Is Cortisol Really the Enemy?

Let's talk about cortisol! I'm sure you have heard the term thrown around everywhere. But, do you really know what it is or what it does? Is it actually as bad as people say it is? Let's take a closer look.

What is it?

Cortisol is a hormone released by the adrenal glands that is best known for being one of the body's main stress (or fight-or-flight) hormones. It also has many other functions in the body though such as controlling our sleep/wake cycles, regulating blood sugar, and more. Cortisol receptors throughout the body will utilize cortisol in different ways. So, yes..cortisol is necessary and actually a GOOD thing for multiple reasons. I'll get into why it turns "bad" later in this article. 

We can think of cortisol and insulin as counterparts. Insulin tells our body that we have excess fuel available and that it needs to burn & store it. Cortisol on the other hand tells our body that we need more fuel and that 'things might be about to go bad'. 

How does it work?

Our brain interprets metabolic demand for internal and external stressors and responds by signaling fuel release. In exercise, our body senses an external stress that we need fuel for and the adrenals releases cortisol. This allows more nutrients to be available to our working muscles. When exercise is over, the pancreas releases insulin to rebalance blood sugar since that excess glucose is no longer needed to fuel the muscles. 

Where does it turn bad?

As you saw previously, cortisol was actually GOOD during exercise as it provided that fuel we needed for our muscles to have the energy to work. But what if cortisol gets released from other stressors and our body has no use of that release of nutrients? That is where the issue comes in. 

Since muscles aren't using it in this situation, cortisol levels will elevate in the blood and insulin will kick in. Often, insulin will over compensate and actually send blood sugar too low which then causes cortisol to be released again. This creates almost a "see-saw" effect that can partition nutrients away from lean tissue and into fat tissue. 

When cortisol levels are elevated, we also see an inhibition on non-survival energy consumption so things such as digestion basically get "shut off". This is good for when we need blood flowing to only certain tissue (like during exercise), but in other settings- this is not ideal. 

On top of the above, (chronically) elevated cortisol levels can lead to inflammation in the body which can lead to a whole host of issues on its own including trouble sleeping, mood changes, poor recovery, and more. 

So, is it bad or good?

The answer is neither. Cortisol can be anti-catabolic to muscle tissue since it provides nutrients to it during exercise. It is also important for our natural sleep and wake cycles (it SHOULD dip down during the night and begin to rise slowly to wake us). The issue comes in when it is elevated for too long or when perceived stress occurs and our muscles aren't working (aka exercise) to utilize the nutrients that cortisol pulls out. 

Unfortunately, the previous scenario is far too common in our society. We are over-stressed, over-caffeinated (which further elevates cortisol), and not well rested. This can lead to a state of constant stress (which can actually cause us to lose sensitivity to cortisol and release catecholamines which is a whole other ball game). Regardless, when cortisol is constantly elevated, we get that insulin-cortisol "see-saw" effect I mentioned earlier. Since both of these hormones partition nutrients, this can lead to a negative shift of nutrients for body composition (since they are being unnecessarily stimulated- it is good during/after exercise). 

In summary, cortisol is not the bad guy. It does its job in the body and is actually beneficial to muscle tissue when it is working. The bad guy is other stressors. Which...is controlled by us. This is why stress management is HUGE in any fat loss or muscle building goal. 

What to do?

• work on reducing stress in your life (biggest one!!!!) 
• follow proper exercise programming that isn't making the issue worse by over training your system 
• get enough and good quality sleep 

I personally take Core 21, a natural cortisol reducing supplement to not only help lower over-elevated cortisol levels but also to help me get a better night's sleep so I wake up recovered and ready to go! Click here to check it out with free shipping.