If there’s a current health villain, it’s cortisol. The body produces the chemical cortisol, a hormone, in response to stress.
And that link to stress is why it tends to have a really negative connotation, says Raza Sagarwala, MD, the chief resident in the department of psychiatry and behavioural services at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. “But cortisol is really important.” It helps regulate inflammation in a healthy body, it plays a role in fighting off germs and illness, and it helps our bodies respond to stressors in the environment, particularly physical threats (think fight or flight mode).
When cortisol is chronically elevated however, the immune system becomes less sensitive to it, which can lead to chronic inflammation.
And chronic inflammation is linked to many diseases, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and autoimmune disorders (like rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease).
Cortisol can also play a role in mental health conditions, including major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and PTSD.
Most doctors don’t routinely test cortisol levels, and symptoms of high-cortisol tend to be tricky-to-detect ones that overlap with a lot of other common health issues (like headache, irritability, and disrupted sleep, among others).
But simple steps to manage stress can keep cortisol levels healthy, whether they’re elevated or not.
7 EVIDENCE-BACKED WAYS TO LOWER CORTISOL LEVELS
“A lot of this is just about leading a healthy lifestyle,” says Katie Guttenberg, MD, an endocrinologist at UT Health Houston. That will help with stress management, which in turn will help keep cortisol levels where they should be, she says. Try the following.
1. Focus on Healthier Foods
Avoid highly processed foods and instead choose single-ingredient foods as often as possible, says Jeannette M. Bennett, PhD, an associate professor of psychological science at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte. “That’s one way to help your metabolism and your digestive system, which is something cortisol can influence,” she says.
One study looked at cortisol levels and the glycaemic index (GI), a measurement of how fast a food elevates your blood sugar. (High-GI foods include many highly processed ones, like sugary drinks, refined carbs, and fast food.) Those researchers found a link between a high-GI diet and increased cortisol levels.
Other research has found a link between eating high-calorie foods and an immediate increase in cortisol.
And eating too few calories may disrupt cortisol: One study found an association between calorie restriction and increased cortisol.
2. Get Moving
Physical activity is also helpful when you’re looking to lower your cortisol levels. “And I say ‘physical activity’ as opposed to ‘exercise,’” Dr. Bennett says.
“Anything that gets you moving is valuable, whether that’s walking, yoga, HIIT, or CrossFit. Find whatever your jam is and do it.”
One study, for example, assigned healthy people to either run on a treadmill for 30 minutes or not, and then take the Trier Social Stress Test — a classic experimental task requiring study participants to deliver a speech and solve a math question in front of an audience. That research found a smaller increase in cortisol among the treadmill runners than among the group that hadn’t exercised before the stress test.
3. Write It Down
You may want to simply avoid thinking about the event in your life that is stressing you out, but the research suggests doing the opposite may have benefits.
One study, for example, found that when people wrote about a past failure before experiencing a new stressor, their levels of cortisol were reduced when compared with those who did not first complete the personal writing exercise.
4. Try Meditating
For long-term reduction in your cortisol levels, meditation may help.
Evidence supports that if you regularly practise meditation you can increase your tolerance for uncertainty, anxiety, and the unexpected.
Research suggests that mindfulness meditation is an effective tool for lowering cortisol levels, and that the difference was especially stark in those the study authors deemed “at risk,” defined here as “highly stressed people or populations with diseases that are susceptible to stress, such as mental disorders and somatic illnesses like inflammatory diseases or diabetes.”
5. Tap Into Your Community
“Being connected to other humans is really important,” says Bennett. “It’s that social connection and finding yourself in a place where you know you’re valued and you value others.”
Indeed, research shows this can help with wellbeing and health, including when it comes to cortisol. In one study, participants were asked to engage in public speaking. Those who had a loved one nearby had lower cortisol levels before delivering the speech than those who did not have that social support.
6. Get Some Sleep
In one study, participants either had a normal night of sleep or were subjected to a night of sleep deprivation. The following day, all study subjects were made to perform a stressful task, a speech and a math problem in front of a stern-looking audience. The researchers found elevated cortisol levels in the sleep-deprived people compared with those who’d slept normally.
Other data has found that sleep loss was associated with elevated cortisol levels even on the second day after the poor night’s sleep.
7. Enjoy Art, Music or Try Making Some Yourself
Whether you’re losing yourself in music or works of art or making it yourself, enjoying art is a classic stress reliever.
In one study, participants either listened to relaxing classical music, the sound of rippling water, or nothing at all.
After performing a stressful task, participants who had listened to music had faster reductions in their cortisol levels than those who listened to nature sounds or who sat in silence.
Other research found that art-making (in 45-minute sessions) was linked to lower cortisol levels after participating in the activity compared with cortisol measurements beforehand. The projects were nothing fancy – collages, clay modelling, drawing with markers – and the participants didn’t need prior experience of making art to experience the biological benefits.
“After about five minutes, I felt less anxious,” said one 38-year-old woman who participated in the study. “I was able to obsess less about things that I had not done or needed to get done. Doing art allowed me to put things into perspective.”
SOURCE: Everyday Health