Cortisol is a steroid hormone that is important for regulating many processes in the body, as well as helping to regulate your metabolism, and keep your immune system in check. Cortisol is our primary stress hormone that we used to require back in caveman days to avoid being eaten by the man-eating Saber-toothed tiger!
Fight or flight. Those were the choices to deal with our stressors of the day… and boy did we need it! They are still our choices now, but in today’s day and age we encounter different stressors that can sometimes be constant.
If we remain in a constant state of stress, it raises cortisol levels which can exacerbate inflammation in the body. Glucose is your brain’s source of fuel, and cortisol increases glucose bio-availability in the bloodstream, thereby allowing you to use your brain to make the best decision for your survival in the moment. We no longer need the punch of cortisol and adrenaline to get our legs moving and get us away from the threat, and we’re not being torn to shreds by that scary feline — the threat is now with the every day.
Modern stresses, prehistoric response
You have to make dinner for your 3 rambunctious children after working an 8 hour shift. Oh, and you somehow have to manage to squeeze in grocery shopping and a trip to the bank in the short amount of time you have left in your day. Oh, and don’t forget to get a good night’s sleep. Or you need groceries but it is either pay your light bill or put food on the table.
Sometimes the everyday can be unrelenting and unforgiving.
To combat the inflammatory effects of excess cortisol, try to take a breath. Literally.
Find a quiet place, close your eyes and take a breath. Give yourself the time to de-stress and starve that mean ol’ Cortisol Monster.
References: www.yourhormones.info/hormones/cortisol/
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