Struggling with anxiety, insomnia, weight gain, or digestion issues? Your cortisol levels might be too high.
Cortisol is essential when balanced, but in excess, it can harm your well-being. Here’s how:
1. Feeling wired, anxious, irritable & on edge: Cortisol is a stress hormone. It shoots up when we are in a “fight or flight” situation - keeping us on high alert & when prolonged turns stress into chronic anxiety.
2. Insomnia: Cortisol should peak in the morning & drop at night. If it stays high, it disrupts melatonin production, leading to poor sleep.
3. Weight gain & sugar cravings: excess Cortisol releases sugar into your bloodstream, disrupting blood sugar balance & causing belly fat & insulin resistance.
4. Digestive issues: prolonged high Cortisol diverts energy from digestion & also causes inflammation affecting our microbiome. This causes bloating, constipation or diarrhoea.
5. Acne, wrinkles & hair loss: increased Cortisol leads to more inflammation & oil production & decreased collagen production, causing acne, wrinkles, & hair loss.
6. Irregular/absent periods: prolonged high Cortisol impacts all hormones, leading to irregular or absent periods as the body prioritises survival over reproduction.