Everything you need to know about cortisol
It’s time to lower those stress levels
Lifestyle
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A huge proportion of Australians suffer from stress, but not as many of us know how exactly it works. We called in an expert to give us the rundown on all things cortisol.
It’s no secret that stress is one of the most pervasive health conditions of our time.
In fact, research shows that by the time we’re 75, half of Australians will have experienced a mental health disorder, and the most common disorders are depression and anxiety. Data also shows that up to 50 per cent of work absenteeism can be due to stress and one in five Australians experience high or very high levels of stress.
With extended periods of time spent at home during the Covid pandemic, increased work pressure and cost-of-living considerations, not to mention the eternal presence of social media, every day we encounter situations that can stress us out.
It’s no wonder that #howtoreducecortisol is trending on TikTok.
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But how much do you actually know about the main hormone behind the stress response, and what exactly it does to the body? Much like serotonin, many of us have a general idea of its role, but little insight into its long-term impacts.
Founder of Body Clinic Sydney, Sydney's premier health coaching and physiotherapy clinic, Nigel Morgan has a background in exercise science, physiology and physiotherapy – which means he knows the intricacies of stress, be them physical or mental stress, positive and negative.
We asked Morgan to give us the low-down on everything Cortisol related, so you can learn to reduce your levels too.
What is cortisol?
“Cortisol is our primary stress hormone, along with adrenaline and an activation of the Sympathetic Nervous System or fight or flight system,” Morgan tells Body+Soul. “Cortisol is released from the adrenal glands which sit on top of the kidney in response to a signal from the brain when we perceive something to be stressful.
“Evolutionarily, the stress response is what kept us alive, it allowed us to survive starvation, extreme weather, and physical threats. However, it doesn’t matter what the type of stress we experience is, we activate the same system of cortisol release into the bloodstream as the defence.”
What causes elevated levels of cortisol?
Since all stressors activate the same system, our bodies are unable to differentiate between real and perceived threats - “and they compound on one another,” says Morgan.
Stress can be caused by a number of different feelings or situations, and can be “psychological like fear, anxiety, or rumination, emotional stress like anger or sadness, environmental overstimulation from phones and screens, or related to work, relationships, from poor nutrition, lack of sleep, under or over-exercising, excessive fasting and on and on,” he continues.
“These stressors summate and cause a chronic activation of a system that was designed to only be active for short periods of time.”
The difference between good and bad stress
While stress is something we all try to avoid, there are both positive and negative kinds. Feeling stressed about getting a project at work finished can be beneficial as it drives us to get prepared and means you want to perform well. However, if you feel incredibly stressed at work every single day, that speaks to a detrimental presence which isn’t as productive.
Morgan tells Body+Soul “An acute stress response is not always bad. It is what allows you to recover from infection, exercise vigorously and work intensely. The problem is when this system becomes chronically activated and the normal mechanisms for turning the system off become dysregulated.”
“In a healthy state, cortisol would increase first thing in the morning to get us ready for the day, then levels slowly decrease over time and are at their lowest during the sleeping period.
“However, if we are chronically stressed, we don’t see this normal daily cycling of cortisol and instead get a flat lining, elevated cortisol level over the entire 24-hour period. The ‘off’ button to the system becomes faulty, and it goes into overdrive.”
How do elevated levels of cortisol affect the body?
In a chronically stressed situation, these high levels of cortisol can have a very negative impact on our health.
Morgan lists the following as potential by-products:
- Suppression of the immune system and a shifts the body into a pro-inflammatory state
- Increased episodes and prevalence of depression and anxiety
- Increased symptoms of IBS and nutrient malabsorption
- Increased risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and heart attack
- An increased risk of metabolic disease and obesity
- Damage to the hippocampus, impacting long-term memory
Cortisol and weight gain
“High levels of cortisol significantly promote the storage of fat around the belly and organs (visceral fat),” Morgan tells Body+Soul. “These fat cells respond to high levels of cortisol by swelling and proliferating.”
Cortisol also degrades muscle mass which, when combined with increased visceral fat, can have a detrimental impact on metabolic health, says Morgan, which then leads to further muscle loss.
High cortisol levels also dysregulates appetite, meaning we’re more likely to be drawn to calorie-dense, hyper-palatable and often highly processed food.
“This is due to the perceived short-term reward from eating these foods, they release brain chemicals like dopamine and serotonin that make you feel better in the moment,” says Morgan, which leads to cravings for these foods later.
Interestingly, while intermittent fasting can be a great tool if done correctly, Morgan says it “absolutely increases cortisol levels, and oftentimes this leads intense cravings for food and binge eating episodes” – important to keep in mind if you’re already under high stress.
How to lower cortisol levels
“It is important to ensure you have some activities in your week that shift you out of the fight or flight state and into a parasympathetic ‘rest and digest’ state,” Morgan tells Body+Soul.
“This will look different for each person, but it might be scheduling some time for relaxing meditation, spending time in nature, doing something creative or something that gives you joy.”
Morgan is also an advocate for slow nasal breathing – and says five seconds in and out “has been shown to shift people into a more parasympathetic state”.
Regular exercise and healthy living also helps to reduce stress responses – due to the physiological benefits of fitness but from a mental standpoint too.
“Doing hard things voluntarily makes people more resilient,” says Morgan. “Exercise causes an acute stress response in the body…this makes you more robust, allowing you to better deal with stress when you face it outside of the gym, psychologically and physiologically.”
Originally published as Everything you need to know about cortisol
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