cortisol, or the “stress hormone”, is like the misunderstood mean girl. she is talked about so negatively on social media, but all she really is is misunderstood! let’s clear up some of the myths surrounding cortisol, especially the myth that our focus should be on constantly “lowering our cortisol”. i want to challenge all of us to look at cortisol as a useful & necessary hormone within our body. as Dr. Andy Galpin has said, “the more you try to suppress cortisol, the more you try to suppress adaptation”. if we want muscle growth, if we want body composition changes, & if we want that “toned” look, then we need cortisol. the good thing is that cortisol is coachable! there are times when we will need to raise our cortisol, & there are times when we will need to lower it… but it is definitely about balancing it out & learning how our body responds to normal, too much, or too little cortisol & what to do about it!

the science

okay let’s play this out::

step 1:: we experience stress. stress can be anything from a panic attack to exercise to a wound to cold temperature… so many things can be considered stress! our brain basically senses that there is something that is going to put our body under stress, whether good or bad! the brain senses stressful stimuli in regions like the amygdala, brainstem, & within the limbic system. this signal is then sent to the body’s COO, the hypothalamus.
step 2:: the hypothalamus is cued by certain regions in the brain & communicates with the anterior pituitary gland by sending a hormone called CRH, or corticotropin releasing hormone.
step 3:: the anterior pituitary gland then communicates with the adrenal glands, primarily the adrenal cortex, with a hormone called ACTH, or adrenocorticotropic hormone.
step 4:: the adrenal cortex releases cortisol into the bloodstream.
step 5:: cortisol then travels & communicates with many different systems in our body.
- it tells our cardiovascular system to speed up our heart rate & increase our blood pressure by making our heart & vasculature more sensitive to epinephrine.
- it helps to increase glucose in the bloodstream by mobilizing amino acids from our muscles to be turned into glucose in the liver & converting free fatty acids from our adipose tissue into glucose in the liver.
- it also blocks insulin's effects on our body, promoting more blood glucose & inhibiting glucose storage within our muscles & adipose tissue.
- cortisol also increases calcium within the bloodstream to be used for muscle contractions & nerve conduction.

**the tldr::** our body senses stress in the brain, which sends a cascade of communication hormones down to the adrenal cortex to release cortisol. cortisol then affects multiple different systems involved in helping us respond to stress. for an extreme example, think about running from a bear… what would you need? you’d need more blood flow & oxygen sent to certain parts of your body, you’ll need a clear head to think, you’ll need energy utilization, not energy storage, & you’ll need to be able to utilize all of these resources more effectively by speeding up certain processes while your brain still senses that stressful stimuli!

what is cortisol’s normal schedule in our bodies?

we expect a steady rise in cortisol at the beginning of the day. it raises with things like light, exercise, & caffeine. as the day starts to wind down, we want our cortisol to naturally lower. we expect larger spikes throughout the day with things like exercise, cold exposure, eustress, etc., but we want our bodies to be able to quickly recover back down to baseline.

what happens when things go wrong?

we can have both hypercortisolism (too much cortisol release) & hypocortisolism (too little cortisol release), & both create challenges of their own. hypercortisolism can occur when our brain senses stress over a long period of time, subsequently causing the adrenal glands to release more & more cortisol. however, there comes a time when the receptors for cortisol in different systems of our body become less sensitive to cortisol because of too much cortisol release. think of the story of the boy who cried wolf. he cries wolf, the people respond, but there is no wolf. he does this over & over again, & the people respond over & over again. the people start to get less sensitive to his cries & don’t believe him when there is really a wolf present. cortisol is similar. if too much is released over a sustained period of time, our body gets less sensitive to it & doesn’t respond as effectively. this can lead to things like digestive issues, with increased permeability in the GI tract & impaired nutrient absorption. it can lead to muscle tension & bone loss, immunosuppression, fertility challenges, & systemic inflammation, including within our nervous system. when we have too little cortisol, or hypocortisolism, we can have changes with our skin, immunosuppression, fatigue, abdominal pain, & muscle & joint pain.

*as a disclaimer, there are medical diagnoses related to cortisol levels. one of my best friends has a family member who has Addison’s Disease, or hypocortisolism, where she is in-&-out of hospitals, has challenges with her immune system & energy levels, & takes a long time to heal from everyday illnesses & injuries. if you think you might struggle with your cortisol levels more significantly, it is definitely worth it to get it checked out by a medical professional. there are protocols & medication strategies that can help! you can also try these strategies in this article, but this is from the perspective & for the audience who just want better hormonal regulation day-to-day & don’t feel they have a diagnosed cortisol disorder.

how can we better balance our cortisol levels?

it’s all about understanding the natural timeline of cortisol that we want in our bodies & how we sense what our bodies are feeling. for example, if you’re more fatigued in the evening, you don’t want to be drinking caffeine to raise your cortisol. in the evening we expect that decline! if you also notice you struggle with cortisol regulation, then you might not want to cold plunge or exercise in the evenings for the same reason:: we want a relative decline in cortisol, so we don’t want to be doing activities that promote cortisol release.

what are some signs you might struggle with high or low cortisol & how can we help?

tips & tricks to manage high stress situations

okay okay as much as i want to promote balancing our overall cortisol levels & not solely thinking we all need to lower lower lower them, i know that many of us struggle with high stress & trying to reduce that stress, both in the short term & long term, so here is a little “starter pack” filled with my 3 tips for managing high stress situations::

:: mindfulness ::

i know this is an overused term, but really diving into our stress & bringing it from our subconscious awareness to our conscious awareness can really help us better manage, control, & label our true emotions, rather than letting the subconscious stress processes proceed! our body responds to good stress & bad stress in the same way. did you exercise? that is a stress on our body, & even though it is “good” stress, or eustress, our body carries out similar processes. i know whenever i experience an unfavorable emotion like anger or fear, etc., i can oftentimes spiral in how i respond. however, if i dive deeper into that feeling & work to rename it (disappointment, frustration, stuck, etc.), i can take better control of it & work to respond in a better way. the same can play out with our stress. if we can reframe & rename that stress when we experience a stressful situation, we will be better prepared to respond. for example, if you are stressed because of an interview, you can work to reframe it & rename it, saying, “i’m feeling stressed because i care about this interview a lot. it has the potential to be my dream job, & if i didn’t have some stress surrounding the situation, it would mean i might not care that much about the interview”. so maybe rather than stressed, you’re actually excited about the possibilities & hopeful! reframing & renaming really gives the power back to you & brings stress under our conscious control!

this one is more of a long term solution, but it can really help us categorize different emotions & sensations within our brain. we can also utilize journaling to help us process through a situation. & if you’re not much of a journaler, try setting an alarm for after the stressful situation so you can really feel through those feelings, reframing & renaming them, & be better prepared the next time you are put in a similar situation that might elicit a similar response!

:: physiological sigh/breathwork practice ::

file this trick in your brain because it can be done to immediately help you lower stress! i did it just last week prior to a live event i was hosting, & it helped tremendously! the trick taps into the science of breathwork. on an inhale, our thoracic cavity expands, our lungs expand, & our heart gets slightly bigger, which in turn decreases the amount of blood pressure within our heart, cueing the brain to speed up our heart rate. this increase in heart rate corresponds to the sympathetic nervous system, or our fight or flight nervous system. when we exhale, the thoracic cavity space decreases, the lungs deflate, & our heart reverts back to its normal size, increasing the blood pressure throughout the heart. this cues the brain to slow down the heart rate, which corresponds to our parasympathetic, rest/digest part of our nervous system.

in order to further tap into that rest/digest part of our nervous system to immediately reduce our stress, we can perform a physiological sigh. i like to say that our breathwork is our superpower. not only can it help us activate our core better, but it can also help us tap into our parasympathetic nervous system to decrease our perception of stress!

to perform a physiological sigh, perform a large inhale through the nose. at the top of the inhale, perform another, short, inhale through the nose. then exhale completely. you can do a circuit of 3+ breaths, but even 1 can help decrease our perception of stress in the short term! try it out!

:: victoria secret supermodel posturing ::

my last tip revolves around the difference in sitting between males & females. have you ever noticed that males tend to spread their legs wide & take up a lot of space when they’re sitting? in contrast, women often cross their legs & cave their shoulders in, trying to take up as little space as possible. which posturing brings about more confidence?

this is where imitating the victoria secret supermodels can help! if we feel stressed, we can alter our outward posturing in order to affect our inner stress & confidence. walking with authority, head held high, chest open, & like we are worthy of taking up space can reflect in our internal thought patterns, allowing us to feel less stressed & more confident during an interaction. it might be an example of “fake it ‘til you make it”, but it truly does work! own that runway! take up space! you deserve it!

final thoughts

my hope is that you now feel more empowered in knowing about cortisol regulation & hormonal regulation within your own body, how to manage stress in the short term & the long term, & how to sift through some of the myths surrounding cortisol on social media! we have a few podcast episodes on the topic that i’ll link below, but as always, thank you guys for following along, reading, & just consuming the health & wellness content that we put out there! my goal is to have a whole world of empowered wellness sisters & misters, so thank you for being a part of that!

love always in health & happiness,

kelsy

podcast episodes::

episode 31:: cortisol 101! let’s learn about cortisol & how to better regulate our own levels!

episode 32:: tips & tricks for how to balance your cortisol!

episode 33:: from chaos to CALM :: 3 ways to handle HIGH STRESS situations

the 20-something’s guide to cortisol (aka:: why we don’t always need to “lower” our cortisol)