisol leaving DHEA production disturbed. While my children are still studying the role of DHEA, we do know that the greatest quantity of DHEA in a human is only when they are still a foetus. So we do know that this is the primary growth hormone. After birth, DHEA is highest during the age 20s and slowly starts dropping leaving us to wonder if that is responsible for this whole thing called ageing. It goes to as low as 20% by age 70.
God: (with a smile) If you know this much, you should also know that the adrenals can produce only cortisol or DHEA at any given time from the available pregnenolone. Cortisol suppresses the immune system, breaks down tissues and has a generally catabolic effect. However, these effects are balanced out by DHEA, which has the opposite effect – activating the immune system and building up tissues. All these hormones are made from cholesterol – one reason why running a low cholesterol is not a good thing! So if they can be taught to reduce their stress and thereby their cortisol production automatically with increased production of DHEA their quality of life will be much better.
Science: I wish it was that simple to convince human kind. They will now want to know how to increase DHEA in their body…
God: Very simple! The most easy way to do that would be to meditate because DHEA and Melatonin (the pro-longevity hormones) are both released during the Delta brainwave state which is usually accomplished through deep meditation.
Science: Yes I know. But they don’t follow that advice! Just watch what this woman does…
Science led the Lord to witness the conversation between the Doctor and his woman patient.
Woman: Doctor! I heard about this new drug – a supplement for DHEA. Why don’t you give me a prescription for that. It will surely reverse my ageing process.
Doctor: My dear, DHEA is a natural product produced by your body. You don’t need an external supplement for it. You just need to provide your body enough opportunity to produce it. All stress has three parts to it – perception, response and internalisation. While I understand that each person perceives different things as stress and in turn need to respond by taking action on that stress, nobody needs to internalise it! Why don’t you begin some form of meditation? That will surely help calm you.
Woman: Why can’t I just have the prescription doc!!!
Doctor: Have you ever seen a healthy plant infected by worms? When worms begin to eat a plant it is mother nature’s way of saying it is time to recycle as the plant is not healthy by itself. Your body is capable to self healing. But you have to take the responsibility of awareness for that. There are no quick fix solutions to health.
Woman: (With a lot of reluctance) Fine! So what do you actually suggest?
Doctor: You are what you eat, so ensure you eat nutritious food that your body is capable of assimilating. Drink adequate amount of water to keep the 70 million cells in your body hydrated and active. Follow your circadian rhythm of rising with the sun and sleeping early enough to give your body rest. Move your body – movement is life! Exercise to be fit and healthy.
Woman: Don’t tell me I need to run like my husband everyday! Running about to get my day’s work done is enough stress. Now why would I want to add to my cortisol level by adding a run?
Doctor: I never said you have to run! In fact marathon running is most certainly not for you or anyone at all for that matter. God never made any animal that runs for 2 to 3 hours everyday simply in the wild!! Long periods of running is always associated with ‘survival’ by the body. It is a sure way to make your body feel threatened, increase your cortisol level and lead to enormous stress. As Fitness expert Charles Poliquin writes “A new study in Psychoneuroendocrinology showed evidence of long-term high cortisol levels in experienced aerobic endurance athletes (long-distance runners, triathletes, cyclists). Results showed that the aerobic athletes had significantly higher cortisol levels compared to controls. The athletes had long-term elevation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, which can have detrimental influence on mental and physical health.”
Woman: Oh ! But my husband claims he loves doing it! Doesn’t feel like stress to him.
Doctor: That is probably because he has become used to the endorphin high that gives him a sense of accomplishment. It is almost like a drug. Right exercise, which is any form of structured program that gives you ample time for recovery, will do wonders for everybody. So sprinting is fine, as is lifting weights, dancing, swimming or anything at all in which you move your body. Just don’t add to a chronic increase in cortisol. As Paul Chek writes “If your exercise routine is so intense that you could not comfortably perform it with a stomach full of food, your hormonal and nervous system produces a stress response, activating your sympathetic nervous system. While this may feel right in the short term, you may be addicted to the endorphin release from this form of exercising. Problems may arise if you suffer from nagging injuries.”
All that could be said had been said. The woman was gathering her things to leave. Now it was up to her if she wanted to stay healthy or not. God smiled at Science. Like Edison had said, rather than issuing medicines, indeed it was time to impress upon humanity that you have to look after your body as it is the only address they have!
Written by Gita Krishna Raj | Published in infinithoughts in January 2012
When Science met God… | Segment Four: The dance of a trillion cells
Chapter Twelve: Reversing Age
