Stress is normal, but it should not affect your daily operations. If you experience chronic stress and fatigue that affect your daily life, this may indicate that you may have a cortisol imbalance.
Both high and low levels of cortisol (also known as “stress hormones”) can help you cope with symptoms that make you feel “disengaged” and are different from yourself. The good news is that there are multiple ways to better manage your stress levels. If you think you have cortisol imbalance or are generally concerned about your health, be sure to consult your doctor first to complete the proper exam.
What is cortisol?
Excessive or inadequate adrenal glands lead to burnout symptoms.
Melissa Groves Azzaro said cortisol is the body's main stress hormone, and he is a registered dietitian and the author of the PCOS balance method. In response to internal or external stressors, hormones are produced in the adrenal glands.
Most people know the role of cortisol in the “fight or flight” response, which is important, but cortisol actually plays many other roles in the body.
In addition to curbing any physical function that is unnecessary in a combat or flight regimen, cortisol also:
Most of your body's cells contain cortisol receptors, so it's an important hormone, but like any hormone, it's too much or too little can be harmful to your body and health.
Signs of cortisol imbalance
Everyone’s experience of cortisol imbalance will vary, especially when distinguishing between high and low cortisol.
Symptoms of high cortisol include:
- Weight gain, especially in the abdomen
- Anxiety and irritability
- Trouble falling asleep and falling asleep
- nervous
- shake
- High heart rate
- Unstable blood sugar and blood pressure
Symptoms of low cortisol include:
- Low energy all day
- Feeling “wired but tired”
- Severe fatigue and lack of focus
- Sugar and salt cravings
- indifferent
- Low sexual desire
- Memory issues
What causes cortisol imbalance?
Prolonged stress is the main cause of cortisol imbalance.
“Usually, cortisol imbalances occur due to extremely high or long stress,” Azzarro said. “Although the clinical diagnosis of high (Cushing's Syndrome) and low (Addison's disease) that requires medical treatment, ‘out of the way’ Range' cortisol levels or inappropriate cortisol patterns may affect our daily work life.”
Importantly, the imbalance of cortisol is not always a simple or low problem. Having a cortisol imbalance can also mean that your cortisol is too high at some time of the day or too low for others rather than a persistent surplus or shortage.
Regardless, there are some common culprits behind every type of cortisol imbalance.
pressure
Excessive and prolonged stress is the main cause of cortisol imbalance, both high and low.
“High cortisol occurs when the body senses stressors,” said Dr. Tara Scott, a functional medicine physician. “Your brain doesn't know if you're running around from a bear or working,” said Dr. Tara Scott, a functional medicine physician. There is a deadline in it.”
Scott explains that excess cortisol increases your heart rate, making you more alert by increasing norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter that also makes you feel anxious and increases your blood sugar.
“Low cortisol occurs after a long period of stress, when your body sends a negative feedback signal to the brain, 'We have a lot of cortisol here, don't stimulate more production!'” So your The brain lowers adrenal corticosteroids (ACTH, the hormone that stimulates cortisol production) and undergoes a cycle of low cortisol. Scott said levels may fluctuate during the day or may drop throughout the day.
exercise
Excessive exercise may lower cortisol levels.
Azzaro said exercise is considered to be good intentions or good pressure. “Although exercise increases immediately with cortisol, the overall impact is to improve mood and reduce stress. But, if we Excessive exercisestress becomes harmful. ” she said.
Azzaro recommends taking into account your overall life stress when planning your exercise program. If you don’t have enough sleep and are struggling with high stress at work, this may not be the best time to join in high-intensity exercise, Azzaro explains.
“If you find yourself getting sick frequently or feeling exhausted after exercise, rather than being energetic, you may be working hard for your current cortisol levels,” she said.
Nutrition
The food we eat can help reduce cortisol or soar, said Lauren Minchen, a registered dietitian and nutrition consultant at Freshbit. “Processed foods rich in carbohydrates and sugars may immediately help lower cortisol at first, but over time, blood sugar spikes caused by these foods can actually increase stress, inflammation and cortisol levels in the body,” Minchen said.
“Sugar is known for its biggest trigger for cortisol, and white refined flour foods produce similar blood sugar peaks and cortisol effects, so eating higher foods in these ingredients often results in cortisol increase over time. ”
Alcohol and caffeine It also affects cortisol levels, and over time, both or both will affect your cortisol levels. Alcohol increases inflammation, which puts pressure on the body, triggering the production of cortisol. Minchen said extracting from the poisoning also stimulates more cortisol in the blood.
“Depending on the coffee a family drinks regularly, and how much cortisol is high every day, increasing caffeine intake may have little effect on the effects of raising cortisol,” Minchen said. “This effect may be due to adrenal burnout,” It actually leads to more fatigue with more caffeine. The adrenal glands can only work hard before they can no longer continue to increase cortisol production.”
On the other hand, eating healthy whole food carbohydrates, such whole grains, fresh fruits, beans and potatoes, can help cortisol management. In addition, the balanced amount is consumed Protein, carbohydrates and fats Helping your body get the energy needed to keep your blood sugar available and stable, ultimately helps control cortisol, Minchen said.
How to fix high or low cortisol levels
Rest is the best way to correct high or low cortisol.
“It's not super sexy, but your body is telling you to rest. The dirty work of correcting cortisol imbalance is to determine what the root cause of the imbalance is and then correct it to restore cortisol to balance.”
We discussed the general causes of cortisol imbalance above, but digged deeper. Going past “diet” or “exercise” and ask yourself if hormone levels are stimulated due to the following methods.
- Your job
- Relationship pressure (other or family meaningful)
- Noisy culture/too much
- Lack of sleep
- Too many exercises in one type (probably HIIT)
- Alcohol or caffeine consumption
- Lack of mindfulness or stress management practices
Furthermore, it is important to identify your specific imbalance, which is pharmacist and functional medicine physician Inna Melamed. Ask your primary care provider if you run a hormone test or you can recommend you to an endocrine specialist. Or order an online cortisol test for it to be performed at home and sent to the lab.
This step is critical because methods to correct high cortisol levels may not correct low cortisol levels. “Really understand the root cause,” Mellard said, “Ideally, tests for cortisol, DHEA, sex hormones and even melatonin should be ideally done just to get a better understanding of a person's adrenal health.” “Your symptoms may be the product of multiple hormone imbalances.
Repairing cortisol imbalances will require a lot of work and patience. First, please take a break. When you do feel rested, try listing all the possible stressors in your life and be honest.
Then, write down how to reduce each stressor. Maybe you reduced your weekly exercise routine from five classes to four; maybe you had a serious discussion with your partner about stress levels and family responsibilities; maybe you asked your boss to relieve the burden on your job for a while (or better yet, please Have a complete rest).
High or low cortisol levels can make life difficult. Fighting with ongoing stress, anxiety, and fatigue is not easy, and as always, use the resources available if you need mental health support.
