How to lower your cortisol levels to live longer and better

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The stress hormone can make you fat, lethargic and sad.

What is Cortisol

Cortisol is the main human glucocorticoid hormone produced in the adrenal cortex and regulates the body's response on stress.

In a calm state, men produce 15-20 mg of this hormone per day, and women produce 10% less. The level of cortisol increases closer to 6-8 in the morning, is at its peak 30-60 minutes after waking up, and then gradually decreases and reaches the lowest values ​​by midnight.

In response to danger, real or imagined, the hypothalamus and pituitary gland command the adrenal glands to produce cortisol – and its level in the blood plasma increases several times.

The hormone enters the bloodstream to prepare the body for bad times: to ensure energy in the form of glucose that may be needed for fight or flight and to reduce inflammation when injured.

In addition, cortisol suppresses the work of the digestive and reproductive systems, slows down growth. In other words, it “turns off” everything that will not be needed in a dangerous situation.

When the threat disappears, cortisol returns to normal levels after 1-2 hours. But if the stress factors do not disappear, the main glucocorticoid can remain elevated for a long time. And it's very bad.

How high cortisol levels can harm the body

Great emotional stress at work, constant quarrels in the family, any prolonged stress can raise the level of cortisol for a long time and cause:

1. Decreased cognitive abilities. Chronically elevated cortisol impairs memory for personal information (episodic), places and directions (spatial), the ability to concentrate and adjust behavior based on the goal, the speed of information processing, and social cognition. A person becomes less flexible and acts according to patterns, loses context and makes bad decisions.
2. Gaining excess weight and the development of metabolic syndrome. Cortisol promotes the accumulation of belly fat (abdominal obesity), increases cravings for sweet and fatty foods, and can lead to metabolic syndrome, a condition in which insulin sensitivity decreases, blood pressure increases, and the risk of type II diabetes and heart disease increases.
3. Mental disorders. High levels of cortisol are observed in patients with depression and those who are at risk for this disorder. Also, too strong a response to stress can lead to the development of an anxiety disorder.
4. Decreased immunity. While acute stress can reduce inflammation, prolonged stress suppresses immunity and makes the body vulnerable to various diseases.
5. Premature aging. Researchers have found that high levels of cortisol due to prolonged stress are associated with shortened telomeres, the ends of chromosomes that protect DNA from damage. Shortening of telomeres due to nervous tension in the long run can lead to premature cellular aging and the development of various diseases.

Thus, a high level of cortisol can seriously harm the body, and therefore stress must be dealt with. Fortunately, almost everyone can do this.

How to lower cortisol yourself

There are several scientifically proven methods to reduce the amount of the stress hormone. Try them all.

Get enough sleep

Lack and poor quality of sleep increase the concentration of cortisol, so it is very important to get a full 7-8 hours of rest per night.

To get a good night's sleep, use proven methods:

• Go to bed and get up at the same time.
• Don't overeat before bed, but don't go to bed hungry either.
• Avoid alcohol, especially in the evening.
• Make sure that the bedroom is quiet, dark and cool.
• If you can't fall asleep within 20 minutes, do something relaxing, such as reading. Lie down again only when you feel sleepy.

Also, keep in mind that a high level of cortisol due to psychological stress often results in sleep loss. In order not to get stuck in a closed cycle of sleepless nights and too active glucocorticoids, you can use proven techniques to fight stress.

Perform breathing exercises

According to research , deep breathing techniques help switch the autonomic nervous system to the parasympathetic department, which dominates in a calm state.

In one experiment, 90 minutes of such exercises once a week significantly reduced the level of cortisol and the heart rate of the test subjects, and also had a good effect on mood.

To begin with, try the simplest breathing technique – “Square”. Breathe in for four counts (seconds or heartbeats). Then hold the air in your lungs for the same amount of time. Now spend four counts of exhalation and one more breath hold. As you get used to it, you can increase the number of counts in the square – for example, to six or eight.

Meditate

There are many meditation techniques, but essentially all of them are aimed at developing awareness — the ability to focus on the present moment, and not let your thoughts drift into the past or future.

Researchers have found that awareness is directly related to the level of cortisol in the evenings. The more people were in the present moment, the less stress they felt. Scientists assumed that this happens due to the lack of worries about the past and future.

In another experiment involving medical students, just four days of practicing mindfulness meditation significantly reduced cortisol production.

A meta-analysis of 10 studies found that meditation significantly reduced levels of the stress hormone in people who were experiencing problems, whether physical or mental illnesses and difficult life circumstances.

In general, start meditating for 5-10 minutes a day. Just focus on your breathing, body sensations, or some external object, such as the sounds of the ocean, trying as much as possible to stay in the present moment and not drift into thoughts.

Get creative

Participants in one experiment were given materials for creating a collage, modeling glue and markers and asked to do anything – anything they wanted. After 45 minutes, the robots were collected, and the subjects' cortisol levels were checked. It turned out that the stress hormone decreased significantly, and its decline did not depend on whether people had creative experiences.

Draw, make collages, color. It doesn't matter what you create. The main thing is to immerse yourself in the process and get pleasure from it.

Try an expressive letter

Language is about putting everything on paper without worrying about grammar. that has accumulated: thoughts about problems and traumatic events of the past, evaluations of their emotions, reasoning about causes and consequences. The procedure has a strictly defined duration, for example 15 minutes, during which you cannot stop, even if it seems that there is nothing more to write.

Researchers tested whether this technique would help people with PTSD. After the expressive writing session, the PTSD symptoms did not go away, but thinking about the negative events made people feel much less depressed, and their cortisol levels decreased.

If you are nervous about unpleasant memories, try this method. Just be sure to include in the story your experiences at that moment and now, analyze the event, its causes and impact on your personality and life. It is this, and not a dry retelling of events, that will help get rid of stress.

Source storinka.com.ua