We always hear nasty things about cortisol, and the need to lower it. This need is true, but in a balanced body,  cortisol in appropriate levels is actually healthy.

First, as we know, it comes from our adrenals, and helps us maintain blood sugars, breathing, heart function and blood flow to the brain and muscles.

But too much – as in too much stress, coffee, sugar…you know, all the things that hurt our poor little adrenals – and we accumulate fat easier, we have fatigue, memory loss, lowered immunity, bone loss, and high triglycerides and heart disease.

Oh boy!

When it’s in excess, cortisol also lowers progesterone levels (we don’t want that!) and increases estrogen levels (we don’t want that either!).

Again, all our rules for balancing our adrenals that we learned last week apply here…eat whole foods, train well, cut the coffee and sugar and artificials, and rise and sleep in rhythm with the sun, as much as you can!

And lessen the artificial lighting…this whips your adrenals into high hear and increases the cortisol output too!