Cortisol: The Hormone with a Bad Reputation…
But is it as bad as people are saying it is?
The short answer: No
The last few months all everyone seems to want to talk about is how bad cortisol is and how they need to make sure that in order to stay healthy they need to make sure that their cortisol levels don’t raise… but is cortisol REALLY that bad?
Often, I find myself discussing the impact of all the different hormones on our health and well-being. The one hormone that seems to be getting all the attention, almost always in a negative light, is cortisol - more commonly referred to as the "stress hormone”.
Cortisol is often associated with:
Anxiety
Weight gain
Skin problems
Mood swings
A round face – cortisol face as people are now calling it.
Muscle weakness
High blood pressure
But, in all reality, is cortisol really as bad as it's made out to be?
In this blog, I will be exploring what cortisol is, the role of cortisol in the body, symptoms of high and low cortisol, how to tell if you have high or low cortisol and how to treat it. I will also discuss why it is so dangerous to leave high or low cortisol undiagnosed/self-diagnosed and not treat it properly, as well free ways that you can help to keep your cortisol balanced and in check!
What exactly is cortisol?
Cortisol is a steroid hormone that is produced by the adrenal glands - small, triangular-shaped glands found on top of your kidneys. It plays a super important role in our body's stress response.
When we perceive a threat or stressor, whether it's physical or psychological, the body will release cortisol to help us deal with the situation - often referred to as the "fight or flight" response.
But…
Cortisol also has various other functions in our bodies, such as:
Regulating metabolism
Controlling our blood sugar
Immune response
Controlling our sleep/wake cycle
Helping us focus, problem solve and manage details of our life
Increasing the availability of cells that repair tissue when we are hurt
Cortisol's primary role is to enhance the availability of glucose in the bloodstream to provide essential metabolic fuel (energy) to the muscles and brain.
This is helpful when you need to respond quickly to a threat, however, it can become problematic when stress is chronic and sustained.
Chronically high stressors (threats) can equal chronically high cortisol which can be detrimental to your health.
This is why it is so important to good stress management skills in your life!
But…
When it comes to cortisol, chronically high levels aren’t the only thing that can be detrimental to your health. Chronically low levels can be just as bad, if not, worse for your health.
Is it High or Low Cortisol and How do You know?
It’s no secret that lately everyone seems to be diagnosing themselves with having high cortisol and taking all the newest, viral supplements that claim to balance out their cortisol and fix not just their gut health, but also their mental health… YIKES!!
** This is not something that should ever be recommended to do – diagnosing yourself and taking supplements in attempts to fix what you think is going on in your body is actually super dangerous… even if you feel fantastic in the beginning.
The supplements are not actually fixing the root cause to your symptoms. Instead, they are just masking the symptoms caused by the root cause, which, in the end, will make what is going on in your body worse than before.
ALSO….
Most of the symptoms of high cortisol are the same symptoms of low cortisol, so how do you know if you have high or low cortisol?
First let’s take a look at some of the symptoms…
Symptoms of High Cortisol:
High blood pressure
Swelling
Bruising easily
Symptoms of Low Cortisol
Low Blood Pressure
Fainting
Weak Immune System
Shared Symptoms
Low energy
Fatigue
Abdominal Pain
Gut problems
Weight irregularities
Mood swings
Loss or irregular menstrual cycle
Anxiety/Depression
Low libido
Brain fog
These shared symptoms are the first and most common symptoms of a cortisol imbalanced AND are what people are using to diagnose themselves with high cortisol… These are all also common symptoms of many other issues that could be going on inside your body that has nothing to do with your cortisol…
Where as, the non-shared symptoms are late symptoms that come after your cortisol imbalance has set in, which happens if and when you are not diagnosed properly and are NOT taking the right steps to balance out your cortisol by treating the root cause of you imbalance.
How Do You Know If Your Cortisol Is High, Low, or Balanced?
Honestly, the only way to know if you have high, low, or balanced cortisol is by getting the proper testing done by your health care provider who is certified to do the proper testing… this is usually done by your doctor or naturopath.
** I CAN NOT stress enough how dangerous it is to self diagnose your self as having high or low cortisol and trying to treat it yourself with random supplements that you are finding uneducated MLM/social sellers selling on various social media platforms.
**If you start treating your self as having high cortisol and you actually have balanced or low cortisol, you will be lowering your cortisol levels without needing to be which could actually end up putting you in a life threatening situation and vice vera.
The Dangers of Chronically High and Chronically Low Cortisol
Although it’s not as common as many people seem to think it is, chronically high cortisol is a thing, but guess what? So is chronically low cortisol! As I have stated above, many of the symptoms are similar….
AND…
If untreated, or not treated properly, they can both be super dangerous to your health… even life-threatening.
First, lets talk the dangers of high cortisol.
There are many unwanted symptoms of high cortisol that can have a negative affect on your everyday life, and if undiagnosed and untreated those symptoms can cause much bigger and serious, health problems that could potentially turn dangerous to you… like high blood pressure.
Chronically high cortisol can also cause something called Cushing Syndrome.
Cushing syndrome is a disorder that can occur when your body makes too much cortisol over a prolonged period of time.
Common Symptoms of Cushing Syndrome:
Weight gain in the trunk with thin arms and legs
Weight gain in the face – moon face
Fatty lump between the shoulders – buffalo hump
Pink or purple stretch marks on the stomach, hips, thighs, breasts and underarms
Thin, frail skin that bruises easily
Slow wound healing
Skin darkening
Acne
In women
Thick dark hair on face and body – hirsutism
Irregular/no periods
In men
Low sex drive
Reduced fertility
Problems getting an erection
In children
Stunted growth
**If left untreated you could start to experience bone loss, you may develop type 2 diabetes and there’s a risk of possible loss of life.
Now, let’s talk the dangers of low cortisol.
Just like with high cortisol, low cortisol has many unwanted symptoms that will negatively affect your everyday life that if gone undiagnosed and if untreated they can cause much bigger and serious, health problems that could potentially turn dangerous to you… like dangerously low blood pressure.
Chronically low cortisol can also cause something called Addison’s Disease.
Addison’s Disease is a disorder that occurs when your body is not making enough cortisol over a prolonged period of time.
Common Symptoms of Addison’s Disease:
Extreme Fatigue
Areas of darkened skin
Weight loss
Loss of appetite
Low blood pressure and fainting
Abdominal pain
Nausea diarrhea or vomiting
Salt cravings
Low blood sugar – hypoglycemia
Muscle and joint pain
Depression
Irritability
Body hair loss
Sexual issues
Addison’s disease symptoms usually happen so slowly in people that people tend to ignore the symptoms until an outside stressor or illness comes along that then makes the symptoms much worse…
**Continuing to ignore the symptoms of Addison’s Disease can be super dangerous and turn it into Acute Adrenal failure – Addisonian Crisis. This can quickly turn life threatening…
Symptoms of acute Adrenal Fatigue Include
Pain in the lower back or legs
Confusion
Severe weakness
Super low blood pressure
Reduced consciousness or delirium
Severe abdominal pain, dehydration do to vomiting and/or diarrhea
Free Simple Things That You Can Add into Your Daily Life to Help Keep Your Stress Down and Your Cortisol Balanced.
Lately there have been a lot of influencers selling and promoting a supplement and are claiming that it keeps your cortisol balanced, fixes your gut health, improves your mental health, your ADHD, fixes your sleep issues, gets rid of your PMS symptoms, the list goes on….
As a Registered Nutritionist this is a huge red flag… NOT only will one drink, or any other supplements NOT fix all of that, but nothing about nutrition, supplements and healing is a one size fits all situation…. What your body and mind need to heal is individualized to YOU and you only.
Supplements are meant to fill that gaps of what your body might be missing from your nutrition, they are meant to help support you on a healing journey, they are meant to be taken for short term use and as needed.
They are NOT meant for long term use, and they DO NOT fix or heal the root cause to what is giving you all your unwanted symptoms in the first place.
If taken wrong, they can mask the symptoms, tricking you into thinking that your body is healing – in reality, your body is not healing and you will find out as they stop masking or you stop taking them that all your symptoms are back, usually worse than before.
** You should never actually take supplements to help you heal without being advised to by a health care professional, who is educated on the root cause to your symptoms and helping to support you on your healing journey.
There are quite a few FREE and simple things that you can add into your daily life that will help you to keep your stress down and your cortisol balanced.
Some of these are:
10 minutes of morning sunshine – even if it’s not sunny, sitting outside for 10 minutes in the morning can be super helpful.
Starting your day with a big glass of water
Coffee after breakfast – this can take a week or so to get used to, but I promise you, once you do you will notice a huge difference
A high protein breakfast
Getting outside in nature daily – especially when feeling more stressed
Daily movements – This could be anything from walking, yoga, pilates, even 10 minutes of stretching in the mornings and before bed.
Eating balanced meals and snacks and regular intervals
Daily relaxation activities – meditation, deep breathing, grounding, reading before bed, warm Epsom salt baths
Getting a goodnights sleep – some or all of the above can help to make this happen!
Balancing your hormones shouldn’t be confusing or involve any of the expensive supplements that you are seeing all over social media right now.
The simple steps mentioned above will help get you started and seeing a health care provider who is well educated on hormones – whether it be a doctor, naturopath, nutritionist, etc... will help you get to the root cause of what is causing you hormones to be all out of wack in the first place and help you heal from there.
Doing so will not just be more helpful to you and your health but will also be much cheaper trying to blindly fix your health problems with overpriced supplements that you
**It is super important to note that unbalanced hormones ARE NOT the root cause to your symptoms, but THEY ARE a symptom to something bigger going on in your body
Soon I will be having a master class coming out the focusses on all things hormones and how you can help to balance them yourself through lifestyle and nutrition, without all the confusion and noise out there around all the crazy expensive supplements.
In the meantime, you can look at my gut health and hormone programs on my website, or just shoot me a DM on Instagram or email at wellnutrition@lindsaychatham.com to chat about the different ways that I can support you on your healing journey!!
I look forward to connecting with you
Lindsay Chatham