Stressed? 10 ways to lower your cortisol levels
Caring for your mental well-being is always important, but especially so right now, when anxiety levels are high. If we’re not recovering from the emotional impact of a two year lockdown (of sorts), we’re now impacted by the threat of mounting costs in food, fuel, and utility bills, never mind the emotional impact watching the continuing war in Europe. Long-term stress and anxiety can be detrimental for both your physical and mental health.
Here’s why: Cortisol (otherwise known as the stress hormone) is made in the adrenal glands. It’s elevated when we experience heightened anxiety or stress, and it’s lowered when we’re in a relaxed state. When cortisol levels rise, all of the body’s energy goes into handling the stressor instead of regulating other bodily functions like the digestive and immune systems, for example.
A good analogy is that of being chased by a lion. If you’re being chased by a lion, you’re not worried about catching a cold or having a bowel movement. So normally, cortisol helps to regulate weight, appetite, body metabolism, blood pressure and glucose, but when you’re under chronic stress, you can experience increased anxiety or depression, headaches, memory problems, brain fog, digestive issues, a weakened immune system, weight gain, insomnia, pre-diabetes and more.
But we all know that managing anxiety is easier said than done, so here are several ways to help you lower cortisol levels and maintain a calm state of mind during these uncertain times that are directly or indirectly affecting our lives. Furthermore, these are lifestyle changes that you can carry with you throughout your life.
1. Eat a whole-food, plant-based diet. An unhealthy diet filled with added sugars and processed foods will raise cortisol levels and put you at a greater risk for high blood pressure and diabetes. Make sure you’re getting enough fibre (fruits and vegetables are great sources) because fibre helps to regulate gut bacteria, which in turn helps to regulate hormones. Diet is really important—it’s 80% of the battle.
2. If needed, add supplements. Supplements shouldn’t replace a well-balanced diet and should be monitored by a doctor. But if recommended, a powerful mineral to recommend is magnesium, which helps to regulate cortisol levels. Vitamin B12, folic acid, and Vitamin C can also help support the metabolism of cortisol.
3. Take deep breaths. Several studies reveal the benefits of deep-breathing exercises for at least five minutes, three to five times a day. Research shows that it helps to lower cortisol levels, ease anxiety and depression, and improve memory. To get started, try using a deep-breathing app like Headspace, Insight Timer or Calm, to name but a few.
4. Reduce your caffeine intake. Those with chronic stress can experience something that’s colloquially called adrenal fatigue, which occurs when cortisol levels are way off balance. It makes them extremely tired, and so they often rely on caffeine to get through the day. It’s a vicious cycle: the caffeine wears off and they’re exhausted again. Caffeine can raise cortisol levels and it doesn’t address the root of the problem, which is balancing hormone levels.
5. Get adequate sleep. To allow the body to heal, we need at least seven to eight hours of sleep. It’s so important, yet often gets put on the back burner amid our busy lives.
6. Exercise regularly. It would be great if you could get 30 to 50 minutes daily of some kind of heart pumping exercise. But the most important piece of advice is to encourage you to simply keep moving throughout the course of the day. Whether it’s housework, or short 10 minute walks where possible. Choose consistent movement over the course of the day over a short spike of energetic exercise, especially if that short spike only happens a couple of days a week. What’s the best type of exercise to do? The exercise you like the best and will do consistently.
7. Write in a journal. Sometimes just getting thoughts down on paper is helpful. If they’re happy thoughts, you can relive them, and if they’re stressful thoughts, you can purge them so you’re not going over them continuously in your head.
8. Indulge in hobbies. Playing an instrument, drawing, crafting, gardening—participating in activities that bring you joy are helpful distractions from stressful thoughts and situations.
9. Go outside. Simply being in nature among trees, flowers, birds, and plants may have a calming effect on the mind. If you can, take a walk, sit in your garden (if you have one). As the weather gets warmer, it will become easier to take breaks and spend time outdoors.
10. Don’t lead with fear. Putting fear first can be distracting. It allows us to make inappropriate, impulsive decisions we wouldn’t make otherwise. Being mindful, taking deep breaths—taking part in the above tips—will help you to lead with positivity.
You don’t need to tackle all of these tips at once—that would seem overwhelming. The best way to make lasting, positive changes is to do so little by little. Incorporate one or two into your routine at a time until they become habit, and slowly add in others. Slow and steady often wins the race.
Taken from M. Elizabeth Swenor from https://www.henryford.com