Stress and Cortisol Are Killing You - Here's Why And How To Stop It
Ever think, "I've been so freaking stressed out!" or felt like your head was going to explode? Maybe you’ve found yourself asking, “How did my weight get this bad?”
Most of us have, and it’s okay. But what many don’t realize is that these are often warning signs and symptoms of declining physical health. How, you ask? It’s simpler than you think—they’re all connected to the biological reaction of cortisol production.
These symptoms form part of a vicious cycle that makes happiness and health difficult to achieve. Stress causes weight gain, weight gain causes stress and declining health, and limited time just compounds everything.
It’s a snowball flying downhill, growing bigger and more dangerous.
How Cortisol Is Killing You
Seems a bit overblown, right? Well, if you’re someone who thinks this is an exaggeration—sorry to say, it's not that far-fetched.
Stress spikes the powerful hormone called cortisol. Many associate this hormone with the fight-or-flight response—and that’s true—but it’s also linked to a long list of health implications. From the top of your head to your feet, it impacts you physically, psychologically, and emotionally. The fallout can be significant.
Here are just a few research summaries for easy reading:
1. Cortisol can “adversely affect the function of numerous vital systems.”
A study published in Frontiers in Endocrinology specifically listed¹:
- Cognitive changes and deficits
- Decreases in bone density
- Increased risk of diabetes
- Increased abdominal fat storage and obesity
- Poorly performing immune systems
2. Continued High Cortisol Levels Have Been Shown to Shrink Your Hippocampus (part of the brain)
More notably in the second half of life, shrinking of the hippocampus—as found in a study published in Nature Neuroscience²—has been linked to:
- Depression
- Increased Anxiety
- Learning Deficits
- Memory Loss
3. Elevated Cortisol Is Recognized As A “Universal” Warning Sign
It has been shown—as noted in a study published in BMB Reports³—to be a precursor to various chronic diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
4. Chronic Stress and Cortisol Causes “Cumulative” Negative Impacts
The longer you do not address the issue, the harder it becomes to recover from the damage caused—as supported by findings in BMB Reports³.
That’s Not Even the End of the List
This list should definitely be getting your attention. They all mention life-changing issues—some of which are pretty darn scary. If you know anyone who is, or has been, affected by these health complications, you know how beneficial it would be to avoid them.
These are just a few serious and life-threatening situations that can arise. Other, less severe consequences include disruption of sleep cycles, internal inflammation, and impaired ability to utilize carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.
But It’s Not All Bad News...
Believe it or not, we’re not here to be doomsday bringers. While there are certainly serious implications to having continuously high stress levels and chronically elevated cortisol, there are also ways to combat them.
First, though, let’s go over some common misconceptions—because many people rely on stress-relief strategies that don’t actually help.
3 Things to avoid when stressed:
1. Alcohol
We're not saying you can never drink it, but certainly avoid it when you're stressing out. Not only does alcohol not lower cortisol levels, but it actively increases them. Alcohol’s toxicity is received by the body as a stressor, triggering cortisol production.
To support detoxification, explore how infrared therapy promotes natural toxin elimination in our blog: Harnessing the Power of Far Infrared Therapy for Detoxification and Wellness.
2. Smoking and Tobacco Products
Just as the body perceives alcohol as a stressor, it also perceives tobacco as one. Actually, if you are a smoker, we highly recommend stopping. There’s many resources to support this, but a 2014 study showed that “acute abstinence” actually lowered baseline cortisol levels4… a significant win against cortisol.
3. Feel Good Foods
With an emphasis on sugar. Yes, eating that tasty treat might give you a sigh of relief and a feeling of release, but in reality, it's increasing cortisol levels. In fact, a study published in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences found that chronic stress combined with a high-fat/high-sugar diet can shift sympathetic signaling toward neuropeptide Y, leading to obesity and metabolic syndrome⁵.
5 Healthy Solutions to Stress
So we have one suggestion which we feel stands above all the rest (outside of reducing alcohol and tobacco), but before we get to that, we have a few simpler suggestions:
1. Seek Nutritious Foods
A bit broad, and probably closer to common sense, highly nutritious foods contain a variety of vitamins and minerals that help directly with a healthy cortisol response and the organs related to it.
You can also support stress relief and hormonal balance through heat therapy—learn more in our blog on Far Infrared Sauna Blankets and Their Wellness Benefits.
2. Find Time To Laugh and Talk
Laughter is often associated with de-stressing, but it's rarely prioritized or actively sought out. Make sure you put yourself in situations—and around people—that make you smile and who will willingly listen to your worries, concerns, and difficult life situations.
3. Avoid Toxic Relationships
When we say toxic, we mean relationships that have you thinking negatively often and stressing about everyday life unnecessarily. This works hand in hand with our previous suggestion of seeking relationships that bring joy and laughter.
4. Get a Pet
As long as it’s conducive to your lifestyle, many people report deep happiness from forming relationships with furry friends.
5. Exercise (but not too much)
Exercise will help form a well-functioning internal cortisol on/off switch. However, too much can stress your body past the point of typical recovery. This is always different person to person, so be sure to push yourself, then see how your body reacts.
For a deeper look at how infrared therapy enhances post-exercise healing, check out our blog: Post-Workout Recovery: Accelerating Healing with Infrared Therapy.
The Ultimate Solution - Our number 1 from experience
In our experience and opinion, mindfulness, meditation, and yoga are the best solutions for stress and cortisol management. Yes, we’ve suggested this to plenty of people who were initially uninterested—but we’ve convinced many more to give it a try. And we continue to recommend it because it’s just that helpful.
Many find that the practice brings benefits beyond simply relieving the stress of a commute or a busy day. It can spark a lasting, positive shift in behavior—and even personality.
But the concept and the practices are quite extensive. Click here to read more about lowering cortisol with meditation.
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References:
- 1. Yiallouris, A., Tsioutis, C., Agapidaki, E., Zafeiri, M., Agouridis, A. P., Ntourakis, D., & Johnson, E. O. (2019). Adrenal Aging and Its Implications on Stress Responsiveness in Humans. Frontiers in endocrinology, 10, 54. https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2019.00054
- 2. Lupien, S. J., de Leon, M., de Santi, S., Convit, A., Tarshish, C., Nair, N. P., Thakur, M., McEwen, B. S., Hauger, R. L., & Meaney, M. J. (1998). Cortisol levels during human aging predict hippocampal atrophy and memory deficits. Nature Neuroscience, 1(1), 69–73. https://doi.org/10.1038/271
- 3. Lee, D. Y., Kim, E., & Choi, M. H. (2015). Technical and clinical aspects of cortisol as a biochemical marker of chronic stress. BMB reports, 48(4), 209–216. https://doi.org/10.5483/bmbrep.2015.48.4.275
- 4. Wong, J. A., et al. (2014). Cortisol levels decrease after acute tobacco abstinence in regular smokers. Human Psychopharmacology, 29(2), 152–162. https://doi.org/10.1002/hup.2382
- 5. Kuo, L. E., et al. (2008). Chronic stress, combined with a high-fat/high-sugar diet, shifts sympathetic signaling toward neuropeptide Y and leads to obesity and metabolic syndrome. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1148, 232–237. https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1410.035
