If you have high cortisol levels due to stress, this article will show you how to lower cortisol levels to lose weight.
Cortisol is a “stress hormone” produced by the adrenal gland during stressful situations.
It plays a vital role in helping your body respond to stress. And it helps regulate different processes in your body, including metabolism and immune response.
However, too much cortisol in your body can be problematic.
Excess cortisol can actually make you gain weight since it disrupts metabolism.
Even worse, it causes blood sugar imbalances and increases the risk of heart disease.
Therefore, you need to lower your cortisol levels to lose weight and maintain optimal health.
How to Lower Cortisol Levels to Lose Weight
1. Eat a Low Inflammatory Diet
This means avoiding caffeine, alcohol, processed foods, and sugar.
These foods can trigger the release of cortisol.
A low inflammatory diet includes organic foods and foods that are high in antioxidants.
Such foods help regulate cravings and balance hormones.
Make sure your diet has a lot of fruits, vegetables, coconut oil, olive oil, nuts, seeds, lean proteins, and probiotics.
2. Avoid Stimulants
Avoid stimulants because they affect the adrenal glands.
Drinks rich in caffeine like coffee and energy drinks or substances like cigarettes, affect your hormone levels.
They also affect the adrenal gland and can trigger an additional release of cortisol.
3. Get Plenty of Sleep
The time, length and quality of sleep you get affect your cortisol levels.
A study of 28 shift workers showed that cortisol increases in people who sleep during the day compared to people who sleep at night.
Sleep deprivation also increases the production of the stress hormone.
If you don’t have a regular sleeping pattern or if you’re constantly working different shifts or are an insomniac, you could end up experiencing fatigue which is linked to high cortisol.
To ensure that you get enough sleep, try being physically active during the day.
Avoid caffeine and alcohol before bedtime.
Turn off bright lights before bedtime if you can. Bright lights disrupt the release of the sleep hormone melatonin.
If you have an exhausting day, try taking nap breaks in between.
4. Avoid Long Workouts
Your body perceives exercise as a form of stress, which makes it release cortisol.
Surprisingly, research shows that the time and intensity of exercise affects the amount of cortisol released.
Longer workouts (more than an hour) tend to stimulate cortisol release. This was proven by a study, which showed that endurance athletes had higher cortisol levels.
This goes to show that keeping your workouts short can lower cortisol levels.
Look out for these cardio-overtraining symptoms.
5. Use Different Relaxation Techniques
Relaxing can lower your cortisol levels and make it easier to lose weight.
Effective relaxation techniques include:
Deep breathing: If you habitually use deep breathing techniques, you are likely to reduce cortisol levels by up to 50%
Yoga: Is great because it combines physical poses, controlled breathing, and meditation. It helps reduce stress by reducing blood pressure and heart rate.
Massages: Massage therapy eases stress by relaxing muscles, lowering blood pressure and heart rate, and promoting the release of endorphins.
Walking: This is an inexpensive and effortless way to ease stress and lower cortisol
Remember to use one of these techniques whenever you feel stressed. Even better, use these relaxation techniques every day.
6. Learn to Recognize Stress
Since you can use the techniques above to offset stress, it’s best to know how to recognize stress.
It’s not just your experiences that trigger stress, stressful thoughts can raise your cortisol as well.
Research by the Institute of Psychological Sciences in the University of Leeds showed that stress-related thinking can increase the production of cortisol among adults.
122 adults were told to write about stressful events in their pasts. Doing that increased their cortisol levels over the month.
Being aware of thoughts that can provoke stress will help you manage it better.
Train yourself to be aware of the signs of increasing stress such as elevated heart rate, hyperventilating, and shaking of hands.
7. Take Cortisol Reducers
Certain herbs and nutritional supplements have been shown to reduce cortisol levels.
For instance, fish oils are rich in omega 3 fatty acids, which reduce cortisol.
A study was conducted where seven men’s responses to mental stress were tested. One group took fish oil supplements while the other group didn’t.
The group that was taking fish oil supplements had lower cortisol levels.
Ashwagandha, a traditional Asian herb, also helps ease stress and anxiety.
Studies have shown that taking 125mg of Ashwagandha twice a day reduces cortisol levels.
8. Be Happy
There is evidence that happiness can reduce cortisol levels, reduce blood pressure, and maintain a healthy heart rate.
Find things that make you happy and do them regularly.
You may also want to watch funny clips online every day, studies show that laughter reduces cortisol levels.
9. Build Healthy Relationships
Relationships that are rife with conflict and chaos cause higher levels of cortisol.
To ensure levels of cortisol remain low, avoid high-stress situations.
You may even want to avoid family members who worsen your stress.
Spend time with people who are empathetic and open-minded.
Whenever you are in a fight with a spouse or a friend or relative, try to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
10. Get a Pet
Animal companions have been shown to reduce stress levels.
According to Animal Smart, therapy pets reduce stress by inducing the production of oxytocin.
When you pet a furry friend, research shows that you release happy hormones and reduce cortisol.
South Boston Animal Hospital says that pets help reduce stress by:
- Lowering blood pressure
- Increasing exercise
- Reducing loneliness
- Relieving anxiety about problems that can’t be solved immediately
Pets like cats and dogs are some of the best companions you can ask for.
11. Drink Lots of Water
Dehydration increases cortisol.
Staying hydrated during high levels of activity has been shown to reduce cortisol levels.
According to WebMD staying hydrated allows your organs to function properly.
Lastly, cortisol is a natural hormone. And our bodies need it to function optimally.
However, too much cortisol can lead to life-threatening conditions such as diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.
Use the strategies above to keep cortisol levels low. But realize that regulating cortisol alone won’t help you lose weight.
You need a simplified weight loss plan if you want to lose weight and keep it off.
A plan that will show you how to lose weight without suffering the pain of long workouts and starvation diets.
This program has helped many busy women lose weight and keep it off. I’m willing to bet it can help you reach your weight goal, too. Get it now!
Do you know other ways to lower cortisol levels to lose weight?
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