Why does cortisol matter? I thought it was was supposed to rise.

Let’s clear something up, cortisol is a natural response. In fact, it’s a hormone that’s essential for life. But when cortisol gets out of balance, especially in midlife women, it can become your biggest roadblock to feeling energized, strong, and emotionally stable. First just to clear up any confusion, let’s just be clear on what Cortisol actually is!

Cortisol is your body’s stress hormone. It helps you wake up in the morning, respond to danger, and even reduce inflammation, All good things in the short term. But when your stress levels are constantly high (hello, busy schedules, poor sleep, under-eating, and over-training), your cortisol stays elevated. This is when the alarm bells start to go off.

That’s when it starts working against you, contributing to:

• Cravings (especially for sugar and salt)

• Belly fat storage

• Trouble sleeping (2-4am wake-ups, anyone?)

• PMS mood swings and heavy periods

• Muscle breakdown instead of fat loss

So yes, cortisol is natural. But in today’s world, especially during pre- perimenopause, perimenopause and menopause, it needs more attention than ever. Balanced cortisol equals a more balanced YOU.

Cortisol is mainly produced in the adrenal gland, sometimes you’ll hear people talk about adrenal burnout, that’s when your body is just so exhausted from constantly putting out cortisol, it really becomes desensitized from it. So it stops recognizing that their is a “problem” This is really when the problems ramp up, and it can become an actual medical problem! You really dont want to get to the “burn out” stage. So let’s start now, lets make it a priority to lower the constant cortisol release. Because like I said earlier, it IS important to release cortisol, just not over and over and over for a long period of time.

You can check out my IG post on my simple tips for lowering cortisol. Here

Until next time,

xo

Toddia

Here for you!