What is Cortisol Imbalance?

Cortisol is the body’s key stress hormone.

You know that stress isn’t great for your health but what you may not know is that we have the hormone Cortisol to thank for that. Cortisol plays a role in many body functions and needs to be in balance to keep our metabolism up, energy high, control our appetite, blood pressure + blood sugar and have refreshing sleep.

10 Signs of Cortisol Imbalance:

1. You’re tired in the morning (but maybe you get a burst of energy in the evening or right before bed)
2. You’re not sleeping well
3. You notice weight gain in your midsection
4. You crave sugar, salty foods or carbs
5. You notice memory or concentration problems (brain fog!)
6. You get sick often
7. You find it hard to build muscle mass or it takes a long time to recover after a workout
8. You feel stressed, fatigued or irritable
9. You experience anxiety or depressive symptoms
10. You’re not cycling regularly or are struggling with fertility

Why Cortisol Matters

Cortisol is released from our adrenal glands as a response to stressors. When released at the right times, it can actually be very beneficial in getting our body into the fight or flight mode necessary to survive. In a stressful situation, cortisol helps to increase energy, alertness and temporarily shuts down processes such as digestion and immune function so we can use all our energy to focus on fighting that stressor.

As cave-people fighting off animals and serious threats, this system worked very well.

The thing is, nowadays most of our stressors aren’t actual threats to our life. This means that we put our body in this fight or flight mode way more often then we need to -whether that’s on our commute to work, trying to make a deadline, seeing dishes left out by your significant other or forgetting to pick up that one ingredient for your dinner. Even though we tend to ignore it, underlying stress and emotional stress also play a role. This can throw off our body’s natural cortisol rhythm.

Cortisol follows a natural cycle throughout the day.

It’s important that our cortisol stays balanced to keep our metabolism up, energy high, control our appetite, blood pressure + blood sugar and have refreshing sleep.

Cortisol levels should be higher in the morning – 

to give you energy to get your day started, and lower in the evening and overnight – 

to stimulate the release of melatonin so you can fall and stay asleep.

 

The Good News: It is Possible To Rebalance Your Cortisol

The light at the end of the tunnel is it’s very possible to rebalance your cortisol levels. Understanding where your cortisol levels are imbalanced (are they too high, low or peaking at the wrong times?) using proper testing along with following a comprehensive plan that takes into account all aspects of health is imperative to rebalance cortisol. Some common cortisol balancing tips are:

1. Focus On a Healthy Lifestyle
2. Optimize Nutrition
3. Supplements can help… a lot!

If you are interested in optimizing your hormonal health and cortisol levels, I would love to help you reach your health goals. Feel free to reach out and check out available appointments here!

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