Feeling Drained, Strained and Stressed? It Might Stem From Cortisol Imbalance
Stress is a normal part of life. While everyone feels stressed from time to time, it shouldn’t affect your daily functioning. If you experience chronic stress As well as fatigue that interferes with your daily life, this may be a sign that something deeper is going on, such as a cortisol imbalance.
high and low cortisol levels – also known as “stress hormones” – may cause you to cope with symptoms that make you feel “detached” and different from yourself. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to check in with your body and better manage your stress levels. If you think you have a cortisol imbalance or are generally concerned about your health, be sure to talk to your doctor before making any drastic changes.
What is cortisol?
Overactive or under-functioning adrenal glands lead to symptoms of burnout.
cortisol The body’s main stress hormone is Melissa Groves Azzarois a registered dietitian and author of The Balanced Approach to PCOS. Hormones are produced in the adrenal glands in response to internal or external stressors.
Most people know about cortisol’s role in the “fight or flight” response, which is important, but cortisol actually plays many roles other roles in the body.
In addition to curbing any body functions that are not necessary during a fight or flight scenario, cortisol also:
Most of your body’s cells contain cortisol receptors, so it’s an important hormone, but like any hormone, too much or too little of it can be harmful to your body and health.
Signs of Cortisol Imbalance
Everyone’s experience with cortisol imbalance will be different, especially when it comes to differentiating 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
- swing
- high heart rate
- Unstable blood sugar and blood pressure
Symptoms of low cortisol include:
- Low energy all day long
- Feeling “wired but tired”
- severe fatigue and lack of focus
- sugar and salt cravings
- indifferent
- low libido
- memory problem
What causes cortisol imbalance?
Prolonged stress is a major cause of cortisol imbalance.
“Often, a cortisol imbalance develops as a result of extremely high stress or prolonged stress,” Azzarro said. “While there are clinically diagnosed high (Cushing’s syndrome) and low (Addison’s disease), which requires medical treatment, there are a number of “out of range” cortisol levels or inappropriate cortisol patterns that can affect our daily lives. “
Importantly, a cortisol imbalance is not always a simple matter of being low or low. Having a cortisol imbalance may also mean that your cortisol is too high at certain times of the day or too low at other times, rather than a consistent surplus or shortage.
Regardless, there are some common culprits behind every type of cortisol imbalance.
pressure
Excessive and prolonged stress is a major cause of cortisol imbalance, whether high or low.
“High cortisol occurs when the body senses a stressor.” Dr. Tara Scotta functional medicine doctor. “Your brain doesn’t know if you’re running from a bear or have a deadline at work.”
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 increasing your blood sugar.
“Low cortisol occurs after prolonged periods of stress, when your body sends a negative feedback signal to your brain that says, ‘We have a lot of cortisol here, don’t stimulate the production of more!'” So, yours The brain reduces adrenocortical hormone (ACTH), the hormone that stimulates cortisol production, and cycles of low cortisol occur. Scott said levels may fluctuate during the day, or they may decrease throughout the day.
exercise
Too much exercise may lower cortisol levels.
Exercise is considered goodwill or good pressure, Azzaro said. “Although exercise is associated with an immediate increase in cortisol, the overall impact is improved mood and lower stress. However, if we excessive exercisestress becomes harmful. ” she said.
Azzaro recommends considering your overall life stress when planning an exercise regimen. Azzaro explains that if you don’t get enough sleep and struggle with high levels of stress at work, it may not be the best time for you to add high-intensity exercise.
“If you find yourself frequently sick or feeling depleted after a workout instead of energized, you may be struggling with your current cortisol levels,” she says.
Nutrition
Registered dietitian and nutritional counselor Lauren Minchen says the foods we eat can help reduce or spike cortisol. Freshbit. “Processed foods rich in carbohydrates and sugar may help lower cortisol immediately at first, but over time, the blood sugar spikes caused by these foods can actually increase stress, inflammation, and cortisol levels in the body,” says Minchen.
“Sugar is known to be the biggest cortisol trigger, and white refined flour foods produce similar blood sugar spikes and cortisol effects, so regularly consuming foods higher in these ingredients can lead to elevated cortisol over time. “
Alcohol and caffeine Also affects cortisol levels, and either or both can affect your cortisol levels over time. Alcohol increases inflammation, which stresses the body and triggers the production of cortisol. Extraction from intoxication also stimulated more cortisol in the blood, Minchen said.
“Depending on how much coffee a person drinks regularly, and how high their daily cortisol levels are, increasing caffeine intake may have little to no impact on raising cortisol,” Minchen said. “This effect may be due to adrenal fatigue. It actually causes you to feel more tired in response to more caffeine, and the adrenal glands can only work so hard before they can no longer continue to increase cortisol production.”
On the other hand, eating healthy whole-food carbohydrates, such as whole grains, fresh fruits, beans, and potatoes, can provide assistance with cortisol management. Furthermore, a balanced amount is consumed protein, carbohydrates and fat Help your body get the energy it needs to keep blood sugar available and stable, which ultimately helps control cortisol, Minchen says.
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,” Azzaro says. “The dirty work of correcting a cortisol imbalance is determining what the root cause of the imbalance is and then correcting it to bring cortisol back into balance.”
We discussed the general causes of cortisol imbalance above, but dig deeper. Look beyond “diet” or “exercise” and ask yourself if your hormone levels are being stimulated in any of the following ways.
- your job
- Relationship stress (other or family significant)
- Hustle culture/doing too much
- lack of sleep
- Too many exercises of one type (possibly HIIT)
- alcohol or caffeine consumption
- Lack of mindfulness or stress management practices
Additionally, it’s important to identify your specific imbalances. inna meltspharmacists and functional medicine doctors. Ask your primary care provider if they run hormone tests or can refer you to an endocrinologist. Or order an online cortisol test to take at home and send to a lab.
This step is critical because methods that correct high cortisol levels may not correct low cortisol levels. To really understand the root cause, “ideally a test would test both cortisol, DHEAsex hormones and even melatonin just to better understand a person’s adrenal health. ” says Melamed. Your symptoms may be the product of multiple hormone imbalances.
Repairing a cortisol imbalance will take a lot of work and patience. First, take a break. When you do feel rested, try listing all the possible stressors in your life and be honest about them.
Then, write down how to reduce each stressor. Maybe you cut your weekly exercise routine from five sessions to four; maybe you had a serious discussion with your partner about stress levels and family responsibilities; maybe you asked your boss to lighten the load at work for a while (or better yet, ask Take a complete break).
High or low cortisol levels can make life difficult. Battling ongoing stress, anxiety and fatigue is not easy, and as always, if you need mental health support, Use available resources.
