Cortisol is the main stress hormone that helps your body adapt to stress. For example if a car is about to hit you, your adrenal glands will release cortisol to raise your blood sugars quickly and give you a burst of energy, so that you can move quickly and jump out of the way. This is perfectly normal and is part of the fight/flight mechanism designed to keep you safe. However, if your cortisol levels remain high for a long period of time due to stress or a poor diet, you will begin to experience some major health problems.
For example You may wake up in between 2-3am with a very overactive mind because your body is locked into the fight/flight state triggered by cortisol, when you should be resting. You may find that your butt and thigh muscles are shrinking and your gaining belly fat, because the cortisol is breaking down your leg muscle into sugar and then insulin it turning it into body fat. You may develop high blood pressure, because the high cortisol levels in your blood are causing you to have fluid retention which is putting a strain on your heart.
People also often breakout in cold sores or catch a cold when their cortisol is high because its supressing their immune systems. If you’re a diabetic you are also likely to have high cortisol, because cortisol raises blood sugars and cause problems with blood sugar regulation And you may have frequent bouts of acid reflux or even stomach ulcers because cortisol is turning off certain digestive hormones causing problems with the stomach and the autonomic nervous system. Unfortunately billions of people worldwide suffer with high cortisol levels without even realising it. Which causes changes in the brain over time, as it can damage the hippocampus and raise your risk of dementia later in life.
Lemon Balm Tea
To rapidly reduce your cortisol start drinking 3-4 cups of organic lemon balm tea on a daily basis Studies show that lemon balm, a herb from the mint family, contains three powerful ingredients called rosmarinic acid, oleanolic acid and ursolic acid. All of these chemicals help to increase GABA in your brain, a neurotransmitter that relaxes the nervous system and turns off the stress response in your body (cortisol).
