Insomnia and Adrenal imbalance

“Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.” Buddha

Your brain maintains a “circadian clock” which regulates levels of adrenal hormones like adrenaline and cortisol, and controls patterns in body temperature, brainwave activity, and hormone production. This internal timekeeper is connected to changes in daylight, darkness, and the seasons, and resets itself according to shifts in the earth’s rotation.

Normally, these circadian rhythms and your adrenal glands work together to keep cortisol - a “wake-up” hormone - low at bedtime, so you can sleep. Cortisol should rise to its daily high when it’s time for you to wake up. But this internal clock can be easily upset by ongoing stress of almost any kind. Long-term stress can lead to adrenal imbalance suppressing the body’s natural sleep–wake rhythm.

The adrenals are responsible for producing several important hormones and are critical to the stress response. The cortex is the outer wrapping of the gland. It produces cortisol, which is a powerful anti-inflammatory hormone. Cortisol controls inflammation. The level of Cortisol in the body affects allergies, wound healing, asthma, arthritis, and lupus, just to name a few. The cortex produces also DHEA, and the sex hormones estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone.

The medulla, which is the inner part, pours out adrenaline. These hormones speed up the body's metabolism in order to help us to cope with stress. These are the two most important hormones in the body. They govern the fight or flight response (alarm reaction), and are almost a direct extension of the nervous system. Your adrenal glands’ primary purpose is to help you survive in the face of a threat, rallying all your body’s resources into “fight or flight” mode by increasing production of adrenaline and cortisol.

Healthy adrenals instantaneously increase your heart rate and blood pressure, release your energy stores for immediate use, shut down digestion and other secondary functions, and sharpen your senses. But since they are programmed to respond to every kind of stress - physical, emotional, perceived, psychological, environmental, infectious, or any combination of these - a person under chronic stress can strain adrenal glands and that leads to imbalanced level of cortisol in your body. If cortisol (stress hormone) is too high, not only will deep rejuvenating sleep be prevented - which will affect the fat-burning growth hormone - but fat will be directed to and stored in the belly.