8 Essential Ways To Lower Cortisol And Feel Great!
What is cortisol?
Cortisol is the main stress hormone secreted by the 2 cap-sized glands at the top of the kidneys in response to stress. It has been described as a low-grade adrenaline rush.
Mother Nature equipped us with this hormone to help us in situations where we had to “fight or flight”, such as running away from a lion or other predator. Its job is to quickly convert the energy sources stored in the body into usable energy to save your life. This is one of its good points. In the old days, there weren’t too many situations where we stopped in a fight or flight situation. Today, however, responses to stress are everywhere. We as a society are constantly stressed by bills, work, relationships, poor food choices, dehydration, overtraining with exercise, lack of adequate sleep, and that’s just to start! Every time the body is stressed, the adrenal glands release cortisol to combat stressors on the chemical side.
This chronic elevation of cortisol is extremely detrimental to your health. It has been linked, among others, to adrenal fatigue, hormonal imbalances, heart disease, excessive levels of sugar in the blood, high cholesterol, and just about anything else you can think of that stress can create in the human body.
Other unwanted side effects of chronically high cortisol levels include excess body fat, particularly around the midsection, and low levels of sex hormones, which kills sexual desire in both men and women. It also breaks down muscle tissue, which can really slow down your results in the gym.
Cortisol is naturally secreted in the body on a fairly fixed schedule throughout the day. It peaks around 8 a.m. M. To get you out of bed and ready to start your day. Throughout the day, cortisol levels begin to drop and reach their lowest level around 8-10pm so you can fall asleep. A cortisol rhythm disrupted by chronic stress, both mentally and physically, can affect your ability to fall asleep or even stay asleep.
I have been able to help many of my clients improve the consistency and quality of their sleep simply by reducing their stress levels and using the advice that I am about to give them. The following tips will help you lower your cortisol levels and allow you to improve your health and achieve your ideal body.
Ways to lower your cortisol:
1. Use Cortisol Reduction Supplements: At my clinic I use a variety of herbs to reduce cortisol at peak times. Some of my favorites include: ashwaghanda, phosphatidylserine, and rhodiola rosea.
2. Eat at regular intervals throughout the day – avoid skipping meals as this will create a release of cortisol.
3. Eat Right for Your Metabolic Type – Excessive carbohydrate intake creates a release of cortisol in response to constantly elevated insulin levels. Find out your metabolic type and eat consistently with it.
4. Use stress reduction techniques at peak cortisol moments: Neuro-linguistic programming, meditation, self-hypnosis or simply lying on the floor doing abdominal breathing for 10-15 minutes can do wonders to reduce stress and therefore levels of cortisol.
5. Go to bed on time: Go to bed by 10:30 pm at the latest.
6. Avoid stimulants: stay away from energy drinks that contain compounds similar to ephedra and caffeine. Stimulants shift the body into a sympathetic domain, that is. “Fight or fly.” Stimulants can also disrupt your sleep patterns. If you must have your daily coffee, make sure you don’t drink it after 12 noon.
7. Keep your workouts below 1 hour: At the 1 hour mark, your testosterone levels begin to drop and cortisol levels rise. Forty-five minute workouts are even better.
8. Don’t train too much: Strength coach Charles Poliquin recommends training no more than 2 days in a row. Doing so will simply overload the hormonal system and therefore increase cortisol levels. Listen to your body. If you don’t feel recovered from your previous workout, simply take an extra day off or reduce the number of sets you do in your workout.