You find every other health influencer talk about high cortisol levels relating to stress and weight gain. But what is the real story?

On a regular day, when you face stressful situations your body fires up the fight or flight mode. This triggers adrenal glands to produce cortisol hormone. Cortisol actually helps you alleviate stress and restore balance in the body by asking cells to take up glucose and give extra energy to you so you can function better under stress and overcome it!

But what happens when you are continually stressed? Your cortisol levels remain elevated (called as cortisol buildup) over a prolonged period of time; which means your cells are high on glucose! They work and over work themselves as much as they can and they wear out. This is experienced by us as fatigue, irritability and pains.

Imagine that your class teacher has intimated you that the school Principal is on rounds and will visit anytime now. You need to clean up the classroom and behave well to make a good impression. The Principal is a stressor, your class teacher is cortisol, you are the cells in your body. Now, you’re waiting for the Principal to come and go; it has been 30 min, then an hour, then two hours. Nobody turns up. You’re worn out from the cleaning for no reason, you’re pissed the effort was useless. Would you listen to your teacher the next time she gives the same warning of the Principal visiting?

That’s what happens when cortisol builds up. Your body stops listening to it, does not take up glucose to help you overcome the stressful situation. When cells do not take up glucose, you do not have energy to function; hence the fatigue. When you feel low on energy your brain signals the stomach for hunger, prompting you to eat. This meal further elevates glucose levels but you’re too tired to move around so you crash for some time. So now, you ended up eating extra calories but didn’t use it anywhere. If you have read my previous posts you will know that this gets stored as fat – the cycle repeats everyday and that is why you gain weight when you are stressed.

Realistically, stress is here to stay. Instead, what can we do to cope with it? Regular exercise, balanced diet and good sleep are non-negotiable coping mechanisms when it comes to dealing with stress. But, there are simpler hacks you could start with and slowly work your way up the consistency ladder. Wait for my reel on Sunday to know more!

• Build a routine! Working on setting a routine into your day and sticking to it on ALL DAYS of the week works wonders in alleviating stress because much of your day becomes predictable and your mind has one less thing to worry about.
• Laugh! Really! Read, watch comedy (not reels), it will really help with calming down your mind and get some tension off of it.
• Stop doom scrolling reels! You think it is helping you de-stress to watch nutty videos and weirdos dancing on camera but you will feel dull and irritated after switching it off. It is a dopamine rush which crashes soon after and leaves you even more tired than you were before.
• Avoid news channels! The bright newsflashes and loud noises on tv do not help calm your stressed mind. Is it not exhausting to watch them?
• Read before bedtime – your mind will instantly calm down after the day’s chaos
• Do you find it difficult to build a reading habit? You could start by reading just 1 page of a book every night before hitting the bed. If even that is challenging, try mandala colouring books! Sit for some time after dinner, play some nice music and do colouring! You will start enjoying that quite time over the chaos of reels and television.

We often ignore the possible repercussions of the actions we do every day. Sit back and think, are you really progressing towards being healthy or deteriorating yourself? It requires effort to consciously shift your habits to make your life better, healthier. But the effort is definitely worth it. Do give it a try! Any other hacks that you follow? Tell me in the comments!