The Top 8 Signs That You Have High Cortisol Levels and how to fix it.
Billions of people worldwide have high levels of a stress hormone called cortisol.
Too much cortisol can cause many different health problems such as high blood pressure,
the formation of belly fat, muscle weakness, and many other issues.
So to understand this , Cortisol is the main stress hormone that is very important because
it helps
• Control inflammation in your body - to keep prevent pain and swelling
• It helps to control your sleep-wake-cycle or your internal body clock
• It helps to regulate your blood sugars with the help of other hormones like insulin
• It controls different parts of your metabolism and how your body converts food into energy
• And it is also the fight/flight hormone that helps your body adapt to danger and gives
you energy to escape or fight in a threatening situation.
(because its too high or too low)
Unfortunately if your cortisol becomes out of balance, too high or too low, it can cause
some major physical health problems,
And mental health challenges as well, because of how it affects the brain.
In this video we're going to take a look at the top 8 common signs of high cortisol levels
and why this happens, so that you can become aware.
I'll also share some simple lifestyle changes and remedies that you use to help bring your
cortisol levels back to a healthy range.
Just a quick reminder his video is for educational purposes only, so do speak to your doctor
if you have any medical concerns.
1.
Loss Of Buttocks & Thighs One of the most common signs of high cortisol is when the
muscles in your thighs or buttocks start to waste away, but belly fat starts to appear.
You often see this in older people, especially men over the age of 50, where their legs become
extremely thin, yet they get a build-up of hanging fat around the stomach.
The high cortisol is breaking down the muscle proteins in the legs and turning it into sugar
to give you energy,
and then another hormone (insulin) is converting this new sugar from your blood into belly
fat.
High cortisol is usually caused by stress and nutrient deficiencies, (more on this later).
2.
Waking Up 2-3am (Stressed) If you often wake up between 2-3 am, and find
that you have a very overactive mind, this is a positive sign that you have too much
cortisol in your body.
You may find it very hard to get back to sleep because your brain is overthinking, trying
to solve problems and make plans when you should be resting.
I personally suffered with this many times, before I understood what was happening.
As cortisol controls your internal body clock (circadian rhythm), too much of it affects
your sleep and keeps you alert because your body is in fight/flight mode.
3.
High Blood Pressure
You may have heard about how stress can cause high blood pressure (hypertension),
It does this by raising cortisol.
If your brain/body thinks that there is a threat, it will release cortisol to narrow
your arteries, and trigger adrenaline to boost blood flow and give you fast energy.
It does this so that you can fight or run away in a threatening situation such as defending
or escaping away from a lion.
This is perfectly normal, however if you suffer from sustained stress for longer periods,
this puts pressure on your blood vessels and keeps your blood pressure high long term,
which raises the risk of heart disease and stroke.
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4.
Cold Sores
Cold sores are itchy, tingling, sore blisters that appear on the lips around mouth, that
can often split and cause pain, especially when you're eating.
You have may have noticed that these tend to occur when you are feeling low, or you've
recently gone through a stress.
Cortisol in the right amounts helps to keep your immune system working properly, and suppress
viruses (hsv) so that they cause no problems in your body.
However, if you recently had a surge in cortisol because of stress or you're not getting enough
sleep, these viruses can come out of remission and trigger a cold sore.
The same thing happens with other infections like cold and flu.
Too much stress triggers an overproduction of cortisol and this lowers your immunity.
5.
Breathing Problems (Asthma, COPD etc…)
Cortisol helps to keep inflammation under control in the body, especially in your lungs
and respiratory system.
Unfortunately if you have too much cortisol for long periods, you start to get cortisol
resistance.
Basically cortisol stops working normally as it should inside your cells.
This often causes the lungs to become very inflamed, and the little bronchial tubes can
start to get thicker and clogged up with mucus.
This causes long term lung diseases and breathing problems like asthma and COPD.
This Is why doctors often prescribe cortisol (corticosteroid) inhalers.
Because your own cortisol has stopped working properly, and you need a boost.
6.
Anxiety
Anxiety is a situation where you constantly feel uneasy, tense or stressed, like there
are problems that you need to solve and not enough time to do them.
Even when there is nothing to worry about, you will find a way to worry.
This is anxiety, and is caused by sustained high levels of cortisol.
Your nervous system is constantly primed for attack or defence, and is locked into the
fight/flight mode (sympathetic)
This keeps your muscles tight, and over long periods of time you may develop chronic aches
and pains, in your muscles, your joints and especially around your shoulders and throat.
Later in the video I'll be talking more about how to get this hormone under control and
turn off this anxious response.
7.
Acid Reflux
If you have regular bouts of heart burn, acid reflux and a burning sensation in your chest
this may be triggered by high levels of cortisol/stress.
Cortisol turns off certain parts of your digestive system, so that your energy is focused on
defence or attack.
Over long periods of time however, the high cortisol can prevent the normal production
of stomach acid, enzymes and bile causing a flare up of acid reflux.
(which is why doctors often link acid reflux with stress)
8.
Additional Signs Lastly I'd like to share a few bonus signs of high cortisol, without
going into too much detail due to the scope of this video.
• You get dizzy when you stand up too quickly.
• You're a diabetic or prediabetic, because high levels of cortisol can raise blood sugars.
• You suffer with stomach ulcers.
• You suffer with restless legs, because the cortisol is causing nerve problems.
• You have hiccups very often.
because of how cortisol is affecting your diaphragm muscle.
• You have hot flashes during or after menopause, because your adrenal glands are weak.
• You have brain fog, because cortisol is involved with brain function and memory.
• You have rosacea on this skin, because of how cortisol is constricting blood vessels.
• You have purple stretch marks on the skin, especially around our belly because cortisol
is causing your skin to lose its elasticity • You have more than 1 or 2 colds/infections
a year, because cortisol is weakening your immunity.
Now if you have a mixture of these signs and symptoms, and you'd like to know for definite
if you have high cortisol, there are blood tests and hair analysis tests available.
Today's video sponsor is LetsGetChecked, a company that sells home blood testing kits
for cortisol.
These test kits are very useful because you can do them in the comfort of your own home
and then send them off to the lab for analysis,
(using the prepaid shipping label.)
In 2-5 days you'll get your cortisol level results in the app or your online account.
(nice and simple)
We've teamed up to bring you a 25% discount on any of the different home-test kits that
you order,
Just use the link below the video and use code: RyanTaylor25 at checkout.
(and your discount will automatically be applied.)
Later in the video, I'll share some simple lifestyle changes that you can make to lower
your cortisol naturally.
6 Causes Of High Cortisol
The first and most common cause of high cortisol is mental/emotional stress.
The more pressure your feeling mentally because of stressful people, work problems, issues
with your spouse etc the more your nervous system reacts because it thinks you're in
danger, and triggers cortisol production.
Another cause not getting at least 7-8 hour of quality sleep each night which causes an
imbalance in your brain chemistry and stimulates cortisol.
Drinking alcohol on a daily basis can deplete nutrients like Vitamin B1.
This causes a build-up of nervous tension and higher cortisol levels.
Similarly drinking too many stimulants like caffeine, coffee, tea, soda drinks and energy
drinks can burn out your adrenal glands causing cortisol resistance.
Likewise heavily using heavy amounts of steroid medications such as prednisone or cortisone,
can damage your cortisol receptors, so your just adrenal glands just produced more and
more.
And finally just being overweight raises cortisol, because of stress it puts on your body and
your fat cells release cortisol in an effort to keep everything balanced.
How To Lower Cortisol
1.
Start consuming 2-3 tablespoons of nutritional yeast (unfortified) every single day.
You can eat this in yoghurt, soups, stews, or sprinkle it over a salad.
The B-vitamins and minerals in these flakes relax your nervous system, control blood sugars
and balance out cortisol.
2.
Follow the 4:6 breathing technique.
Breathe in (inhale) gently to a count of 4 into your belly and breathe out slowly (exhale)
to a count of 6.
Repeat this for 5 minutes and you'll notice very quickly how your muscles start to relax,
and your thoughts start to calm down with better clarity.
By controlling your breathing, you stimulate the phrenic nerve and turn off the fight/flight
response in your body.
3.
Cut back on caffeinated drinks like coffee, tea and soda drinks until you're down to only
1-2 cups in the morning, and no more after 2pm.
Drink calming herbal teas like lemon balm, passionflower or peppermint because these
contain phytonutrients that soothe your nerves and stimulate GABA.
If you wish you can also use ashwagandha, a natural herbal supplement that helps your
body adapt to stress.
4.
Start performing some low stress, low intensity exercise for at least 1 hour per day, such
as gentle walking outside in nature to bring in lots of oxygen and improve your mental
state.
Essential oils (phytoncides) released from plants and trees into the air actively calm
down your stress response and lower cortisol.
UVB rays from the sun also help you to make Vitamin D.
(which also lowers cortisol)
5.
Take 20,000 iu's of Vitamin D3 and 200mcg of Vitamin K2 each day.
Although it sounds high, 20,000 ius = 0.5mg.
Vitamin D helps to repair damage to your body caused by high cortisol, such as lowering
inflammation and boosting your immune system.
The Vitamin K2 works with Vitamin D to move calcium around your body, which can also aid
in the relaxation of muscle and strengthening your bones.
6.
Cut back on refined sugars, grains and flour based foods that are spiking your blood sugars
and triggering cortisol.
Replace these with nutrient dense whole foods like wild salmon, avocados, salad, broccoli,
kefir radish, peppers, pumpkin seeds and organic pork.
All of these are rich in nutrients (potassium, magnesium, b vitamins, omega 3-s etc…) which
promote relaxation in the body, rather than revving it up.
The Top 6 VITAMINS for ANXIETY & STRESS
IF you’d go a little deeper into this and learn about the top 6 vitamins that turn off
anxiety and cortisol, go ahead and tap on this video on the screen now.
Thank you so much for watching my video today, and as always, I wish you great health, wealth
and happiness.