On Tue, 5 Oct 1999, Dr. Mom wrote:

> Stress causes an increase in cortisol SEcretion (glands) at the level of
> the adrenals.  When circulating cortisol is up, increased EXcretion
> (excretory system) goes on in the kidneys.

I think the point of the Kriya Yoga study is that the practice of
skilled relaxation increases the rate at which the cortisol,
presumably elevated by stress, leaves the body, returning it to
baseline levels sooner.

Cortisol is an important hormone but it should be transient.
Theoretically, stress-related illnesses are a result of stress
hormones being at *chronically* higher than baseline levels.

This is one of my concerns about long-term ketogenic diets.  When
blood sugar drops below a certain level, stress hormones are
produced to trigger production and release of glucose by the
liver to normalize them.  If one's carb intake is low enough,
this would be an almost continuous occurrence.

I have not found any clinical studies to confirm my hypothesis
that a very low-carb ketogenic diet is hormonally stressful, but
the basic biochemistry seems straightforward enough.

Todd Moody
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