Optimize Your Cortisol Levels to Promote
Optimal Health and Longevity
Disrupted Cortisol Patterns Explained
High Early-Morning Cortisol Levels
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Factors: Wake up hours before dawn. You feel in state of anxiety
You rarely sleep through the night.
Your mind is racing the moment you wake up.
You’re edgy and confrontational in the mornings.
Your energy crashes and burns sometime around midmorning.
High Cortisol Levels throughout the Day
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Factors: Too much coffee, intensive focus on schedules. If cortisol levels stay elevated, you’re wired
but your adrenals are getting tired.
Constantly behind schedule and racing to catch up.
Exhausted and hyper at the same time.
People comment on how fast you talk.
Easily irritated and feel little enthusiasm for anything.
High Evening Cortisol Levels
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Factors: Heavy training at the gym, or heavy arguments, meetings, or projects in the evenings.
Falling asleep is nearly impossible and can take hours.
Worry in the evenings or feel especially argumentative.
Distract yourself by spending a lot of time online, watching TV, or working out at night — which can
lead to self-defeating cycle of even higher evening cortisol.
Low Cortisol Levels throughout the Day
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Factors: Adrenal exhaustion as a consequence of being elevated for an extended period. Cortisol
levels can drop off completely. Causes include prolonged and intense stress, sustained periods of
inadequate sleep, and a general lack of physical and mental rest.
Dragging through each day, even after plenty of sleep.
It takes high-octane coffee or intense exercise to pull you up — but it doesn’t last.
Falling asleep everywhere, including work meetings.
Restore Your Cortisol Balance
Cycle Your Cabs Efficiently
A low-carb diet can support weight loss, but small amounts eaten at the right time help manage
cortisol levels. Carbs elevate blood sugar, pancreas produces more Insulin, and Insulin decreases
cortisol output. To keep it simple: blood sugar goes up, cortisol gets pushed down.
Supplement Your Nutrition
Omega-3 Fatty Acid: It helps lower morning cortisol levels. Based on research, it inhibits the adrenal
activation produced by mental stress through effects at the level of the central nervous system.
Recommendation: Take 1-4gm/day.
Vitamin C: Research has shown that it helps reduce Cortisol levels.
Recommendation: Take 1,000mg-3000mg daily.
Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid): Nickname: “the anti-stress vitamin”. It helps our bodies control the
secretion of cortisol and it helps keep our adrenal glands functioning as they should. It helps
improve the ability to deal with and withstand stressful situations.
Recommendation: 5mg/day
Phosphatidylserine: Studies have shown that phosphatidylserine is able to cut elevated cortisol levels
induced by mental and physical stress and helps manage stress-related disorders.
Recommendation: Take 300-800mg/day.
Relieve Stress with Adaptogens
Adaptogenic herbs can relieve stress and help restore cortisol levels to their natural curve. These
herbs support the adrenal and pituitary systems, helping them operate more efficiently. With those
systems functioning properly, cortisol is more likely to be released when it should be.
Rhodiola rosea: 100-200 mg/day, standardized extract.
Ginseng: 100-300 mg/day, standardized extract.
Ginkgo biloba: 100-200 mg/day, standardized extract.
Stay Hydrated
The body is more likely to become dehydrated under stress. Feeling anxious raises heart rate and
triggers faster, heavier breathing, both of which lead to fluid loss. Even if drinking plenty of water,
you can still get dehydrated when stressed because we urinate more frequently. If you notice that
you urinate within minutes of drinking, it can be a sign that you’re not getting the benefits of
hydration.
Recommendation: Add some trace minerals or amino acids to your water. Vitamin Water Zero and
Protein Water such as Protein 2O are good suggestions.
Stress Management
The job of adrenal glands is to protect you when you feel endangered. They’ll pump out cortisol
whenever you feel agitated and threatened. Learn to calm the mind and regain a sense of control.
Find a practice that’s easy to do and makes you feel connected and centered. Relaxation practices
are beneficial any time of day but they are especially helpful in the evenings to promote better
sleep.
Exercise Routine: Time Your Workouts
Intense exercise such as a spin class raises cortisol levels, which is great if you’re looking for an
extra energy boost in the morning or midafternoon. But an evening or nighttime workout is not so
beneficial if it’s prompting insomnia or anxiety. Recognize that a schedule shift could help you reset
your cortisol. Observe how specific types of exercise make you feel, and whether they affect your
sleep or energy levels.
Exercise and Stress Management Balance
Exercise: 30-45 minutes of both anaerobic (resistance training) and aerobic (jogging, cycling) every
other day. Plan intense exercise routines ideally mid-morning to mid-afternoon.
Meditation/relaxation: 15-30 minutes daily. Ideally in the evening time.
Sleep!
Rest is key to restoring a healthy cortisol curve. As little as 2 hours of sleep change will cause
changes in cortisol patterns in less than two weeks. Sleep is the indicator of whether your efforts to
reset your cortisol patterns are working.
How? Cortisol and Melatonin (hormone that regulates sleep and wake cycles) work together. When
Cortisol drops, Melatonin takes over and makes you sleepy. When asleep, relatively low levels of
Cortisol allow your cells to repair and heal. If Cortisol levels stay elevated, your body can’t make
those repairs and you wake up feeling fatigued.
Cortisol and Your Waist Line!
Belly fat contains four times the cortisol receptors as fat elsewhere in the body. Manage your
Cortisol levels and keep belly fat at bay.
In Health!
Laura Hernandez, MBA RD LD
Dietitian
KC Bariatric