Cortisol is a hormone that acts as a neurotransmitter in our brain, considered by the scientific community as the “stress hormone”, our body produces it in stressful situations to help us cope with the situation. The release of this hormone is controlled by the hypothalamus, in response to stressful situations and low blood glucocorticoid levels.
Stress is an emotional/emotional state that generates physical tension, this can come from any situation or thought that makes us feel frustrated, angry or nervous, in small doses stress can be positive, for example when it helps us avoid danger or achieve our goals However, when stress changes from a unique emotion to a recurring emotion or chronic emotional state, it can be harmful to health.
- Through the way we think.
- Believe and feel.
- We can condition our cortisol levels.
- Scientific evidence shows that by modifying our thoughts.
- We are somehow altering the biochemical activity of our brain cells.
Lack of humor, constantly being irritated, having persistent feelings of anger, permanent fatigue without having made the effort to justify it, and lack of appetite or gluttony are possible indicators of high levels of cortisol in our body. Body.
Depending on our personality and how we live our lives, we will generate cortisol or serotonin.
Situations we interpret as stressful increase our cortisol levels, which can affect the quality and duration of our sleep. Cortisol, despite its bad reputation, must have a baseline level during the day to keep us awake and active, decreasing at night.
Cortisol levels also vary throughout the day: there are people who are more active in the morning and others who only accelerate after lunch, however, it usually gradually decreases as the day progresses, if cortisol levels do not drop at night, because the stress response remains active , it’s normal for us to have trouble falling asleep.
Cortisol plays an important role in our health and well-being, increasing your levels with every problem we identify as a threat. When our cortisol levels are optimal, we feel mentally strong, enlightened and motivated. When our levels are low, we tend to feel confused, listless and tired.
Regulating stress is important and, in many cases, it’s not a simple matter. In a healthy body, the stress response seems to allow the relaxation response to take over. When our stress response is triggered very often, it is harder to erase and therefore the imbalance becomes more likely. Instead, when stress persists and long-awaited relaxation doesn’t come, we get sick.
“The time to relax is when you don’t have time anymore. “-Sydney J. Harris-
Stress is how the body tries to solve a problem, but when the situation becomes recurrent, it can cause diseases such as diabetes, depression, insulin resistance, hypertension and other autoimmune diseases. Our body’s response to chronic stress causes a biochemical imbalance that, in turn, weakens our immune system to certain viruses or changes.
Research has shown that recurrent or very intense stress is one of the contributing factors to the development of somatizations, a consequence of the lack of adaptability to change. There are many psychosomatic diseases caused or triggered and aggravated by stress.
When acute stress is continuous, ulcers can occur in different parts of our body’s digestive system, as well as cardiovascular problems, even in people with significant risk factors, a heart attack or heart attack can even occur, all of these diseases progress silently, adding in different ways and in different parts of the body depending on certain characteristics of the affected person.
“Without health, life is not life, it is only a state of discouragement and suffering” – Francois Rabelais-
Social support and oxytocin work together in our bodies by suppressing objective responses caused by psychosocial stress. Social support provided by family and friends is one of the most powerful protective factors against stress-related diseases, such as those listed above.
A study of biological psychology at the University of Freiburg, Germany, conducted by Markus Heinrichs, has shown for the first time that, in humans, the hormone oxytocin plays a key role both in stress management and in reducing its effect. Oxytocin also plays an important role, role in our social behavior (stress modulation factor).
Controlling our blood cortisol levels is complicated, but there are some factors that are easier to control directly and can help us. We’re talking about having a good social support network (people you can trust and can really trust) or reducing the use of certain substances, such as alcohol and tobacco, that indirectly increase our cortisol levels.
It also helps maintain a broad nutritional diet, as a decrease in caloric intake can increase cortisol levels.
In addition, including relaxation and meditation exercises in our routine reduces the risk of chronic stress, according to an Ohio State University study in the United States.
According to this study, the simple difference between those who meditate and those who do not is that of a “meditative mind”. thought arises and is a witness, while for a mind that does not meditate, thought arises and is the head.
“There are no problems we can’t solve together, but there are few that we can solve on our own. “Lyndon Baines Johnson