How To Lower Your Cortisol Levels In 11 Easy Ways

Are you stressed and suffering from all the side effects of ongoing high cortisol levels? This state can cause weight gain, sleeplessness, dangerous levels of inflammation, and affect your mood, so here are some easy and natural ways to fight it.

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Dr. Carrie Lam, MD: 0:00

How to lower your cortisol in 11 easy ways. Do you feel stressed all the time? As if you're tired, but when you lay down to sleep, your mind starts to work with lots of thoughts and worries. Are you getting sick more often than usual and you're struggling to get over it. Like many people in the modern world, you may be stressed and this means that your cortisol levels are probably higher than they need to be. Cortisol is the hormone that gets produced by your adrenal glands when you're stressed. Cortisol is essential for your health and continued survival. But when your cortisol levels are high for a long period of time, it can cause rampant inflammation, unstable blood sugar levels, waking, sleeping problems, and a range of other issues. And that's why it's so important to be able to lower it to normal ranges. But lowering your cortisol isn't as easy as it sounds as the modern world is filled up with tiny stressors, and each of them will encourage your stress levels and your cortisol levels to go even higher. So you need to fight these tendencies with these 11 Easy Ways on lowering your cortisol levels. 1. Drink more water. Drinking more water can help your body regulate your cortisol levels and prevent dehydration, which is a very common cause of stress. 2. Cut out coffee. If your cortisol levels are high, then you should really try to reduce your coffee intake, or cut it out altogether, as coffee has been shown to really stimulate cortisol production and raise blood pressure. 3. Reduce your sugar intake. Cut out or reduce your intake of sugary foods like cakes and pastries and white bread. You want to lower your cortisol and stress levels. Look for healthier sources of that late afternoon energy dolt instead. 4. Smart exercise. Exercising regularly can help lower your cortisol levels but exercising too much will raise them. So aim to do more moderate low intensity exercises like yoga, strength training, or walking for stress reduction. 5. Sleep. Poor sleep is one of the most common complaints in the modern world and it will also increase your stress and your cortisol levels. So you want to make sure to try to get at least seven to eight hours a night to keep your cortisol levels normal and regularize your circadian rhythm. 6. Eat regularly. Eating regularly will help stabilize your blood sugar levels and stop you from stress eating. This will help you with any weight loss efforts and lower your cortisol levels at the same time. 7. Cut out alcohol. Alcohol is a depressant that raises your cortisol levels and so even one drink a week can raise your cortisol levels by 3%. Try to avoid it as much as possible. 8. Laugh. Laughter raises your mood and helps release feel good chemicals in your body while also boosting your immune system. That's why laughing more is an essential addition to the list. You can even fake laugh and that will work. 9. Watch your diet. Try to avoid so called comfort foods as they will only worsen any weight gain and add toxins to your system. Both of which increase your cortisol levels. Instead eat more cortisol fighting foods like bananas or probiotics pears and dark chocolate. 10. Get out into nature. This is one of my favorites. Getting out into nature for just 20 minutes a day is one of the best ways to encourage relaxation, lower your cortisol levels. So next time you exercise why not take a walk through a park or some other natural area. 11. Relax and breathe. This is one of the most important ones you need to relax to lower your stress levels. And one of the best ways to do this is meditation, which helps to focus you on the present moment rather than the stressful past or the future. And you can also try yoga which helps lower inflammation help fight depression anxiety and help tone your body at the same time. Underneath both of that is breathwork. Breathwork is key to stimulating that vagal nerve, which will help activate the relaxation of the parasympathetic nervous system, which is the opposite of fight and flight, helps to rest and digest. Thanks for listening to what we have today. If you'd like to hear more great tips on improving your how to lower your cortisol, make sure you click the subscribe button. Also like and share this video with others so that we can help those that are suffering with the same issue. Remember, we're here to empower you to take control of your health.