Have you been gaining weight mostly around your midsection and upper back?
Or maybe you have been feeling way more tired than usual.
You could be dealing with high cortisol levels. And let me tell you, it’s no fun!
Besides weight gain, you could also be dealing with undesirable changes in your skin and hair.
Interested in knowing more about it? In today’s video, we will be talking about
warning signs of high cortisol levels and what to do to bring them down.
Could your strenuous exercise regime be a reason for high cortisol levels? Let’s find out.
A little background about cortisol
Before we move ahead with the discussion, we first need to know what cortisol is.
You have adrenal glands that produce a hormone called cortisol. It gets a sort of bad reputation,
mainly because it is considered a stress hormone. But cortisol is important to keep you healthy.
Most cells in your body have cortisol receptors. This hormone plays a crucial
role in several bodily functions, like regulating your blood sugar levels and metabolism functions.
Your body also produces cortisol in response to a threat or possible harm.
Cortisol is released into the bloodstream as a natural response to stress. It is meant
to be helpful to trigger the fight-or-flight response in your body in the face of danger.
While it was a natural response from your body that was helpful during the caveman era,
it may not be of the same use now. This is especially true because we are under a
lot more stress in the modern era due to various other factors apart from simply physical danger.
So it is normal to have higher amounts of cortisol from time to time in your body. But as is often
the case with a good thing, too much cortisol can end up being harmful to you in the long run.
It can sometimes happen that your body is making too much cortisol on a consistent basis.
This could be due to a health-related issue that
demands the immediate attention of a healthcare professional.
But how do you know if there is too much cortisol in your body?
There are a few signs you can look out for. Signs and Symptoms of High Cortisol Levels
1. Backaches and headaches
Do you find yourself constantly fighting off backaches? Have headaches become a
new normal for you? Don’t accept these health challenges as a part of your life.
Backaches and muscle aches can be one of the signs you have too much cortisol in your body.
When your body produces a high amount of cortisol over a long period of time,
your adrenal glands can become depleted. If that happens, the prolactin levels in your
body go up. With higher levels of prolactin in the system, you would be more sensitive to pain.
This would make you feel all kinds of muscle aches in the body more acutely.
When there is a high level of cortisol in your body, it can also shrink the hippocampus
area of your brain. The high levels of cortisol can end up causing migraines.
So, the next time you find yourself complaining about frequent headaches, do yourself a favor
and get checked. 2. Lack of sleep
Are you a night owl? As much fun as it is to stay up late at night and binge watch
your favorite Netflix series, it is not good for your body at all. Lack of sleep can trigger other
health problems and raise your cortisol levels. Stress could also play a major role in this.
When you are stressed, you tend not to sleep well. You toss and turn in bed the whole night.
This is because of high cortisol levels, which can impact your sleep even if you need to rest.
Ideally, your cortisol levels would drop at night. Your body can then relax and fall asleep.
But when the cortisol levels remain high, you won’t get adequate rest,
even if you have been tired from working all day. Did we get you interested in knowing more about
healthy sleep habits? You can watch our video on healthy drinks you can drink before bed to help
you sleep faster and better. 3. Feeling tired
Sometimes, even when you have slept for 8 hours in the night, you don’t feel refreshed.
You still feel tired from the previous day, and the sleep doesn’t seem to have fixed it.
This is another sign that you have too much cortisol in your body.
When the adrenal glands deplete, you are very likely to experience chronic fatigue.
So no matter how much time you sleep, you still tend to wake up tired.
If you cannot muster up the will to get out of bed, even if you are not currently sleeping, it’s
very likely you are under great stress. Your high cortisol levels make you predisposed to wanting to
stay in bed and not do any physical activity. 4. Weight gain
No matter how careless you are with your diet, you’ll still have an idea if your reckless
snacking is leading to weight gain. But if you are doing everything right yet are unable to
single out the reason for weight gain, it could be a sign your cortisol levels are messed up.
It is especially true when you’re unable to get rid of the fat in your abdomen area.
You could be doing the right kinds of exercises, eating healthy, and making informed
lifestyle choices. Yet there is no change. All of these could be a result of high cortisol
levels in your body. When your body has an excess of cortisol, its fat distribution process gets
impacted. This leads to the unpleasant surprise of finding most of the fat stored in the abdomen.
So, the next time you’re worried about getting rid of your muffin top,
try to bring your cortisol levels down naturally.
5. Fall sick easily Do you fall sick frequently?
Or catch infections rather easily? Your coworker sitting a few desks away has a cold. No matter how
careful you are, you still end up with a cold. If this sounds similar, we have news for you.
It could be that high levels of cortisol are compromising your health.
Cortisol is good for the fight-or-flight response, but high levels end up altering your body’s
natural processes. For instance, your body has natural repair mechanisms that make sure you don’t
fall ill easily due to infections or viruses. But cortisol affects the immune system,
causing you to fall sick. The natural defense against germs is switched off, making you ill
far more frequently than would be normal. If you notice that’s been the case with you,
it’s a sign you need to get your cortisol levels checked.
You don’t want to be exposed to viruses without a defense mechanism. It could be dangerous.
6. Craving unhealthy food
We all love eating junk food. And it is okay to enjoy your favorite fast food once in a while.
But if you find yourself craving fried and high-sugar and salt foods constantly,
the alarm bells in your brain should ring. Craving unhealthy foods constantly,
so much so that you cannot concentrate on anything else, could be a sign your
cortisol levels are messed up. Wondering what the correlation is between the two?
Well, when your cortisol levels are high, your blood sugar levels also go up.
Due to this, you run the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The high glucose levels also
end up boosting your insulin levels. That brings down your blood sugar levels quickly.
This may seem like a good thing, but the downside is that you end up craving high-calorie food due
to this fall in sugar levels. Considering unhealthy food is easily accessible,
it is usually the go-to food. You end up snacking a lot in between meals.
You would not only eat a lot more unhealthy food, but you would also develop a dependency.
Whenever you feel stressed, you reach for these unhealthy snacks as a form of comfort food. This
not only ruins your health but could also give you problems like an unhealthy food addiction.
7. Low libido
Are you experiencing a significant drop in your libido? It could be due to high cortisol levels,
though both aren’t directly linked. There could be many factors contributing to it.
So, how are the two correlated? What are the conditions that lead to a drop in your libido?
When your body produces too much cortisol, it drops your testosterone level.
This, in turn, causes a drop in your libido. 8. Gastrointestinal issues
Have you ever noticed that when you are anxious, nervous, or stressed, your stomach starts
acting up? No wonder so many have to hit the bathroom first when caught in tense situations.
You could also blame your high cortisol levels for your gastrointestinal issues.
Your gut is very sensitive to stress, and it will let you know in so many unpleasant ways.
You might also feel nauseated when you are under duress. Again,
this is happening because of high cortisol levels in your body, which can trigger acid reflux.
Similarly, other issues such as constipation, heartburn, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps
could also be due to the same issue. If you are seeing these things happening to you regularly,
you might want to work on ways to get your cortisol levels down naturally.
But how does this happen? When you are under high stress,
your immune system may get triggered into breaking the gut lining. A damaged gut
makes your body’s response hyperactive, which further damages your gut in a perpetual cycle.
People with a leaky gut may find that their cortisol levels remain high.
This is because a leaky gut causes inflammatory substances to enter your bloodstream. Your body
remains on high alert, which causes the cortisol levels to be even higher for a long time.
9. Anxiety
It’s easier to blame anxiety on having to keep up with a fast-paced lifestyle.
But there could be more to it. High cortisol levels could be the culprit.
When your cortisol levels are high, you tend to feel quite anxious. While anxiety
is a normal occurrence in certain situations, it is not good for you to be on edge all the time.
The cortisol in your body would make you feel jittery and give you a feeling of panic.
In some cases, you might even get very paranoid. If you see such symptoms, you should get yourself
checked for high cortisol levels. 10. Skin and hair issues
This one hurts. High cortisol levels can mess up your skin. If you have been
dealing with unexplained breakouts lately, it could be your body’s response to stress.
Cortisol triggers your skin to produce more oil, which, in turn, clogs pores and leads
to breakouts. Not just this, chronic stress also causes inflammation, which causes even
more flare-ups. As if this wasn’t bad enough, inflammation also prevents acne from healing.
Chronic inflammation can also aggravate existing skin conditions
like psoriasis, rosacea, and eczema. Long-term exposure to high cortisol
levels may cause rashes, hives, and skin redness as an inflammatory response. You will have to work
harder to deal with general dryness and itching as inflamed skin loses its ability to retain water.
The worst of all, high cortisol levels kill collagen, which is a natural protein found in your
body that is responsible for skin elasticity. This speeds up signs of aging, leading to wrinkles.
Though collagen production reduces as you age, exposure to too much cortisol
speeds up the process. You’ll also have to deal with age spots and skin dullness.
Ouch! That’s not all.
It isn’t just your skin that takes the hit. Your hair also gets affected. Your adrenal glands are
busy making cortisol, so they don’t get time to make hormones that support healthy hair growth.
Consistently high cortisol levels also lead to decreased cell regeneration,
which again impacts the health of your hair.
Even your hair follicles bear the brunt. Cortisol has an impact on the hair follicle's function
and cyclic regulation. During periods of stress, cortisol dysregulation can disrupt cell signaling,
and oxidative stress can disrupt the normal transitions of the hair growth cycle.
In short, high cortisol levels prevent the hair growth cycle from moving from
the telogen phase to the anagen phase. This means uncontrolled hair fall.
Wondering what the telogen and anagen growth phases are?
A stressor or change in your body can cause telogen effluvium, a type of temporary hair loss.
Telogen is the resting stage of your hair growth cycle, in which the hair follicle is inactive.
There’s a white bulb of keratin at the root that keeps the hair in the follicle until it sheds.
The hair growth cycle starts over again after the hair is shed. Around 5% of all hairs are
in the telogen stage at any given time. Anagen growth is the active phase in which
the hair follicle takes on its onion-like shape and works to produce the hair fiber. We all want
our hair to be in the anagen growth phase for as long as possible and keep telogen to a minimum.
High cortisol levels aren’t just responsible for hair growth issues; they can also lead to Alopecia
areata. It occurs when your body’s immune system attacks your hair follicles, causing hair loss.
There are other factors that can cause this, but stress plays a major role.
Tips to lower cortisol levels naturally Sleep is important
The first step you need to take to bring down your cortisol levels is to get enough sleep every day.
Studies have found your cortisol level gets higher when you sleep during the day instead of at night.
You can build a healthy sleep schedule by having a bedtime routine,
like reading a book or taking a shower. You can also train your brain to fall
asleep at a set time by going to bed and waking up at the same time each day.
Still not feeling like it? How about you try exercising earlier in the day?
It improves sleep quality; just make sure to exercise 23 hours before bedtime.
You’ll also need to limit your caffeine intake and avoid nicotine and alcohol altogether.
Get active but don’t overdo it Exercising can play a key role in
increasing or decreasing your cortisol levels depending upon the intensity of your workout.
Intense exercises increase your cortisol levels shortly afterward
but it will fall down a few hours later. The size of the cortisol response lessens
with routine training. Experts say regular exercise improves sleep quality,
reduces stress, and improves overall health. All of these help lower cortisol over time.
That said, overdoing exercising can have the opposite effect. This is why you should aim
for around 150–200 minutes of mostly low- to moderate-intensity workout each week
and allow yourself time to rest between workouts. Combat stressful thinking
You’ll be surprised to know how even stressful thoughts can hamper your health and raise cortisol
levels. It’s important that you learn to recognize stressful thinking and change it for the better.
You can do this by learning the mindfulness-based stress reduction strategy.
For this, you have to become self-aware of stress-provoking thoughts. Accept them without
prejudice, judgment, or resistance. This gives you the ability to process them in a healthy way.
Another thing you can do is recognize signs of tension right when they begin.
Training yourself to be aware of your thoughts, breathing, and heart rate will help with this.
Research has found that the ability to describe
and articulate stress can help lower the cortisol response.
By now, you have a fair idea of how high cortisol levels can impact your body. Interested in knowing
more about natural ways to reduce it? Maybe about certain foods that could help relieve stress?
Let’s keep the discussion going with a couple more stress and cortisol-related videos. Shall we?
Watch 11 Silent STRESS Signs That Are Killing You Slowly
You can also try our video on 12 TOP Foods That Help Lower CORTISOL Levels and Relieve STRESS
Go ahead, click one. Or better yet, watch both and learn more about how your body deals with stress.
Do you think you have high cortisol levels? Let us know in the comments below!