So prior to going off on the anxiety tangent recently this blog does serve the purpose for me and hopefully the readers of examine physical health issues. To recap, I have been working on attaining more health through eating better quality of food, better sleep and hormone balance. Today I want to talk about Cortisol. Cortisol is a steroid hormone, one of the glucocorticoids, made in the cortex of the glands and then released into the blood, which transports it all round the body.
Source: http://www.yourhormones.info/hormones/cortisol/
So cortisol is yet another critical hormone in your body. It’s called the stress hormone and the kicker is stress is often a creation of the individual. As you have seen in my other blog posts I have created stress in my life through anxiety that others might not have, and vice versa. This isn’t a judgement on what is or what is not stressful, but what happens is prolonged stress created a condition called Adrenal Fatigue: https://www.bodylogicmd.com/for-women/adrenal-fatigue
This condition is horrible because it literally saps your energy and it prolongs the effects of anxiety and depression. Lower cortisol increases fatigue, which in turn increases a multitude of conditions (inability to concentrate is one main one). AS a result of the fatigue many of us turn to caffeine which in turn helps to suppress cortisol, which then works to support adrenal fatigue.
Like so many things biological there are connections to behaviors and on and on it goes. Trying to “feel better” is a full time job and regulating your cortisol is one of the things you can do to help. Here are a few things you can do to help restore cortisol balance:
1. Trying to be in bed by 10pm
2. Limiting your exposure to computers and television just before bed
3. Reduce sugars, white flour and caffeine
4. Stress reduction (this means different things to different people)
5. Regular (daily if possible) moderate activity/exercise
I know those are all pretty general and things you should be doing anyway but you Cortisol is YET ANOTHER hormone we have to think about when looking at a total health solution going forward. The key is balance and if your cortisol levels are out of balance you’re going to be fighting fatigue and all the negative effects that come with it.