Key Ways to Reduce Cortisol

I see you, trying to hold it together and make it all happen for your family!

If you're seeing the impact on your health, in weight gain, fatigue, poor sleep, it's time to step back from the expectations and find a better rhythm.

Key Ways to Reduce Cortisol:

• Don’t Worry. Easy to say, I know! This will burn through as many supplements as you could ever take. If you like, give yourself a few minutes to worry, then switch gears: Pray, hope, and turn your mind to areas you have agency, and do something to show that agency to yourself and get back in your body, not your head.

• Childhood and teen trauma comes up hard in middle age, in a variety of ways. Teens and aging parents will bring up unresolved questions, assumptions, needs, and hurts. Share honestly with a friend, sibling, mentor, or counselor, or journal. Give it its due and then get back to your present life and areas of agency.

• Slow your life down where you can. Spread out housework and streamline processes; delegate, declutter, address infrastructure & people friction; consider lower standards. 

• Don’t go hungry for hours a day. Cortisol is used to mobilize energy when blood sugar dips. Hydrate and eat/drink before working out in the morning, and before having caffeine; hydrate immediately and eat soon after working out.

• Any small period of time when you can enjoy being in the present and anticipate a peaceful few minutes calms your brain. A cup of tea, curling up to read, heading to the gym, park, or class where kids will be occupied.

• Nurturing relationships where you feel safe, seen, and loved are rocket fuel for your health. Let yourself be loved and tell them how much you appreciate them.

• Do less in the evenings. You have nothing to prove after 8 pm. Do the basics (or don’t! They will be there in the morning if you prefer) and start unwinding. It means nothing about you as a person if you leave the dishes to soak overnight. 

• Watch what you consume in media, and whether it’s a helpful or unhelpful distraction.

• Eat plenty of protein from a variety of sources, NOT primarily dairy. Chicken breast is the white bread of meat and should not be your only meat; sausage incorporates all the parts we don’t eat and helps with breakfast protein.

• Eat carbs timed to your cortisol rhythm, activity levels, cycle, or another framework if you cannot rely on appetite cues.

• Vegetables and all plant foods are helpful because of their fiber, which will balance your hormones and gut flora and improve your mood. Some plant foods won’t agree with you, but keep exploring and trying different ones.

• Sleep will lower your cortisol; pushing through evening fatigue to your second or third wind to do more things, watch a movie, or get alone time may have diminishing returns for health, no matter what they do for your personally

• Supplements will provide more raw materials for your body to repair and make energy in the optimal ways, without drawing on your reserves. They are cushion and ingredients. Start with a good multi, collagen, and creatine, and go from there.

• Culinary herbs are your friend. They make food more interesting and satisfying, they improve blood flow, optimize your immune system, and lower inflammation. And it’s hard to do anything “wrong” or take too much.

• Tea helps with hydration and quality of life. Minerals in water improve energy and lower the chances your kids will drink your water.

• Anticipating a break lowers your cortisol now as well as when you get the break.

If you'd like to work out the details of how these would apply to your situation, our group and 1:1 coaching walks through your day's challenges and finds the opportunities and quirky solutions that make an impact. Message me anytime at brightfamiliesnutrition@gmail.com