Did you know that prolonged stress depletes vitamin C in the adrenals?
First of all, let’s define stress: stress is anything that puts the body into a state of physiological duress – worry, conflict, dehydration, too much exposure to electronics, lack of sleep, disease, inflammation…all of these are stresses on the body.
The adrenals are the glands that help us deal with stress, amongst other things. The highest amount of vitamin C in the body is in the adrenals. When the body is stressed, the adrenals produce hormones like cortisol, “the stress hormone,” which influences, regulates or modulates many of the changes that occur in the body in response to stress. And in order to produce cortisol, the body must use up vitamin C. So when you are faced with a stressful situation, your vitamin C is rapidly used up in the production of cortisol and related stress-response hormones.
This doesn’t mean you need to overload on vitamin C every day (that in itself may cause an imbalance of other nutrients); however, it does mean that you need to eat a balanced diet of whole, fresh foods and be conscious that a stressful time calls for healthier choices, and possibly supplementation.