Cortisol

Find yourself lashing out at somebody, stuck in anxiety, or fearful you’ll you’re your job? If so, you likely have stirred up a hormone in your brain that will work against relationships, courage, and well-being. Cortisol is the hormone that appears when we slip into stress, when we feel angry or fearful, or when we respond to an email out of sheer frustration. It will shut down learning … and can cause depression.

It’s the opposite of serotonin – the hormone of well-being. Cortisol reduces your ability to learn and communicate. It’s what hits your brain along with that angry customer that finds you on a day when you’re tired or behind in your work.

While cortisol holds an important roles in your mind, but is meant to be very short term. It’s useful for treating allergies short term or for spiking your energy to survive a dangerous moment, lower sensitivity to pain, or getting you through a short term project. If you stress too much or grieve too long, however, you can easily maintain cortisol in harmful levels.

Prolonged levels in the bloodstream have negative effects and will:

1. Lower your immune system so you’ll get sick faster than others
2. Slow down your thinking
3. Create blood sugar imbalances
4. Raise your blood pressure
5. Weaken muscle tissue
6. Decrease bone density
7. Increase fat in the stomach areas

To ensure you stay away from dangerous levels of cortisol today… run from stress and flee those triggers that inject negative thinking … and you’ve already headed away from cortisol and toward serotonin… for a better day at work. Now think of one thing you enjoy… look forward to or plan to create… and your brain will rewire itself for a far better workday. It’s just how the hormones work for you rather than against you, and you’ll be shocked at the results. So will others around you…. What do you think?

Definition: Cortisol is a hormone produced by the adrenal glands and helps regulate blood pressure and cardiovascular function, as well as the body’s use of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Cortisol secretion increases in response to physical and psychological stress during the fight or flight response, which is why it’s sometimes called ‘the stress hormone’.

Also Known As: ‘The stress hormone’

While cortisol is an important and helpful part of the body’s response to stress, it’s important that the body’s relaxation response to be activated so the body’s functions can return to normal. Unfortunately, in our current high-stress culture, the body’s stress response is activated so often that functioning often doesn’t have a chance to return to normal, producing chronic stress.

Higher and more prolonged levels of cortisol in the bloodstream (like those associated with chronic stress) have been shown to have negative effects, such as:

• Impaired cognitive performance
• Suppressed thyroid function
• Blood sugar imbalances such as hyperglycemia
• Decreased bone density
• Decrease in muscle tissue
• Higher blood pressure
• Lowered immunity and inflammatory responses in the body, as well as other health      consequences
• Increased abdominal fat, which is associated with a greater amount of health problems than fat deposited in other areas of the body. Some of the health problems associated with increased stomach fat are heart attacks, strokes, the development of , higher levels of “bad” cholesterol (LDL) and lower levels of “good” cholesterol (HDL), which can lead to other health problems!

To keep cortisol levels healthy and under control, the body’s relaxation response should be activated after the fight or flight response occurs. You can learn to relax your body with various stress management techniques, and you can make lifestyle changes in order to keep your body from reacting to stress in the first place. The following have been found by many to be very helpful in relaxing the body and mind, aiding the body in maintaining healthy cortisol levels:

• Guided Imagery
• Journaling
• Self-Hypnosis
• Exercise
• Yoga
• Listening to Music
• Breathing Exercises
• Meditation

Cortisol secretion varies among individuals. People are biologically ‘wired’ to react differently to stress. One person may secrete higher levels of cortisol than another in the same situation. Studies have also shown that people who secrete higher levels of cortisol in response to stress also tend to eat more food, and food that is higher in carbohydrates than people who secrete less cortisol. If you’re more sensitive to stress, it’s especially important for you to learn stress management techniques and maintain a low-stress lifestyle.