{"id":33930,"date":"2010-11-03T11:31:11","date_gmt":"2010-11-03T16:31:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/?p=33930"},"modified":"2011-06-29T15:04:04","modified_gmt":"2011-06-29T20:04:04","slug":"cortisols-risks-and-rewards-based-on-your-stress-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/11\/cortisols-risks-and-rewards-based-on-your-stress-level\/","title":{"rendered":"Cortisol&#8217;s Risks and Rewards Based on Your Stress Level"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a title=\"Cortisol's Risk and Rewards Based on Your Stress Levels\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/11\/cortisols-risks-and-rewards-based-on-your-stress-level\/\" target=\"_self\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-34326\" title=\"stress\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/stress.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"244\" \/><\/a>Cortisol is a hormone that&#8217;s released into the bloodstream by the adrenal glands.\u00a0It&#8217;s released in two ways: in low, steady levels and in\u00a0high, short bursts.\u00a0Releasing a short burst of concentrated <strong><a title=\"cortisol\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/06\/cortisol-the-stress-hormones-effect-on-your-health-and-weight-loss\/\">cortisol<\/a><\/strong> is part of your body&#8217;s survival mechanism, also know as the fight or flight response.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Steady levels<\/strong> of cortisol provide low doses that help to regulate:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Blood-sugar levels<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"5 Ways to Increase Metabolism\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/04\/5-ways-to-spark-your-metabolism\/\" target=\"_blank\">Metabolism<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Blood pressure<\/li>\n<li>Immunity<\/li>\n<li>Inflammatory response<!--more--><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>S<strong>hort bursts<\/strong> of concentrated cortisol can\u00a0provide<strong>:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A burst of energy<\/li>\n<li>Increased memory function<\/li>\n<li>Heightened immunity<\/li>\n<li>Higher pain threshold<\/li>\n<li>Homeostasis support<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>To put it simply, cortisol is a very useful hormone. In times of dire stress, <em>true <\/em>stress (i.e., life-threatening situations) cortisol can be a true lifesaver. It&#8217;s even fair to say that our survival as a species could be attributed to cortisol. Wait. Haven&#8217;t you heard that cortisol is bad? <em>Very bad? <\/em>Yep, me, too.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s true that high levels of cortisol, for prolonged periods of time, can cause <em>severe<\/em> damage to our bodies.\u00a0Maintaining dangerous levels of cortisol can contribute to complicated health problems such as depression, heart attack, stroke and <em>many<\/em> others.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Harmful levels<\/strong> of cortisol can:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Raise blood pressure<\/li>\n<li>Decrease muscle tissue and bone density<\/li>\n<li>Impair mental capacity, memory and decision making<\/li>\n<li>Impair blood-sugar regulation<\/li>\n<li>Impair\u00a0thyroid function<\/li>\n<li>Increase abdominal fat<\/li>\n<li>Influence over-indulgence<\/li>\n<li>Lower immunity<\/li>\n<li>Elicit\u00a0feelings of <a title=\"Stress: The Good\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/12\/stress-the-good\/\" target=\"_blank\">stress<\/a> and panic<\/li>\n<li>Raise blood pressure<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Dangerous levels of cortisol\u00a0are an increasing problem for our country. We lead such demanding and high stress lifestyles that our bodies are unable to activate a relaxation response after\u00a0initiating a fight or flight response.<\/p>\n<p>Many, many<em> <\/em>years ago, our fight or flight response would be activated if we were being stalked by, oh say, a saber toothed tiger. Thankfully, I rarely get stalked by such creatures these days! Unfortunately, by reacting so intensely to much less dire situations (a board meeting, traffic jam or spilled milk) we still activate the same primal response within our bodies. We subconsciously activate this response everyday, and some of us do so <em>several times <\/em>a day.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s important to learn how to activate your relaxation response and avoid unnecessary stress. If you find it alarmingly difficult to de-stress, consult your doctor because there may be ways to help. Everyone&#8217;s relaxation response will be triggered differently. Find out what calms <em>you <\/em>down. Some common ways to de-stress are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Exercise<\/li>\n<li>Nature walks<\/li>\n<li>Writing or journaling<\/li>\n<li>Meditation or prayer<\/li>\n<li>Breathing exercises<\/li>\n<li>Listening to music<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Yoga Shown to Improve Happiness\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/10\/yoga-shown-to-improve-happiness\/\" target=\"_blank\">Yoga<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Gardening<\/li>\n<li>Reading<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Also Read:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a title=\"Manage Stress\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/01\/manage-stress-with-simple-relaxation-techniques\/\" target=\"_blank\">Manage Stress With Simple Relaxation Techniques<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a title=\"Stress Makes Us Fat\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/08\/stress-makes-us-fat\/\" target=\"_blank\">Stress Makes Us Fat<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a title=\"Stress: The Bad\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/12\/stress-the-bad\/\" target=\"_blank\">Stress: The Bad<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cortisol is a hormone that&#8217;s released into the bloodstream by the adrenal glands.\u00a0It&#8217;s released in two ways: in low, steady levels and in\u00a0high, short bursts.\u00a0Releasing a short burst of concentrated cortisol is part of your body&#8217;s survival mechanism, also know &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/11\/cortisols-risks-and-rewards-based-on-your-stress-level\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3687],"tags":[1769,5727,768,1142,320,234],"class_list":["post-33930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adult-health","tag-blood-pressure","tag-cortisol","tag-hormones","tag-metabolism","tag-stress","tag-weight-gain"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33930"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33930\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51537,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33930\/revisions\/51537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}