What is Cortisol : High Cortisol Symptoms and How to Regulate?

What is Cortisol and What Does Cortisol Do?

Cortisol is basically a stress hormone that naturally occurs in our body. The basic role of cortisol is to respond whenever stress occurs in the body.

That is why it is known as “stress-hormone” for its role. Other than that, cortisol also contributes to various body procedures.

What Gland Produces Cortisol?

Whenever the adrenal glands secrete cortisol in response to stress, it acts on the basis of fight or flight response. Whenever we confront some type of threat in our surroundings or environment, our body goes through a series of reactions that prepare us to deal with the problem, stay, or escape.

To understand the actual meaning of what is cortisol going deep into the science, our brain has a structure called the amygdala. Amygdala alerts hypothalamus, hypothalamus processes range of signals which include the secretion of hormones like cortisol and adrenaline.

With this, we get to know that cortisol is necessary for our normal body functioning, however, a high level of cortisol can be really bad for our mental and physical health.

Signs of High Cortisol Levels:

Whenever someone’s body secretes cortisol in a high amount, it results in high-level cortisol. Below are the high cortisol symptoms a person experiences.

Chronic high levels of cortisol Symptoms in the bloodstream have various negative effects on our body like:

• Imbalance of blood sugar like hyperglycemia
• Reduced density of bone
• Reduced muscle tissue
• High blood pressure
• Impaired cognitive abilities
• Amplified abdominal fat
• Reduced inflammatory responses
• Reduced immunity in the body can lead to slowed wound healing and other consequences.
• Suppressed thyroid functioning

These negative side effects of high cortisol levels have their own major consequences. For example, an increased amount of high cortisol Symptoms has major health risks like chronic stress, impaired mental health, risk of heart attacks, and more.

Additionally, chronic high cortisol levels can cause mental health condition named Cushing syndrome. Causes of Cushing syndrome are prolonged usage of glucocorticoids and adrenal tumors. Meanwhile, symptoms of Cushing syndrome are high blood sugar with increased urination and thrusts, depression, osteoporosis, and other frequently occurring infections in the body.

Impact of Cortisol

Throughout the day, cortisol levels in the human body fluctuate at different times in a day. Like, studies state that cortisol is high during the morning and lowest at night. And this cycle repeats throughout life. However, this is not fixed; cortisol level fluctuates according to the experiences as well.

Like, whenever a person is experiencing high stress, stress hormone increases in the bloodstream due to the body’s stress response. The stress response also brings some stress-related alterations in the body.

Meanwhile, some small increase of cortisol can also have some positive effects on the body like:

• An instant burst of energy levels in the body
• Increased alertness
• Increased immunity
• Helps in maintaining the homeostasis of the body

Meanwhile, some people might experience an increased level of cortisol in comparison to others whenever they experience stress. But, there is also a possibility of minimizing the amount of cortisol with the help of stress management techniques.

Stress management techniques help in managing less stress which also possibly reduces levels of cortisol in the body.

How to Regulate Cortisol Levels:

In order to keep cortisol levels regulated, healthy, and controlled, first of all, you must activate the relaxation mode of the body after the fight or flight response. After that, you can learn stress management techniques with body relaxation styles.

Additionally, you can also make some healthy lifestyle changes to keep your body alert towards the stress response. Below are some tips that you can follow to relax your mind and body, these tips also help in regulating cortisol levels:

• Yoga
• Meditation
• Breathing exercises
• Exercise
• Listening to music
• Journaling
• Self-hypnosis
• Sex

I hope this blog helps you to understand cortisol in brief. Comment down your queries related to Cortisol and stress. For more such informational content, follow Calm Sage on all social media platforms.

Thanks for reading.