Chronic Stress and The Protocol

What is chronic stress? Stress experienced over a long period of time and within this context, resulting in a negative effect. Stress can be good and it can be bad. Stress that is good is acute and self-limiting- meaning that when that stressful event is over your body returns to a normal state (homeostasis). Stress that is bad can be the wrong dose and continues for a long period of time. 

Evolutionarily, stress is an important function of survival. Think, aggressive saber tooth tiger is attacking you, and your body’s stress response is to release a surge of hormones -adrenaline and cortisol- to allow your body to think and move faster. Today, these mortal stress events are rare; but that does not mean we don’t experience stress. People also experience psychosocial threats, for example -a big chemistry test, social status, poverty, etc… The problem is that the body cannot distinguish between physical threats and psychosocial stress. Unfortunately for some folks, their lifestyle is in a chronic state of psychosocial stressors and more often they are not addressing this situation in a healthy manner. Physical overtraining can be another example of chronic stress, especially without proper recovery. 

Again, stress that is experienced over a long period of time is bad, especially when that person doesn’t do anything to address it. And, the right amount of stress dose is good for the body. 

Hormesis is a term that you might have heard in a wellness context. Ideally, hormesis is exposure to low doses of stress to achieve the beneficial effect (but while a high dose exposure has a toxic effect). For instance, a vaccine can be viewed as having a hormetic effect- expose your body to a weakened virus, the body adapts to the stress, develops antibodies, and becomes better immune to that virus.  Working out is another example- stress muscle, muscle breaks down, followed by the right recovery and nutrition, and leads to a stronger muscle. 

Chronic stress can bring inflammation, suppress the immune system, increase the occurrence of pain, and is correlated with depression. But, you can use hormetic stressors (for example cold, heat, exercise, or breathwork) to treat chronic stress.

Cold exposure can be a form of good acute hormetic stress. Getting into the cold water causes a good acute stress response that causes a big spike in norepinephrine and adrenaline to reduce inflammation. With inflammation low, the body can relax the chronic production of stress hormones with the aim of breaking that chronic stress cycle. 

The Generator Protocol uses the stressors of heat & cold (sauna, cold tub, and hot tub) in the right dose so that your body creates a temporary spike in adrenaline & norepinephrine to break the chronic stress cycle so that your body can return to more of a normal homeostatic state. 

Stress the body and create adaptation. Vary the stressors for a more optimized lifestyle.