Avoid These Three Cortisol-triggering Foods 

If cortisol wasn’t produced by the body, it would be a miracle drug. After all, this is the energizing hormone responsible for almost superhuman levels of endurance during stress. It regulates our metabolism, alters blood sugar levels, and controls our blood pressure. It even gets us out of bed in the morning. 

Unfortunately, when cortisol levels are consistently elevated, our bodies suffer. A cortisol imbalance can cause weight gain. High cortisol levels raise your risk for type 2 diabetes. People often discuss controlling blood pressure and blood sugar. They rarely discuss controlling cortisol levels. Yet keeping this hormone balanced is just as important. Although stress is the primary reason for elevated cortisol, what we eat also plays a role. Unfortunately, stress-eating can mean reaching for the types of foods most likely to spike our cortisol. So here are three foods to avoid, foods that can help balance your cortisol, and how keeping your hormones in balance can help increase your lifespan. 

Confronting Cortisol Spikes 

We’ve all experienced it. We’re startled and our pulse rate shoots up. Or while experiencing a fight-or flight situation, we experience a sudden narrowing of focus. All we can see is the perceived threat. This response is what allows a mother to save her child from a burning car. It enables a mild-mannered family man to subdue a home invader. Although adrenaline is commonly mentioned when discussing the flight-or-fight response, the hormone cortisol is the driving force behind our body’s reactions to stress. That’s because while adrenalin gives us the initial “kick,” cortisol keeps our energy levels supercharged.

 During stress, a different hormone, epinephrine, increases your heart rate while cortisol constricts the arteries. These two codependent hormones force your heart to pump blood faster and harder while encouraging rapid breathing. For a moment, your muscles feel stronger, your body is filled with energy – you feel capable of almost anything.

As the body’s reaction to a momentary threat, cortisol is an evolutionary miracle. When cortisol is constantly flooding your bloodstream because of work, family, or financial stress, the hormone becomes a debilitating chemical.  A cortisol imbalance will not only reduce your lifespan but your years of healthy life as well. 

Flight-or-fight hormones are created within the adrenal glands, which rest atop the kidneys. The hypothalamus region in the brain triggers hormone production by adjusting cortisol levels in concert with the pituitary glands. Just below the brain, these tiny glands regulate cortisol production. This connected system is known as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. It’s the main way we react to stress. The HPA axis also increases cortisol levels when you first awaken and whenever you exercise. 

Cortisol doesn’t just empower the stress response. It also suppresses inflammation and regulates metabolism. Everything in your body is affected by cortisol including your organs and your muscles. Cortisol imbalances can contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes because during stress non-essential functions like digestion are slowed or shut down when the hormone is activated. 

The liver is also triggered by cortisol. When this happens, the organ releases stored glucose – raising blood sugar levels. Meanwhile, the pancreas is prevented from delivering the insulin that normally keeps blood sugar levels in check. Along with hormones, elevated blood sugar plays a role in delivering the energy burst which so many people feel when they are under stress. Unfortunately, victims of chronic stress often have consistently elevated blood sugar (along with high cortisol levels.) This raises their risk for type 2 diabetes. 

If you’ve been experiencing chronic stress, there’s a good chance you also have a cortisol imbalance. Both stress and high cortisol have similar symptoms. If you’re wired with anxiety during the day, you likely don’t sleep as well at night. Stress responses trigger carb cravings. That means you are more likely to indulge in processed foods that are high in added sugar or salt like store-bought cakes, cookies, pretzels, and potato chips. This can lead to weight gain. When you experience consistently high cortisol levels, excess weight is usually concentrated in your face (especially your cheeks), along with your upper back, and midsection. You may also be experiencing sugar spikes. If it’s because of high cortisol levels, elevated blood sugar could be unrelated to diet. 

Stress sufferers often experience headaches, fatigue, and irritability. So do people with a cortisol imbalance. So how do you know if it is stress or cortisol?

A Simple Test For Cortisol Imbalances

There’s no point in guessing if you have a cortisol imbalance when a simple, inexpensive at-home test will solve the riddle for you. Of course many companies offer at-home health tests. They often charge hundreds of dollars for anything remotely comprehensive. Kyla delivers a test that not only checks your cortisol levels but also looks for the inflammation markers that raise your cancer risk. The test will also give you information on your heart, kidney, and liver health along with your blood sugar levels. All of this is available directly from Kyla for just $99 when you order Kyla’s primary care or hormone panels. 

Begin by taking a simple online health quiz to learn the best test for your needs. After ordering the kit, it will arrive in a few days. Follow the easy instructions for sample collection and return your sample to our labs postage free. You’ll get the test results in a few days. Not only will you learn whether or not you have a cortisol imbalance, you’ll also receive vital information about 14 different biomarkers. These can help you learn your risk of experiencing cognitive decline, heart disease, or stroke. 

After receiving your test results, you’ll have an opportunity to speak with a doctor. Working with a healthcare professional, you’ll not only be able to better manage any chronic conditions but you’ll learn techniques that can actually lengthen your healthspan — the years of healthy, disease-free life that you can look forward to. If you have high cortisol levels, the doctor can design a program to lower cortisol levels in your body. Armed with this vital information, you can take the next step toward having healthy cortisol levels. The answers may be as close as your kitchen.

Cortisol Triggering Food 

Seeking Sugar For Stress Can Worsen Cortisol Imbalances 

If you’ve ever felt wired after eating high-sugar cereal or candy, you likely already recognize the effects of sugar. Reducing added sugar in your diet will not only reduce cortisol levels but also inflammation in the body. Although inflammation is the body’s healthy response to illness or injury, chronic inflammation can be triggered by diet. Because sugar triggers the release of inflammatory molecules, it can lead to a condition that has been shown to increase cancer risk. 

Chronic stress actually motivates people to choose calorie-dense “comfort foods” because as a recent study noted, it’s “…a phenomenon thought to be explained by the mitigating effects of comfort foods on the activity of the stress-response network.” In fact, according to this study, cookies, cakes, and other sugar or salt-laden foods have “…a dampening effect on stress-induced cortisol responsiveness of real-world dietary intake of sugars. These observations add to a growing body of evidence reporting suppressive effects of high-energy foods on stress-associated glucocorticoid reactivity and are consistent with the comfort food hypothesis, where people are seen as motivated to eat palatable foods to alleviate the detrimental repercussions of stressor exposure.” The desire to “tap down” cortisol levels through consumption of highly-processed foods might temporarily reduce the amount of the hormone in our bloodstream. Unfortunately, left unchecked it increases the risk of cardiovascular disease along with obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Keep in mind that many people get their sugar in liquid form. Even if you don’t eat cookies or cakes, you’re getting just as much sugar if you drink regular sodas or fruit juices. Bread, yogurt, and salad dressing can be loaded with added sugar. Check the ingredients. Then switch to whole fruits like apples. Although they have sugar, the fiber found in their skin slows its release into the bloodstream. Plus, fruit is loaded with necessary vitamins and minerals. 

Foods That Are Processed Can Affect Cortisol Levels 

Even if they aren’t high in added salts and sugar, most processed foods can contribute to inflammation. Eating refined flours like that found in some cereals can lead to chronic inflammation. Because this food-triggered inflammation activates the HPA axis, it can lead to higher cortisol levels. Most fast food meals are loaded with added salt, sugar, refined grains, and unhealthy fats. So are packaged deli meats. Reducing your consumption of these foods can lower cortisol while providing an effective treatment for high cortisol. 

The Caffeine And Cortisol Connection

Coffee actually has antioxidants which can reduce inflammation. That’s one reason it’s considered a healthy and beneficial component of most diets – when it’s consumed in moderation. The problem is that the energy burst we get from coffee is partly due to the way caffeine blocks the central nervous systems’ adenosine receptors. These receptors usually lower the heart rate and are partly responsible for the sleep portion of the sleep-wake cycle. By blocking these receptors, caffeine can also increase cortisol levels in the blood. 

Although those who drink caffeinated beverages regularly develop some resistance to this, overconsumption of caffeine can still result in high cortisol. What this means is that if you have symptoms of cortisol imbalance – especially fatigue or irritability – reducing caffeine intake is a great place to start. Remember, many black and green teas have as much caffeine as coffee. Sodas and energy drinks often have more. 

As Karen Hemmes, a registered dietician at Banner Health explains, “Eating foods such as processed meats, high sugar foods, caffeine and alcohol, which provide little nutritional value, have been associated with more psychiatric symptoms and can increase cortisol levels—our primary hormone responsible for stress. A diet high in whole foods and low in processed foods can help maintain healthy cortisol levels.”

Keep in mind that studies have shown how diets which excessively restrict calories also increase stress – which increases cortisol levels. Although there are medications available, the best treatment for high cortisol is a diet that likely resembles what our grandparents ate. Fill your plate with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables (although frozen is fine as well), whole grains, lean meats like fish and poultry, and lots of water. Reduce or eliminate processed foods (those pre-made meals with long lists of ingredients). Limit added salt and sugar. Before you know it, you will see the results. 

Kyla offers many ways of tracking your progress. If you are worried about having a cortisol imbalance, simply downloading the Kyla app will provide a wealth of information. Not only does it help you chronical the ways changing your lifestyle can affect your health, but it also incorporates useful data points from the primary care or hormone panels. That allows you to monitor your health and make adjustments. Kyla ameliorates the way time itself affects our health through the careful application of supplements and medications along with personalized nutritional and fitness plans.

These steps do more than just lengthen your longevity. They may actually increase your healthspan as well. That’s because taking the necessary steps to control your cortisol levels today will extend your disease free years tomorrow. In fact, by harnessing the twin tools of technology and medicine, patients are liberated from healthcare practitioners who focus on the symptoms and ignore the underlying condition. 

Just fill out a questionnaire after downloading the Kyla app, and you too will be able to leverage a proprietary risk engine that relies on AI and healthcare professionals. Together, you’ll be able to create a roadmap to reducing risks and extending your lifespan. In fact, some believe that we are approaching age-escape velocity. Also called longevity escape velocity, this is the theory that in the near future thanks to continuous advances in health we’ll be able to add more than one year of anticipated life for every year we are alive. Adding healthy, active years to our life will change how we feel about getting older. It will make it easier to pursue our passions when we are 70, 80. 90, and beyond. The first step is downloading the Kyla app and learning how to reduce your cortisol levels. 

Sources:

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