Signs Your Cortisol Is Out of Balance pt 1

Cortisol gets a bad rap often being referred to as our ‘fight or flight’ hormone because one of its primary roles is to respond to acute trauma, chronic emotional or physical stress, injury, or inflammation. Cortisol is actually a good thing as it sweeps in to help the body compensate by activating the sympathetic nervous system and creates a hormonal cascade that ensures we can handle what’s coming our way; this includes things like changes in blood pressure, blood sugar, energy production, cognitive function and blood flow.

CHECK YOUR BLOOD SUGAR

Excess stress can wreak havoc with our blood sugar. To begin with, a spike in cortisol will mobilize glucose from your body store house so it’s ready to help you run away from a threat, but these days most of our chronic stress is psychological. So we pump out more insulin to store it away. This is one of the many ways that chronic stress can lead to elevated insulin and metabolic dysfunction. When you have excess blood sugar your body will give you clues when you are irritable, experience big fluctuations in energy and hunger, constant cravings, headaches,  brain fog, fatigue (especially after meals), erratic mood, resistance to weight loss and an increase in visceral (hard belly) fat are some of the most common signs.

When I have consultations with my clients I observe that weight gain around the midsection is a common sign of stress related changes in body fat. Dr. Macedo studies have shown that individuals who are chronically stressed have significantly higher waist circumferences, sweet cravings, and leptin levels compared to those who aren’t stressed.  

What to do:

Skip the sweet breakfasts and start your day with a good serving of protein, fibre, fat and nutrients. If you’ve become more reliant on starchy and high sugar foods from the cravings, it’s important to try to get back into balance with blood sugar friendly whole foods.

Breakfast Recommendations:

• Strawberries with Greek Yogurt

• Scramble eggs with spinach and bell peppers

• Avocado on Sourdough Toast