Our day-to-day life is hectic; we don’t know when we become so stressed (these stresses can be psychosocial, energy-related, or health-related) that our body predicts it as an emergency or deep scarcity, and it increases the level of “Cortisol,” a hormone that associate the body with effects on mood, stress, anxiety, sleep, appetite, as well as cognition stress. During stress, it forces the body to hold some metabolic activities such as immune responses and some cardiovascular work and put forward all energy to combat the challenges, which ultimately has a bad effect on our health in long run.
What are the symptoms of a high level of Cortisol in the body?
- Shoulders are in forward position, and excess fat deposition such as neck hump
- Constantly eyelid flicking
- Bruising on different parts of the body and slow wound healing
- Headache and muscle ache
- Sudden weight gain and increased blood pressure mostly occur during stressful conditions, e.g., exams.
- Sleep and memory disorders
- Mild inflammation in the body and metabolic syndromes
Diagnose:
The above-mentioned symptoms can also be for some underlined diseases if they persist over a long period of time. High cortisol levels should be confirmed by a pathology test called a ‘Cortisol test’, and samples can be collected by saliva, blood, and urine as per healthcare’s prescription.
How to manage Cortisol at home or naturally?
- Cortisol secretion can be affected by circadian rhythms (the internal biological clock that is different between individuals and within individuals across time), so try to maintain a proper routine, diary all your to-do lists, and religiously follow them.
- Exercise at a moderate level, quit hard-core physical activities, or try to do it with multiple rest breaks.
- Practice yoga and meditation.
- Junk food consumption, smoking, caffeine, alcohol, and steroid medications also interfere with cortisol secretion, which minimizes the effects of this metabolite’s functions on the body.
- Manage to spend some time with nature, friends, and family.
- Do not watch horror and suspense movies or web series for some time; this may stress you out.
References:
Ouanes, S.;Popp, J., 2019. High Cortisol and the Risk of Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease: A Review of the Literature
Thirthalli, J.; Naveen, G. H.; Rao, M. G.; Varambally, S.; Christopher, R.1; Gangadhar, B. N.. Cortisol and antidepressant effects of yoga. Indian Journal of Psychiatry 55(Suppl 3):p S405-S408, July 2013. | DOI: 10.4103/0019-5545.116315
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