Why quick fixes won’t lower our cortisol levels

This could apparently change the shape of my face, add books to my belly and even drop my hair.

I feel like warnings on cortisol – a stress hormone that I know very little – I have diverted my social media accounts. I see items advising me to drink a cortisol cocktail – a mixture of orange juice, coconut water and sea salt, take a range of different supplements and massage a lavender balm in my temples.

Not knowing what height my cortisol levels are difficult to know whether or not I have to lower them, but now I think that my cheeks seem a more swollen touch than usual and my jeans started to feel a little tight.

Cortisol is one of the many hormones that help control how our body reacts to stress. Produced by the adrenal glands, it plays a vital role in everything we do – to make sure that we wake up in the morning to be able to fall asleep at night.

Without that, we would die – but it is a good balance. Too much cortisol can also cause a plethora of health problems. So, if I am stressed and my body creaks under too much cortisol, how can I solve this problem?

I pick up my phone and start scrolling through my social ones. Advice on one of the first messages that appear is to turn off my phone – it’s a big stress. And, by the way, stop making a Crolling.

I did not know my cortisol levels 10 minutes ago – now I can feel them go up.

“It is very likely that we live with higher levels of cortisol in our systems,” said John Wass, a professor of endocrinology at the University of Oxford, “in part because there is much more stress in the world, we can never get rid of to start.

“With smartphones, you cannot get peace of time.”

But Prof Wass questions the direct link often established on social networks, between cortisol levels and changes in our body, describing this as “misleading”.

“All these changes – weight gain, swelling of the face – there can be so many other reasons – a bad night’s sleep, certain drugs, too much salt, too much alcohol for example,” he said. “It is very unlikely that cortisol levels are to blame – it is a complex image.”

As director general of a small technological business, in the late 1920s, Jasleen Kaur Carroll was at the top of her game. But she had trouble getting out and work became her life.

Finally, things have become so intense – with Jasleen feeling under constant pressure – that she experienced professional, physical, mental and emotional exhaustion.

“I started to feel like a zombie, like everything around me failed,” said London 33 -year -old player. “But I said to myself:” I’m Jas, I’m strong, I can continue. “”

Jasleen turned to social media to get advice on how to de -stress and reduce her cortisol levels.

“You call it, I tried it,” she said. “Cortisol cocktail, Ashwagandha tablets, turmeric, black pepper supplements, lavender balm on my forehead – anything.”

But nothing worked. Jasleen’s body began to close, and the stress it was under triggered an escape from an autoimmune condition which it called lupus, where the immune system is disconnected and is starting to mistakenly target healthy cells.

“I lost so much weight, I had serious joint pain, I was fighting to breathe because I had liquid in my lungs,” she said. “I was also warned to try to have a baby because of my bad way.”

While the hospital receiving treatment for lupus, Jasleen realized that instead of trying to repair herself using social media hacks, she had to stop, take time and get help.

“I was trying to fight all the symptoms of stress,” she said. “Instead, I had to attack the cause.”

By following therapy, she worked through a trauma that she had lived in childhood and began to practice mindfulness – something that taught her to live more in the moment.

“Stress is a wonderful thing,” said therapist Neil Shah, who directs Stress Management Society. “Hormones like adrenaline and cortisol are essential to protect us from a perceived threat.

“The problems arise when we perceive threats everywhere – and that is not helped by the company 24/7 in which we live.”

Neil advised Jasleen to try to stand outside, barefoot on the grass. Jasleen was not convinced – but she decided to try it.

“At that time, I would have tried anything,” she said.

A day after speaking in Jasleen, I am on a video call with an mindfulness coach from Breathworks, a charity specializing in pain management and stress. There are 12 other participants, who all want to learn to manage stress levels and improve their overall health.

Some studies suggest that activities like mindfulness can have a positive effect on cortisol levels, helping to regulate the stress response system.

Being focused on the moment, rather than taken in the past or looking to the future, can also help change the structure of the brain and improve stress resilience, have shown studies.

My mindfulness coach Karen Liebenguth has a warm and soothing voice. I am skeptical when she tells me to hold a raisin and to look, to feel, to feel, to listen and, finally – to put it in my mouth.

As I chew it, I start to understand that I consciously eat. My only thought is the grape and its taste and its texture. And, for the first time that day, I focus on the present moment.

The professor of psychology and expert in stress resilience, David Creswell, says that mindfulness is one of the many techniques found to help some people reduce cortisol levels – and exercise, journalization, close relationships and cognitive behavioral (TCC) therapy can also help.

“Interestingly, each technique sometimes leads us to sit with discomfort,” said Professor Creswell. “They are like small mini -stressful factories – which could help us manage the major stress factors that throw us.”

Experts warn that some “quick” social media can not only solve the real problems that many people may encounter, but can also prevent those who need medical treatment from asking for help.

“We are often fed by simplistic solutions to a complex and potentially more serious problem,” said well-being professor Sir Cary Cooper.

It seems surprised when I tell him the ingredients of the Cortisol cocktail that I often see being praised on social networks.

“I mean, it’s not going to hurt,” he says, “but it will certainly not reduce your cortisol levels.”

Prof Carey says that sudden body changes should be checked by a healthcare professional to ensure that there are no physical health problems.

High levels of cortisol can cause weight gain around the face, upper back and stomach – which could indicate a very rare condition called Cushing syndrome. The most common cause is to take high doses of steroid medicine for a long time.

Sometimes, a small non -cancer growth in the pituitary gland (near the brain) or the adrenal glands (near the kidneys) can also release too much cortisol. These glands help control the quantity of certain hormones in your body, including cortisol.

If you are stressed, there is “little fact in the simple treatment of symptoms,” said Prof Carey. “This is the cause, and the cause could come from a bad relationship, or from financial concerns or from family problems.

“Simple fixes on social networks will not sort it out.”

Jasleen has a new job in a large digital marketing company. Although she was warned that she may not be able to design, she gave birth to a little girl eight months ago.

She is determined not to repeat the professional exhaustion she has known in the past, so every morning without fault, she says, she does several exercises.

Everyone claims to stimulate the nervous system, which helps them relax and reduce their stress levels.

“I gently type my body, melting myself,” said Jasleen. “I hold an imaginary ball in my hands, and I dry on my body, caressing my skin, visualizing the blood flowing towards my heart.”

Jasleen has a busy life, a successful career and a little girl to take care of, but she says she is much more aware of her limits. Overall, she stays away from the social, and her life is now “calmer”.

“There are still elements that stress me,” says Jasleen. “But now I have a toolbox in ways to help it manage and I can kiss chaos!”