It’s likely that you’ve heard about the detrimental effects of the stress hormone cortisol. Elevated cortisol levels and chronic stress can affect every physiological system in your body, including your thyroid and adrenal glands. It can make you anxious and irritable, lead to weight gain and bone loss, contribute to diabetes and heart disease risk, and deplete your energy levels.
Cortisol is also known as the aging hormone. When cortisol gets too high, it puts you into a “fight or flight” response, which stimulates your sympathetic nervous system and your adrenal glands. When this occurs, there is a decrease in your digestive secretions and an increase in blood pressure. This puts your body in a state of constant stress, which will burn out your adrenal glands, stress your digestive tract and cause you to age more rapidly.
So if you want to look younger, feel younger and be healthy — and heal adrenal fatigue — you must get your cortisol levels balanced.
Side effects of chronically elevated cortisol can include:
- Anxiety
- Autoimmune diseases
- Cancer
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Common Colds
- Hormone imbalance
- Irritable bowel disease
- Thyroid conditions
- Weight loss resistance
So what can help us adapt to stress and lower cortisol? Adaptogens
- High cortisol levels and chronic stress can affect every physiological and psychological system.
- Adaptogens balance and restore the body.
- You can increase your capacity to deal with stress and improve your mental and physical performance with the use of adaptogens.