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Cortisol is a topic that’s been an important part of my healing journey and one that’s often misunderstood. Today I wanted to take some time to clear up some misconceptions about cortisol, define what it really is, and what having healthy levels looks like in a practical sense.
A lot of us know cortisol as the stress hormone and there are tons of programs, recipes, and hacks out there to help “lower” cortisol. However, like any hormone in our body, cortisol is actually vital for our health. The idea isn’t to lower cortisol, but instead put it into balance. This is something I’m even more aware of as I age and moving into perimenopause and menopause.
This episode goes over how to balance cortisol, when we want it to be high (morning) and how to facilitate that. Light, food timing, and other health habits play a big role in this. Then of course, there’s how to get our body into a healthy rhythm of tapering of cortisol levels so they’re low at night for a good rest.
Lots of practical tips in today’s episode, so let’s dive in!
Child: Welcome to my Mommy’s podcast.
This podcast is sponsored by OneSkin, which is something that I’ve been getting to try for about a year now and I’ve been really impressed with. And here’s why. This is a skincare product and most skincare products are just surface level results. But OneSkin is different. They are founded and led by an all-woman team of skin longevity scientists, and they are working at a cellular level for deeper results. So they tested more than 900 peptides and developed one called OS01, which is the first scientifically proven one to interrupt a core aging process called cellular senescence. So this is basically when our cells stop functioning normally, stop rejuvenating themselves and producing collagen and elastin, and they can release inflammatory chemicals at this point. And this also is linked to our skin aging faster, deeper wrinkles, thinner skin, etc.
And OSO1 switches off these senescent cells, so it addresses the root cause of skin aging versus just a topical that doesn’t do as much. And since skin is our body’s largest organ, this is something I’ve been focused on, especially as I get a little bit older, and especially this time of year with cooler weather, drier skin. And when I noticed my skin gets drier this time of year, it’s because our skin barrier, which keeps moisture in and environmental stressors out, can be disrupted due to the change in weather. And so I found OneSkin is really helpful for that as well.
They have multiple products that were proven to increase barrier function and improve skin hydration. And I’ve noticed a big difference in my skin since starting it. I also love a simple natural skincare routine and they have made it so easy. You can check it out by visiting oneskin.co/wellnessmama and use the code wellnessmama15 to save 15% off your first order.
This episode is brought to you by Essentia. And I recently have really come to love this company all over again. I’ve known about them for years and loved them for years. But I’ve talked a lot about how when it comes to sleep, anything we can do that improves our sleep is one of the highest ROI things we can do for our health because we’re getting that benefit with no effort while we are sleeping once it is implemented. And as parents, we certainly all want the best for our families and the best sleep for our families because that makes a much more peaceful household. And I really truly believe that sleep is the foundation for vibrant health and absolutely essential. It’s one of the variables that you cannot skip. And this is why some of my kids and I have recently switched to Essentia organic mattresses.
And this actually goes back to taking my daughters to a conference, them getting to try the mattresses and incessantly begging for them until we made the switch. Because Essentia isn’t just another mattress brand. They have created something really special and cool, which are mattresses made with their patented beyond latex organic foam that are entirely free of harmful chemicals and allergens and incredibly comfortable to sleep on, which is why we ended up getting them. So whether it’s for my kids or for me, I know that we’re sleeping on something that supports our health and that gives such a high level of comfort that we get excellent sleep as well.
They put so much thought into every detail. So their mattresses are not only organic and eco-friendly, but they are engineered to help us sleep better, offering eight main benefits that provide really restorative sleep. They promote proper spinal alignment and enhance deep and REM sleep, which is critical for growing kids and for tired parents like me. Plus they have built in mold protection and dust mite resistance. So we don’t have to worry about allergens while we sleep. For the little ones, Essentia offers peace of mind with goals and got certified organic chemical-free material. And for me, their unique EMF protection upgrade creates a calming, grounded sleep environment, which is really helpful in such a high-tech world. So if you are ready to make the switch to deeper restorative sleep and a completely non-toxic mattress, check out Essentia. And trust me, that is one of the best investments you can make in your health. And their mattresses are so comfortable. So visit myessentia.com and use the special code wellnessmama at checkout to take an extra $100 off your mattress purchase. And that is on top of their current 20th anniversary sale and President’s Day sale prices. Plus, they’ll throw in some free gifts. So that’s myessentia.com and the code wellnessmama.
?Hello, and welcome to the Wellness Mama podcast. I’m Katie from wellnessmama.com, and this solo episode is going to go deep on the topic of cortisol and specifically how to balance and support it naturally and kind of debunking some things I’ve seen floating around that are not the entire story. And also sharing my personal experience related to cortisol, which was a factor for me as well.
As always, this is for information and inspiration, never for comparison or prescription. I always encourage you to be your own primary healthcare provider, to do your own research and to find what works for you specifically. I feel like this topic of cortisol has been trending on social media lately, with everything from sort of ideas of cocktails and miracle cures floating around and silver bullets to people claiming this was the only factor that they had to optimize before all of their pieces of health fell into place.
And I do agree that this is a really important factor. It was for me is along with the emotional and mental health components that actually led to helping balance my cortisol. I just want to kind of iterate that from at least my direct experience. There is not anything that is a complete silver bullet or that works for everyone There’s a lot of nuance as there always is but I do think a lot of these are great jumping in point for understanding cortisol, for understanding the basics, which I’m excited to talk about today.
I also do think the topic of cortisol and balancing it, we don’t want just low cortisol, actually, we want cortisol in the right rhythm at the right time. But I feel like this topic is especially relevant for moms because we tend to balance a lot. And often have higher stress levels, as well as for women approaching perimenopause and menopause as hormones can change during this time, including cortisol.
So it’s something to be aware of. I also feel like it’s, important for the broader hormone conversation because no hormone exists in a vacuum. They all work kind of in concert and symphony together and these of course ripple into our energy, our mood, how well we sleep, our metabolism, and so much more.
As I said, this was an important factor for me to address. And I have been working on putting together everything that I personally addressed when I was in my intensive healing phase and that eventually worked for me to move past my thyroid issues and autoimmune complications. If you are interested in this, I’m working on trying to turn this into sort of a 21 day total body reset program that you could repeat as many times as you wanted until you got the results you wanted.
I am just curious if I did create this and made it available, would you be interested in this? I would love to hear your feedback. And, um, yeah, just any, any feedback you have around that would be helpful. So back to today’s topic, the idea of cortisol.
To start broad, as I often try to do, Let’s define what cortisol is.
I do feel like there’s a pretty good understanding of this, but just to make sure. Cortisol is a steroid hormone produced by the adrenal glands and also often referred to as our stress hormone, though there’s more to the story than just it being related to stress. It is intricately connected to regulating metabolism, immune function and the body’s stress response.
It’s part of the HPA, which stands for hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis, which governs your body’s response to stress and our circadian rhythm is directly related to our cortisol rhythm. And I think this is something we’re going to really dive into today because this is a free lever that we can all be aware of and pull to really improve our cortisol balance.
Balance without having to spend any money on fancy supplements or cocktails, but our circadian rhythm influences our cortisol levels And it’s this is important point I want to make sure we highlight before we go any further which is there’s a natural peak in the morning of cortisol to help your body wake up and to feel alert and then Ideally, cortisol declines throughout the day and is low at night to prepare for sleep.
So we don’t want constantly low cortisol. Just like when it comes to our nervous system, we don’t want to just always be perfectly calm. We actually want to be able to sleep. Shift back and forth between, when we need it, sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system. Same thing with cortisol.
We actually want to support the body’s rhythm of cortisol peak in the morning, declining all day, and very low at night to support sleep. So, we’ll come back to this, but this is kind of to seed the idea of why light is so important to this topic. You guys are probably tired of hearing me talk about light, and I’m still going to talk about it again, because it’s really important to the topic of cortisol.
And, like I said, this, we went it high in the morning, gradually declining all day. This can actually be skewed or even, for me, reversed. When I was in kind of the worst of what I was trying to figure out health wise, my cortisol was low in the morning and high at night, which meant I was having trouble sleeping and also really having trouble sleeping.
Feeling energetic and awake in the morning. Now, as I said, this is also a topic that seemingly becomes more relevant in the perimenopause and menopause phases of life. Because during these, these phases, women are already experiencing hormonal changes and shifts that can also, by nature, cause menopause.
kind of impact cortisol regulation. So estrogen and progesterone levels are declining. I’ve had many guests on that explained that, and this can increase sensitivity to cortisol related shifts and kind of exacerbate the stress response. And according to, I want to make sure I get this right, the National Institute on Aging cortisol levels are typically higher in perimenopausal women and they can often experience an irregular cortisol rhythm.
So like I mentioned, I had that with my Hashimotos autoimmune issues with cortisol remaining elevated throughout the day instead of declining in the evening. And this can be connected to mood swings, anxiety, and difficulty sleeping, and especially that difficulty sleeping or the middle of the night wake ups are often common complaints and experiences in perimenopause and menopause.
High cortisol levels during perimenopause can also interfere with other hormones, making it harder for women to manage stress, maintain their energy, or their focus. So this, like I said, becomes especially relevant to women in those particular phases of life and it’s something I’m aware of now at my age moving into those.
But also just to highlight, as we have this conversation, it’s important to remember balance is the key. We don’t just want low cortisol. We want balance and the correct rhythm. So like I said, we don’t always want our nervous system to be calm and never engaged, we want adaptability. So we want, to have a healthy and natural and circadian aligned normal cortisol rhythm.
It’s also important to note that when cortisol is elevated for extended periods of time and doesn’t have this balance, it can cause a cascade of negative effects on the body. And there’s a lot that goes into this. So as an example, kind of surface level if, for instance, we aren’t getting enough nutrients and we aren’t getting enough protein and healthy fats to make our basic hormones, that actually is a stress signal to the body.
And over like the first couple of days, we might not be able to make as much progesterone, for instance, as we need. And then over time, we might not even be able to make the correct rhythm and pattern of cortisol that we need. And so this can like create a very negative. A study published in Psychoneuroendocrinology found that chronically elevated cortisol levels are linked to things like increased abdominal fat, insulin resistance, and a higher risk of heart disease.
And of course, we’ve seen those all go up, especially in the United States. Low cortisol, which is often seen in what’s called adrenal fatigue, which I know is a controversial topic, can lead to feelings of chronic tiredness, sluggishness, and fatigue. So, now that we kind of understand the basis of what cortisol is and how it is connected to other hormones, I want to talk about some of the levers that we can each pull that are um, often free and lifestyle related to help create a solid foundation for this natural cortisol balance.
And the first big lever that I love to talk about is light, because light has a very strong and direct impact on. Cortisol levels, and I feel like this is very low hanging fruit, that many of us are just really not optimizing this, and that with a little bit of understanding and awareness and intentionality, this one factor can make a really big difference.
I will say, anecdotally, I saw this difference show up on my lab results without adding any other supplements, when all I changed were Um, getting correct light exposure to signal safety to my body and eating enough nutrients and food like protein and nutrients to signal safety to my body, I saw my lab levels change.
Let’s talk about why. We’ll talk about morning sunlight and cortisol. Exposure to natural sunlight in the morning is essential for regulating our cortisol levels. This is the two big signaling things that we can do for hormones and for cortisol and for circadian rhythm are light and food. This morning light helps signal the body’s internal clock.
Resetting the circadian rhythm, which in turn affects cortisol production. And this is a matter of consistency. This does not work if we do this, for instance, once a week. I know Huberman has done a whole podcast on this. Pretty much everybody has talked about this at some point. But really to highlight what we need to do there, Is to get morning sunlight as soon as possible after waking up, outside without glasses or contacts.
And I know we always get these questions, so just to reiterate, even on a cloudy day, this is incredibly beneficial. Because even on a cloudy day, there’s still a much broader spectrum of light than we get with any indoor light. Unless you are using one of those 10,000 lux or above light boxes and still most days outdoors is going to be more beneficial.
Also, the question we get a lot is if you do, if you wake up before the sun rises or you’re on some sort of shift work schedule where you aren’t up when the sun is necessarily simply try to get outside as soon as possible. possible to when the sun comes up for maybe 15 minutes or so. There’s a study from the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism that shows that morning light exposure significantly increases cortisol levels, promoting alertness and abilities throughout the day.
Now, remember, we don’t want just low cortisol. We want it actually high in the morning. The surge in cortisol helps you feel awake and energized. So the free action step here is aim for at least a few minutes, ideally 20 to 30 minutes of natural light within 30 minutes of waking up. And the way I do this is to habit stack.
And when I’m outside either be grounding and doing some form of stretching, be hydrating with lemon water or salt water or both. And once I make breakfast or coffee going back outside and consuming breakfast there. Now, just like morning sunlight is important. Light exposure throughout the day is also very important.
I said this ad nauseum, but I do think that if we could improve our relationship with natural light and our kind of connected to that, our relationship with artificial light, we could see a lot of improvement in our health. And this one I just don’t feel like is talked about nearly as much as food or supplements or all the more kind of shiny object levers that we can pull.
Because throughout the day, natural light exposure is key to reinforcing the body’s cortisol cycle that you start with that morning sunlight. And also maintaining our energy levels. Um, the way I think of it, I joke that I am literally solar powered, but it’s actually not a joke ourselves. Our mitochondria actually depend on light to function optimally.
And we spend so much more time indoors than we ever have. Throughout history. So this is another free thing, even on a cloudy day, just getting little mini bites of sunlight for 10 minutes at a time throughout the day can make a drastic difference. When I started paying attention to this, I noticed that these little sunshine snacks gave me so much energy and almost like this kind of blissful Zen, but alert feeling that I now work these in a lot.
And I have now also worked on keeping my inflammation very low and my skin and my sun tolerance very high so that I can spend time outside during the middle of the day and really soak up that full spectrum of bright light. A study published in Sleep Health Journal revealed that people who spent more time outdoors in natural light during the day also had better sleep quality.
And lower cortisol levels at night, which is again when we want them to be low. So if you’re working indoors or at home, action step, take frequent breaks to just step outside for a couple minutes and absorb some natural light. Now let’s talk about the flip side of this, which is artificial light and cortisol disruption.
So, just as natural light is very important, artificial light can be very confusing to the body. to our circadian rhythm and thus to our cortisol patterns, especially exposure to artificial light containing blue light like devices like computers, many LED light bulbs, etc. in the evening can disrupt our cortisol patterns because essentially, in nature, those are spectrums of light that we would only get from um, The sun during bright midday light, that’s when we would get the blue light in nature.
So not that blue light is bad, like anything, it’s a timing issue. S when we’re getting that light at night, our body holds off on letting cortisol levels drop. It holds off on making melatonin correctly because it thinks we’re still during the day. And so that kind of blunts that natural decline in cortisol that should happen at bedtime.
And according to research from the Journal of Applied Physiology, blue light exposure at night. Suppresses the production of melatonin, which is the sleep hormone, and delays the natural decline of cortisol, which can make it difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep. I will put some resources for this in the show notes if you’re interested.
I do have blog posts about some various ways that I’ve worked to kind of set my house up to be more circadian friendly and to at least avoid the bulk of artificial light exposure at night. I’ll put those in the show notes. I do think we live in a modern technologically driven world. So we can’t entirely avoid this, but, I think little steps can go a long way.
And this is also, I’ve mentioned before, but I’ve been using something called the daylight computer for anytime I’m working after dark, which is a blue light free sort of computer and tablet that lets me do things like write and check emails. And a lot of my workflow, including things like listening to audio books and podcast without the artificial light exposure or, um, even the color, brightly colored screen that increases dopamine. And this has been a game changer for me. So I’ll link to both of those in the show notes.
I also want to talk just briefly about, at a high level, the, the camping study, if we doubt that light is a really powerful lever, we can move for our circadian health and for cortisol patterns. The often quoted camping study, and there have been some follow ups or related studies, but essentially what they all found was that spending even just a few days to a week in nature and away from artificial light had a drastic impact on.
These patterns, we’re talking about cortisol patterns, melatonin patterns, other hormones as well. And that many sleep related issues resolved within that span of time with no artificial light exposure and people noticed and reported big changes in their sleep quality, their energy levels, and much more.
So I’m not saying we all need to go camp for a week, though. I have thought about that at times. And also these like kind of darkness retreats that have become popular. To me as a mom, it just sounds quite lovely to be for three days in a cave with no light, sound, or noise. But we don’t have to go to that extreme.
We can actually just make it a habit to interact as much as possible. With nature and with natural light, and we can see a big difference in hormones from that. Another lever related to this, of course, is sleep, and there’s a big connection between cortisol and sleep, and these can create a negative feedback loop or a positive one.
The relationship between cortisol and sleep is really crucial because, like we said, cortisol should be at its lowest level during the night, while we’re having, hopefully, very restful sleep. But if cortisol stays elevated at night, It can kind of prevent this restorative rest and keep us from having as deep of sleep as we would.
There’s a study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism that found that disrupted cortisol rhythms were linked to poor sleep quality and increased stress levels during the day. I know sleep is elusive.
I highly recommend Molly Eastman and her program is called “Sleep is a Skill”. You can follow her on Instagram. She has a lot of really great resources for figuring out your own sleep, kind of optimal variables related to sleep and how to really create a strong routine there.
Some things that I would suggest at least beginning for experimentation would be to create a sleep sanctuary. I’ve also written about this a little bit, but basically we want our bedrooms to be as dark as possible, to be in the right temperature range, kind of being in that cooler temperature range and to be as quiet as possible. Um, so I have certainly, um, I made this a priority in my house with everything from UBlockout shades, which are 100% blackout darkness shade. So my room is completely pitch black, even during the day when I close these shades. I keep it as quiet as possible with six kids in my house and run a Jasper air filter as a white noise machine. So it’s dual benefit of really clean air in my bedroom. And also I find that noise very soothing.
And then just having a whole routine related to sleep to help me kind of downshift and get the best sleep possible. Um, as a very random tip, I also often take a supplement called Pectosol at night, which is actually for kind of removing something called Glectin 3, which is an inflammatory protein. I first learned of this when I had a lot of inflammation from autoimmune issues, and I’ve stuck with this because I find I get sick less often, but also that it seems to lead to more restorative sleep.
I don’t fully understand the mechanism there. I think it perhaps is because the body is doing so much natural cleanup and repair while we’re sleeping and I suspect the pectosol is supportive of that. II don’t know that for sure, but that was one thing that I dialed in on my own personal routine that I found helpful.
So, action step related to this. Prioritize creating a sleep sanctuary in any way that you can and that works for you. And try to have a consistent sleep schedule. Molly Eastman explains this so well, but that actually having consistent sleep schedules Wake up time, especially even on weekends is actually more important even than bedtime But ideally you have both and you have a strong sleep schedule create that sleep sanctuary avoid Stimulants.
I tried to avoid caffeine actually after 10 a. m. I try to avoid food after sunset ideally or at least three or four hours before bed and then Even avoiding too many liquids the couple hours before bed, so I don’t have to wake up to go to the bathroom. And when possible, I know this is tough as a mom, but getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night.
And I love having a bedtime routine. For me, that sometimes involves light. It usually involves laying with my legs up against the wall and perhaps doing some kind of like fascial work, mobility work. Or body work on myself just to relax, as well as any kind of skin care, um, like facial massage, that kind of thing.
Now let’s talk about some other natural ways to reduce cortisol. And I’m not going to talk about supplements yet. I know, like I said in the beginning, these are what are trending on social media. And I think they can be helpful. They do have their place. And I take some of them. However, I think these other things that I’m talking about now are actually really important foundational aspects.
So if you’re going to spend money on supplements, getting these parts dialed in first will help the supplements be more effective and you might find, depending on how your body responds, you might not even need any additional support. So because cortisol is referred to. as the stress hormone, there is a stress connection there. Which means that if we address stress and address the physiological aspect of what’s going on with cortisol patterns, we can turn a negative feedback loop where cortisol is chronically elevated and we are chronically stressed into a positive feedback loop where supporting the body helps support mental health and reducing our kind of perceived stress levels also help support the body and so on.
Some of the ways I’ve experimented with to do this include breathwork or any form of mindfulness or meditation, breathing, anything that activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps to lower cortisol and reduce stress. Promote relaxation and I’ve had many podcast guests talk about this as well I can link to a few of those episodes if you’re interested in the show notes But even just making time a couple times throughout the day to become aware of our breathing. To breathe a little bit more slowly to breathe in through the nose more instead of mouth breathing if we’re mouth breathers. Same with perhaps some people see a big benefit from mouth taping at night for the same reason. But simply to become aware of and practice our breathing while we are awake can actually have a ripple effect into our nighttime respiration rate and also can come into play.
With cortisol, and I don’t find that for me to see an effect from this. This has to be any kind of hour a day Breath work and meditation intensive. I think that’s awesome And I often as a mom just simply don’t have extra hours in the day for breath work and meditation. However making little breaks to simply become aware of my breath and consciously calm my breath does show up and make a difference in my sleep and my respiration on my Oura Ring.
The research in psychoneuroendocrinology also shows that mindfulness based interventions like breathwork or like meditation can significantly reduce cortisol and improve mental health. Again, I think all of these things are more effective when we can kind of stack them as much as possible and get the light, get the sleep, add breath work.
But if this is a new for you, maybe try to add just five minutes a day of deep breathing and see how that seems to affect your stress levels. Speaking of stress, I know stress management is a whole big topic. I certainly can’t tackle this in just part of a short podcast episode. However, when it comes to cortisol, the topic of stress and stress management is important to at least touch on and managing stress throughout the day can help prevent cortisol from becoming chronically elevated and incorporating anything that we perceive as self care or anything that we perceive as helping our stress level can help.
So that might be taking a warm shower, that might be going for a walk, that might be breath work, that might be journaling. Whatever it is, those things, finding them and dialing them in to help address our stress levels can also have an impact on cortisol. No studies to back this up, but what has seemed helpful for me actually was learning slowly to shift my mindset and my emotions, curating them, and slowly kind of learning to develop a healthier relationship with them.
Over time, I also found some books like Letting Go, The Pathway of Surrender, The Four Agreements, and similar books. Those were really helpful for me in that mindset shift.
Then, just briefly, I want to touch on food also being a signaling mechanism related to all hormone levels, but also especially to cortisol and stress hormones. So I said before that light and food are kind of two big levers that we can pull. That are signals to our circadian rhythm, to our hormones. And I’ve talked about this before too, but I often feel like it’s easy as women, especially as busy moms to fall into the trap of not necessarily always really getting the food signaling part dialed in. And that even just kind of missing that regularly for a while can seem quite stressful to the body.
And so just some simple tips related to this. I’m not going to go super deep on this today, but just want to say that like chronically skipping meals or under nourishing our body is a stress signal to the body. So even if we don’t mentally feel stressed, even if we’re getting the light part figured out, then we also have to become aware of the food piece.
There’s a lot of nuance here as well. What I’ve found, as a general rule, has helped me the most, and that many women seem to benefit from, is from thinking in terms of food as a safety signal and how can we send the most signal of safety and nourishment that food is abundant, that nutrients are abundant to our body, which for me means eating at least 30, if not 40 grams of protein within the first hour of my day.
And before I consume caffeine, that made a big difference for me. And getting enough protein in general throughout the day, usually in three meals with my last one. Being around or before sunset, that’s what works for me personally. And then making sure in each of those meals, I’m getting enough basic protein to signal muscle protein synthesis and also to signal my body that protein is abundant.
As well as choosing, um, really nutrient dense foods, especially micronutrient dense foods. So my body gets the safety signals of a wide range of nutrients, and also any, any time I need to, to take supplements as well to send that safety signal in the form of food. I talked about this in a previous episode, so I’ll link to that rather than.
Going back into all of that, but just that safety seal actually helped me to lose body fat while eating more because my body felt safer. And there is some experimentation here, but it’s a general rule that seems to be what worked for me and that often works for others. Now we’re getting to the part that is trending on social media. And I think that now is, in this conversation, this can be the time to experiment with and figure out for each of us what works by adding these things in with the proper foundation of light, sleep, food signaling, and stress management, all the other things we talked about.
So, I’ll walk through things I’ve personally tried as well as some that are just trending on social media right now. Including ashwagandha, which, many people have known about this one for a really long time, but I love to see that it’s getting more talk in the mainstream. This is an adaptogenic herb known for its ability to reduce cortisol and help the body adapt to stress.
So it’s not going to artificially override your cortisol patterns, but it’s going to help your body have a more natural cortisol rhythm. And the data on this, a clinical trial published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry found that ashwagandha supplementation led to a 30 percent reduction in cortisol levels in individuals experiencing cortisol chronic stress. So that’s one a lot of people experiment with when they’re experiencing chronic cortisol disruption or stress levels. There’s also rhodiola or rhodiola rosea, which is another adaptogen that helps the body cope with physical and emotional stress. It’s connected to reducing fatigue and lowering cortisol levels.
On this one, a study in phytomedicine found that rhodiola reduced cortisol levels and improved symptoms of burnout and fatigue. There’s also phosphatidylsterine, which is a phospholipid that supports brain function and helps reduce cortisol after exercise or stress. And for this one, a study in the Journal of International Society of Sports Nutrition showed that this one helped reduce cortisol levels following intense exercise.
I also found related to this a little bit different, but phosphatidylcholine was very helpful for me in brain health and energy. And I think also by nature of that. Supportive for sleep as well and then magnesium. I know I talked about magnesium a lot. This one is essential for muscle relaxation, for proper cortisol rhythms, and especially for stress resilience.
We burn through extra magnesium when we are stressed and many of us are simply still deficient in magnesium to begin with, and it’s needed for hundreds of things within the body, including proper cortisol levels. But the Journal of Research in Medical Sciences showed that magnesium supplementation significantly improved cortisol levels in stressed individuals.
So those are just some of the trending supplements floating around right now. There’s also a cortisol cocktail or adrenal cocktail that includes things like orange juice and coconut water and Salt and cream of tartar that is floating around and I do think there’s those things like that can be beneficial But I’ll also share an alternative recipe I found I’ve kind of created that has less sugar, which just feels better for my body. And it kind of hits the same targets of potassium and electrolytes and vitamin C.
So to recap, some of the things I personally do and experiment with to support cortisol patterns. I prioritize morning sunlight exposure and I aim for Ideally 20 to 30 minutes outside in the morning first thing. Also I try to eat breakfast outside when I can. I make sure my sleep schedule is dialed in, that I’m consuming enough of the right foods to signal safety to my body there, and then I occasionally experiment with supplements like rhodiola, ashwagandha, magnesium, To help support and like I said, I personally also add in various forms of choline and pectosol at night, which don’t have any data to show that’s related, but it seems to help for me.
And then I’m really, really intentional with my sleep and having a nighttime routine to make sure I get good sleep, really limiting my screen time at night and creating a sleep sanctuary as much as possible. And then I also try to practice breath work or meditation a couple times a day. I’ve by no means perfected that.
To recap, some key takeaways related to cortisol if this is something that you’re trying to address. Cortisol balance is key. We’re not trying to have chronically low cortisol or chronically high cortisol. We want a balanced cortisol rhythm. For our energy, our mood, and our stress management, and this can become an especially important factor for us as women during perimenopause and menopause.
Morning light exposure is huge. This sets the clock and the tone for your whole day related to stress and cortisol. So as much as possible, getting that morning sunlight is really important. Quality sleep, all those things. I feel like then and only then is the time to experiment with supplements. Like every topic we talk about, when you get the foundational things right, any of the other things you add on, whether it be supplements or more expensive therapies or biohacks, those become more effective when we have that solid foundation.
And I would love to hear your experience with this. If you’ve tried any of these more viral cortisol-related supplements or cocktails that are floating around, if this was a big factor for you, if you did have a massive shift simply from taking one of those supplements or balancing your cortisol, I would love to hear about that.
Or if you have experimented with any of these factors, I would love to know what worked for you, what didn’t. As always, I really encourage everyone to do their own experimentation. View this with curiosity as a kind of fun study and science fair project. It’s perhaps the most beneficial one we ever do is on ourselves Maybe try some of these things see if they work for you, or if you’re already doing them.
I would love to hear From you and what you feel like is the most I also would be always so grateful if you would subscribe to this podcast, wherever you listen and, or, um, give it an honest review and rating and or share it with a friend that helps me to reach more women and moms, which is my purpose and mission in this world.
And I will be super grateful if you would take the time to subscribe and to share. Either way, I’m so grateful to you for listening, for sharing your most valuable resources, your time, your energy, and your attention with me today. I’m so grateful you’re here and I hope that you will join me again on the next episode of the Wellness Mama podcast.
If you’re enjoying these interviews, would you please take two minutes to leave a rating or review on iTunes for me? Doing this helps more people to find the podcast, which means even more moms and families could benefit from the information. I really appreciate
This episode is brought to you by Essentia. And I recently have really come to love this company all over again. I’ve known about them for years and loved them for years. But I’ve talked a lot about how when it comes to sleep, anything we can do that improves our sleep is one of the highest ROI things we can do for our health because we’re getting that benefit with no effort while we are sleeping once it is implemented. And as parents, we certainly all want the best for our families and the best sleep for our families because that makes a much more peaceful household. And I really truly believe that sleep is the foundation for vibrant health and absolutely essential. It’s one of the variables that you cannot skip. And this is why some of my kids and I have recently switched to Essentia organic mattresses.
And this actually goes back to taking my daughters to a conference, them getting to try the mattresses and incessantly begging for them until we made the switch. Because Essentia isn’t just another mattress brand. They have created something really special and cool, which are mattresses made with their patented beyond latex organic foam that are entirely free of harmful chemicals and allergens and incredibly comfortable to sleep on, which is why we ended up getting them. So whether it’s for my kids or for me, I know that we’re sleeping on something that supports our health and that gives such a high level of comfort that we get excellent sleep as well.
They put so much thought into every detail. So their mattresses are not only organic and eco-friendly, but they are engineered to help us sleep better, offering eight main benefits that provide really restorative sleep. They promote proper spinal alignment and enhance deep and REM sleep, which is critical for growing kids and for tired parents like me. Plus they have built in mold protection and dust mite resistance. So we don’t have to worry about allergens while we sleep. For the little ones, Essentia offers peace of mind with goals and got certified organic chemical-free material. And for me, their unique EMF protection upgrade creates a calming, grounded sleep environment, which is really helpful in such a high-tech world. So if you are ready to make the switch to deeper restorative sleep and a completely non-toxic mattress, check out Essentia.
And trust me, that is one of the best investments you can make in your health. And their mattresses are so comfortable. So visit myessentia.com and use the special code wellnessmama at checkout to take an extra $100 off your mattress purchase. And that is on top of their current 20th anniversary sale and President’s Day sale prices. Plus, they’ll throw in some free gifts. So that’s myessentia.com and the code wellnessmama.
This podcast is sponsored by OneSkin, which is something that I’ve been getting to try for about a year now and I’ve been really impressed with. And here’s why. This is a skincare product and most skincare products are just surface level results. But OneSkin is different. They are founded and led by an all-woman team of skin longevity scientists, and they are working at a cellular level for deeper results. So they tested more than 900 peptides and developed one called OS01, which is the first scientifically proven one to interrupt a core aging process called cellular senescence. So this is basically when our cells stop functioning normally, stop rejuvenating themselves and producing collagen and elastin, and they can release inflammatory chemicals at this point. And this also is linked to our skin aging faster, deeper wrinkles, thinner skin, etc.
And OSO1 switches off these senescent cells, so it addresses the root cause of skin aging versus just a topical that doesn’t do as much. And since skin is our body’s largest organ, this is something I’ve been focused on, especially as I get a little bit older, and especially this time of year with cooler weather, drier skin. And when I noticed my skin gets drier this time of year, it’s because our skin barrier, which keeps moisture in and environmental stressors out, can be disrupted due to the change in weather. And so I found OneSkin is really helpful for that as well.
They have multiple products that were proven to increase barrier function and improve skin hydration. And I’ve noticed a big difference in my skin since starting it. I also love a simple natural skincare routine and they have made it so easy. You can check it out by visiting oneskin.co/wellnessmama and use the code wellnessmama15 to save 15% off your first order.
Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.
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