Adrenalin and the big sugar rush by Dr. LibbyWeaver


Adrenalin is your short-termstress hormone. It is your acute


stress hormone, the one that’s produced when you get a fright. If someone suddenly runs into the room and startles you and you jump, that feeling that most of us know very well is caused by adrenalin. Adrenalin is designed to get you out of danger—and fast. Historically, we made adrenalin when our life was being threatened, and our response, fueled by adrenalin, was typically physical.Atigermight have suddenly jumped out of the jungle at us or perhaps amember of another tribe came running towards us with a spear. In that moment, you made adrenalin to get out of danger.Adrenalin promoteswhat is known as the “fight-or-flight” response.When activated, the typically excellent blood supply to your digestive systemis diverted away to your periphery, to your arms and your legs. This is necessary because you need a powerful blood supply to these muscles to get you out of danger. You also need fuel to give you the necessary energy, and the


most readily available fuel is glucose—often referred to as sugar (a carbohydrate).Your liver andmuscles store glucose in the form of glycogen, and adrenalin communicates to your liver and your muscles that energy is required. They then convert glycogen back into glucose and dump this glucose into your blood. Your blood sugar subsequently shoots up, ready to fuel your self-defense or your escape. This cascade of events—and the biochemical changes that


can think about is how much you want a coffee. So all morn- ing you’ve been making adrenalin, and now you are going to make even more adrenalin, as caffeine promotes its produc- tion. All you actually want from the “coffee” at this point in your day is a little breathing space. The reasonswe crave a hot drinkmay vary, but often it’s just to catch our breath. In those coffee-breakmoments, there is a bubble around us, andwe are silently communicating, “Don’t you dare come near me for the next three minutes!” One important difference between the past and modern


result—allows you to escape from danger in a very active way. Regardless of the outcome, regardless of whether you win that challenge or not (you escape, die, orwin the fight), this stress, the threat to your life, and the need for adrenalin, is over very quickly. The trouble is that formany of us in themodern world, it ismore often psychological stress that drives us to make adrenalin. And so although our lifemay not literally be threatened, this hormone still communicates to every cell of our body that our life is indeed at risk. Psychological stress can come in many forms. It may be that you return froma two-week break at the beach to find 800 new emails in your inbox, and you wonder when on earth you’re going to find the time to deal with those. It may be that your landline rings and, while you take that call, your mobile rings, and you feel that you can barely finish one conversation before having to start another. It could be that you set your alarm for the morning, you press snooze… you keep pressing snooze and suddenly you sit bolt upright in bed and realize you’re run- ning late.Youmay still have to iron clothes, prepare lunches, and deliver little people to school and, because you’re leaving later than usual, you get stuck in traffic. Meanwhile, your mobile phone starts ringing with people at the office wondering where you are as you are supposed to be in ameeting, but you are stuck in the middle of rush-hour traffic, and your brain has gone into overdrive with the enormity of your morning. And you’ve only been up for an hour! When you finally burst through the doors atwork, all you


However, if you’re sit-


ting on your bottom at your desk in front of a computer and sugar is being dumped into your blood, you make insulin to deal with that elevation in blood sugar.And insulin is one of our primary fat storage hormones, as you will see in later chapters. How coffee can make


you fat I know. Some of youwill


want to block your ears at this information. Sorry, it’s just part of our biochemistry. Caffeine acts on the adrenal glands by stimulating the production of adrenalin. When adrenalin is re- leased, your blood sugar elevates to provide more energy, and your blood pressure and pulse rate rise to provide more oxygen to themuscles,which tense in preparation for action.Your pupils also dilate to see more in less light, and your immune function stops firing as, fromthe body’s perspective, fighting infection is not essential at this unsafe point in time. Blood is diverted away from digestion, and reproductive functions are down regulated since they use a lot of energy and are not necessary for our immediate survival, given the impending threat. Plus, your body does not believe it is “safe” to bring a baby into what your body perceives is an unsafe world. Not when your stress hormones are telling your body that your life is in danger (adrenalin) or that there is no more food left in the world (cortisol)! Whether your adrenalin production is the result of real or


perceived stress, or simply the result of your caffeine intake, caffeine, via stress hormones and coupled with the response of your nervous system (explored later in detail), can either lead you to slenderness or fat storage, because insulin—the fat-stor- age hormone—will firstly convert unused glucose from your blood into glycogen and store it in yourmuscles andwhat is left over will be converted into body fat. So consider your caffeine habits and get honest with your-


self about how it affects you. Does it dull your appetite and so unconsciously you grab a coffee instead of eating? This is especially true formanywomen at lunchtime.Does itmake your heart race, give you the shakes, or loosen your bowels? Does it elevate your blood pressure? Or does it nourish your soul with no ill effect whatsoever? You know yourself better than anyone. Act on what you


know is true for you.


Dr. LibbyWeaver is an internationally acclaimed nutritional biochemist, author


and speaker.Armed with abundant knowledge, scientific research and a natural ability to break down even the most complex of concepts into layman's terms, Dr. Libby empowers and inspires people to take charge of their health and happiness. Her holistic approach and unique form of education are embraced by audiences across the world.


day is that the biochemical changes generated by adrenalin, such as sugar being dumped into your blood to get you out of danger, serve a useful purpose while you are physically fighting or fleeing.


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