Always Tired? Here’s The Physiology Of Why

Dr. Ashley Froese explains what’s going on inside you, because understanding it is the first step to fixing it:

When every cell is stressed…

Cortisol normally tells your immune system to reduce inflammation because immune responses require large amounts of energy that the body prioritizes for immediate survival during danger (immediate survival = immediately right now, e.g. escape the tiger, not worrying about tomorrow’s health because first we must survive the next few minutes, if we want to see tomorrow at all, so everything else is expendable).

However, constant cortisol exposure can cause your cells to downregulate cortisol receptors, making them less responsive to cortisol signals.

This is a problem, because when immune cells stop responding properly to cortisol’s anti-inflammatory signal, they continue releasing inflammatory cytokines even when no real threat exists.

Persistent immune activation can produce fatigue, body aches, pain, brain fog, bloating, and a general sense of feeling unwell.

And as for what’s going on to cause that, there are several mechanisms of action, including:

• Stress alters blood sugar regulation: cortisol activates gluconeogenesis in your liver, raising blood glucose so your body has fuel available for a fight-or-flight response.
• Unused fuel leads to insulin resistance: if the body releases glucose during stress but you’re not physically active, repeated spikes in glucose and insulin can cause cells to become less responsive to insulin.
• Excess glucose becomes stored fat: chronically elevated blood sugar is eventually stored as fat, often in organs such as your liver, contributing to conditions like fatty liver.
• Cortisol interferes with other hormone systems: prolonged stress can reduce thyroid hormone activation (T4 to T3 conversion) and suppress sex hormones, leading to fatigue, cold sensitivity, low libido, poor sleep, and low mood.
• Muscle breakdown slows metabolism: cortisol is catabolic and can break down muscle tissue for fuel, which reduces muscle mass and worsens metabolic control.

So, if you’re tired all the time, and/or are generally experiencing these symptoms through no known other cause, then consider whether chronic stress could be the culprit:

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Take care!