Feeling Stressed? A Doctor's One-Day Plan To Balance Cortisol Levels

Cortisol1, a hormone, and one of the main stress response chemicals produced by the adrenal glands—the other is adrenaline—is responsible for maintaining the health of and proper communication between every cell in your body. When it is in a healthy rhythm, cortisol is highest in the morning1 to give us energy to get our day started, keep inflammation low, and immune response at its peak2. It is naturally lowest before bed1 allowing us to wind down into a rest-and-repair phase. When this natural "diurnal" cycle is disrupted, we can end up with:

In fact, most long-term chronic health problems can be traced to disturbances in the natural cortisol pattern. For example, obesity, digestive problems, and diabetes, have been linked to disturbances in cortisol rhythm. So resetting your cortisol rhythm, which is what we're really getting at when we talk about "resetting our adrenals," is one of the most important steps we can take to feel in balance in our lives now and ensure our health for the long term.*

Here are six simple steps to resetting your cortisol rhythm and with it your adrenal stress response.

Further, when your sleep is disrupted, it tends to exacerbate other symptoms: Your sugar and carb cravings go up, your energy and focus go down, and so does your immunity.

Here's the magic number: I've found during my practice that most people need at least seven hours of good sleep every night to reset cortisol rhythm—and importantly, do a brain dump. When you sleep your brain literally processes the knowledge, memories, information, and cellular waste that accumulates in it during the day, as does your body.

Especially important is a regular sleep cycle that has you waking and going to bed at roughly the same times each day, preferably waking by about 7:00 a.m. and getting to bed between 10:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.

What's the No. 1 disrupter of sleep for most women right now? From what I hear at my practice, it's using electronic devices in the hour before bed! So the most important recommendation for resetting your sleep and cortisol? A digital detox each night in the hour before sleep—no smartphone, Kindle, or iPads. Do "old-fashioned" things like read a real book (with pages!), take a hot bath, journal, have sex, and meditate, even if only for a few minutes. When done consistently, this step alone can transform your life.

This is a tough situation because working nights is inherently harder on your adrenals. But there are things you can do to protect yourself:

Can't get natural light in the morning because of your work schedule or where you live? Try light box therapy instead. It can help reset your internal clock and has been shown to bust through depression6, too. Throughout the day, try to get natural light exposure by sitting near a window when you work. And then follow the digital detox in the evening. Added bonus? Set your phone to "night shift" to make sure that blue light is not emitted, or download blue-light-blocking apps like f.lux to help offset the negative effects of looking at your computer late at night.

Healthy choices include a serving of a whole grain, for example brown rice or quinoa, and/or a serving of sweet potato, winter squash, or potatoes (baked or roasted) and cooled almost to room temperature before eating. In general, eating within three hours of bedtime can impair both sleep and cortisol, and skipping meals also has a negative impact on cortisol.

My personal favorite is a solo dance party (no judgments here)! But a shower, brisk walk, yoga session, and playing with your kids all work too!

Similarly, while you might love an evening glass of wine, almost all of my patients report that their sleep improved dramatically, particularly their ability to stay asleep and feel refreshed in the morning, when they stopped drinking alcohol.

While adrenal fatigue, thyroid issues, Hashimoto's, trouble sleeping, anxiety, and weight issues are tough to bear, the good news is that there is so much we can do from a nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle standpoint. If you think your adrenals and thyroid might be at the root of your problems, I urge you to connect with your doctor, get the tests, and in the meantime, eat, sleep, and live in a way that supports your body's endocrine systems. You deserve it!