Cortisol: how to lower the level? What is cortisol and what is it responsible for?

It is important for every person to know what cortisol is and how to influence its level. Why it rises, especially during pregnancy or during stressful situations.

What is the hormone cortisol responsible for?

Cortisol is a steroid hormone that is produced by the adrenal glands and is carried with blood throughout the body. Activation of the hormone occurs when stress occurs, when it is necessary to make the right decision to control the situation. He stimulates the brain, concentrates attention to overcome the situation.

If you can not solve the problem in a short time, then the level of cortisol remains high for a long time and can cause significant harm to the body.

What is cortisol for?

What is cortisol? It is usually called a hormone of stress, because it is developed in the period of emergence of unusual situations. It helps regulate metabolic processes in the body, activates the work of the brain and helps the immune system.

During the period of stress, the hormone prevents the fall of blood pressure. Therefore, in such cases, it will not be able to achieve low rates. Cortisol has an effect on the vessels and narrows them. Therefore, blood pressure rises. When hunger appears, it is cortisol that helps maintain the required level of glucose in the blood.

Why is cortisol called the hormone of death?

Some experts call cortisol the hormone of death. Usually, it increases with strong stress.

During this period, the human body begins to work on the limits of its capabilities, which can hypothetically lead to a fatal outcome with a prolonged increase in the level of the hormone.

How to reduce the level of cortisol? Is an increase in hormone levels can lead to such terrible consequences? The release of it into the blood is one of the oldest reactions of the body to changing the external environment.

The reaction of the body to stress in the form of ejection of cortisol into the blood leads to the appearance of the following:

• The activity of the immune system decreases;
• Cognitive functions are inhibited;
• For more energy production, there is an accelerated decomposition of proteins and carbohydrates.

As a result, there is a rapid fatigue of the body, the work of the heart and blood vessels is disrupted, and the protective functions of the body are reduced. In some cases, with a prolonged increase in cortisol levels, memory impairment and depression may occur.

The main causes of increased cortisol

There are several reasons that may lead to increased production of cortisol:

• Constant stressful situations cause the human body to work at the limit, which causes the use of all available reserves.
• Increased physical activity.
• The use of coffee in large quantities leads to an increase in the level of cortisol by 1/3.
• Long-term fasting or unbalanced diet. In this case, the glucose level decreases, and the level of cortisol increases. Such processes can occur when a strict diet is observed.

The interrelated influence of many factors leads to an increase in the level of cortisol.

How does the body respond to increased levels of cortisol?

How to reduce the level of cortisol? An increase in the level of the hormone leads to the appearance of the following symptoms and predispositions:

• A high level of cortisol leads to a decrease in muscle mass of the body.
• There is an increase in body weight, as an increase in the level of the hormone leads to a change in predilections towards sweet food.
• There is a deposit of fat in the abdomen, which turns the figure into the shape of an apple. This is especially noticeable when cortisol is elevated in women.
• If there is an increase in the level of the hormone, then the production of insulin under its influence becomes much lower. This leads to the onset of type 2 diabetes.
• Violation of potency in men arises because of the influence of high levels of cortisol on the production of the male hormone - testosterone.
• There is a decrease in immunity.
• Increasing the level of the hormone helps to increase the heart rate. Therefore, there is a risk of strokes and heart attacks.
• There is nervousness and irritability, because cortisol aggravates all the reactions of the body.
• There is flatulence or diarrhea, sometimes there is inflammation of the mucous membrane of the large intestine.
• Frequent urge to urinate, especially in men, is due to inflammation of the prostate.
• An increase in the level of cortisol can lead to the development of osteoporosis.

High cortisol is subject to correction, because there may be irregularities in the work of many organs.

Lowering the level of the hormone in the body

What is the hormone cortisol responsible for? In the body, a decrease in its production may occur, which can cause the appearance of the following processes in the body:

• Disrupted the kidneys;
• In the case of finding a strict diet, a sharp weight loss occurs;
• The pituitary gland functions decrease;
• There is a drop in the production of major hormones;
• There is a tuberculosis process.

A prolonged shortage of this hormone can lead to the following pathologies:

• Weight loss;
• Lowered arterial pressure, which occurs with small physical exertion;
• Headaches, sometimes dizziness;
• Lack of appetite;
• The occurrence of intermittent diarrhea or constipation;
• Depression;
• Irritability.

What is a dangerous stress hormone in women?

The main problem of reducing or increasing the level of cortisol in a woman is a violation in the sexual sphere. During pregnancy, increasing the level of the hormone is considered the norm, in other cases this leads to a change in the nature of the discharge during menstruation. In some cases, infertility or polycystic ovary can occur.

Affect the level of cortisol in women can a variety of diets that lead to a violation of the hormonal balance.

By giving up fats and carbohydrates, switching to protein foods, a woman falls into a state of stress. In this case, the level of cortisol rises, which leads to fat deposits in the abdomen and face. With diets, there is a violation of the mineral balance.

To avoid such problems, it is necessary to observe a balanced diet that will contain in sufficient quantities fats, proteins and carbohydrates.

When the cortisol in a woman is raised, it can be returned to the correct rate, if you find out the exact cause of the deviation.

The danger of increasing cortisol in athletes

A high level of hormone in men can lead to the destruction of muscle mass of the body. This increases blood pressure and blood moves to the brain glucose. The level of adrenaline rises.

Elevated cortisol levels can cause athletes a constant sense of fatigue and chronic stress. There is a slowdown in metabolism.

All these processes can cause fat deposits in the abdomen in men and in the hips in women.

Regular excess of the duration of physical activity does not lead to an increase in muscle mass and normalization of the figure, but to the opposite effect.

How to reduce the level of cortisol? To the level of cortisol in athletes did not change, it is necessary to balance nutrition and normalize the intensity of physical exertion.

Features of the analysis

To determine the level of cortisol in the blood, the analysis is carried out in the morning, up to 10 hours. The result of the tests is influenced by: emotional state, chronic illnesses, eating and alcohol.

Two weeks before the test, you must stop taking alcohol and medication. The analysis can be performed several times to exclude false results of the study.

With normal test results, problems with the adrenal glands are not completely excluded. In addition, it is prescribed: ultrasound, magnetic resonance and computed tomography.

In an adult, the hormone level is considered normal at a concentration of 145 to 600 nmol / liter. In children under 16 years of age - 85-500 nmol / liter.

This difference is due to the acquisition in adulthood of various chronic diseases and pathologies.

The specialist prescribes hormonal therapy, in rare cases, surgical intervention on the adrenal glands is used. The most commonly prescribed drugs are Prednisolone or Dexamethasone.

In addition to taking medications, you can normalize cortisol indices using other methods.

How to normalize the indicators?

How to reduce the level of cortisol? Reduce the elevated hormone levels in several ways:

• Normalize the duration of physical activity;
• Balance nutrition with the exclusion of coffee, alcohol and fast carbohydrates, and add fat and slow carbohydrates to the diet;
• Prevention of stressful situations;
• positive emotions;
• Taking supplements to reduce hormone levels;
• Night rest should be at least 8 hours;
• Inclusion in food vitamins and amino acids.

It is not recommended to experience hunger. If there was a skipping meal, be sure to use a small snack. You can use nuts, dried fruits. Eat these foods before the appearance of hunger, because in the opposite case, no prevention will not work.

It is necessary to follow the advice of experts on proper nutrition, move more and walk on foot, which will help to lower the level of cortisol in the blood.

Sports exercises in a person's life must be present, but do not devote a lot of time to training. After all, exhausting physical activities can not always benefit the body, and in some cases can damage.

To reduce the level of cortisol, you must use vitamin C, which can positively affect metabolism and improve immunity.

Reduced or elevated levels of cortisol in the blood of women and men are equally dangerous, so you need to lead a healthy lifestyle and eat right.