5 Foods That Naturally Decrease Cortisol, the Stress Hormone

[Music] i'm emma mcadam i'm a licensed marriage  and family therapist and today we're going to talk   about foods that naturally decrease cortisol  managing stress involves a lot of things   a healthy work-life balance good boundaries sleep  exercise but changing what you eat can also have   a big impact on your stress levels and that's  because what you eat impacts cortisol levels now   cortisol is known as the stress hormone it's part  of the activating energizing response in your body   and it triggers the fight or flight response but  it plays a lot of other important roles in your   body too cortisol helps regulate everything from  sleep cycles and inflammation to blood pressure   and blood sugar levels now cortisol is released by  the adrenal gland in response to a physical threat   like an injury or a mental threat like a deadline  and cortisol isn't inherently bad it's it's   helpful in the short term but being exposed to it  for too long can lead to a chronic stress response   which can contribute to more anxiety depression  fatigue inflammation weight gain higher blood   pressure a decreased immune system a higher chance  of diabetes and heart disease so you can see how   decreasing cortisol can have a big impact on both  physical and mental health so when researchers   explored how diet impacts cortisol they found  that people on a traditional american diet of   high fat sugar and carbs had much higher cortisol  levels than people who are eating more fruits   vegetables whole grains and polyunsaturated fats  so an anti-inflammatory diet can counteract the   impact of cortisol inflammation is essentially a  low-level stress response in the body your immune   system sends out macrophages and cytokines to kill  off pathogens but the side effect is that it also   damages healthy tissue and leads to chronic stress  on the body inflammation also increases intestinal   permeability which is known as leaky gut and this  can allow bacteria into the bloodstream and that   can trigger even more inflammation to counter  it so when we eat foods that cause inflammation   we essentially trigger that stress response in the  body but you can choose foods that lower cortisol   inflammation and the stress response as we go  through this list of foods you may recognize it   as having a lot in common with the mediterranean  diet the mediterranean diet has been found to be   quite effective at decreasing inflammation and  it's been shown to improve mental health okay   one last thing before we jump in while you  can supplement with many of these nutrients   you'll almost always be better off eating  whole foods that are nutritionally dense   and not just supplements that's partly  because your gut health depends on the fiber   from the whole food and also because the nutrients  in foods are more diverse and complex than   the simple concentrated supplements okay so  let's talk about foods that naturally decrease   cortisol first foods high in b vitamins can  help metabolize or burn off cortisol and this   is especially true of foods that are high in b12  and these include organ meat beef chicken eggs   nutritional yeast and fortified cereals so this is  when they add b12 to cereals okay next foods high   in omega-3s these reduce inflammation now fish  are often the best source but you can get omega-3s   from plant-based sources as well so these include  walnuts avocados salmon chia flax olive oil tuna   mackerel herring anchovies etc next is magnesium  rich foods magnesium is essential for tons of   bodily processes but it's especially essential  for relaxing muscles reducing inflammation and   metabolizing cortisol it also helps regulate  the heartbeat and decrease blood pressure   when we're stressed we excrete magnesium and  potassium in our urine and low levels of magnesium   can intensify stress which can create a vicious  cycle now getting enough magnesium has been shown   to help decrease anxiety and stress you can find  magnesium in pumpkin seeds and other seeds like   almonds and pistachios it's also you can also  find magnesium in broccoli bananas avocado   artichokes spinach also dark chocolate it's got  magnesium and it has high amounts of flavonoids   which lower stress reactivity in the adrenal  glands so yeah chocolate right the next thing   that you want to think about is foods that help  regulate blood sugar so these are also important   to decrease cortisol if you let yourself get  too hungry by going too long between meals   that can actually be quite stressful  for the body so eat regular meals and   protein-rich foods especially beans and  legumes which have antioxidant properties   another thing that's helpful is foods that  promote a healthy gut microbiome now i'll   make an entire video on how important your gut  bacteria is for mental health but long story   short most of the serotonin in your body is in  your gut and having good bacteria in your gut   can really improve mental health now there's two  ways to do this first eat lots of high fiber foods   and a lot of variety fiber comes from plants so  fruits and vegetables are really important and   the fiber the different fibers from the different  fruits and vegetables is what the good bacteria   eat so having lots of fiber keeps them happy and  keeps your gut healthy fiber is called a prebiotic   one dietitian i spoke with recommends that you  eat 30 different types of plants per week and   that's going to help keep the probiotics happy  in your gut and so that's what we're talking   about for number two is probiotics these are  foods that have good bacteria in them these are   things like live yogurt kimchi kombucha kefir and  sauerkraut okay and lastly just stay well hydrated   dehydration is a stress around the body so  one study showed that young soccer players who   were more dehydrated also had higher cortisol  levels so just drink enough water every day   also it's important to know some foods that can  really increase cortisol include alcohol caffeine   saturated fats simple sugars like sodas and  candy but also simple carbs like white breads can   you know contribute to more cortisol now not all  carbs or sugars are bad for you you can eat them   in moderation you just want to be you know mindful  of how they're impacting your stress levels   okay so there are five types of food that can  help you decrease cortisol and stress levels   now like i said before you can't just rely on  food for stress management it's better to take   a whole body approach but knowing what foods to  eat and not to eat to manage cortisol can be one   really important piece in your treatment puzzle  i hope you found this video helpful if you'd   like to learn more about how to calm the stress  response in your body check out my free course   grounding skills for stress anxiety and ptsd i  teach about 20 skills to soothe anxiety in your   nervous system and the link is in the description  okay thanks for watching and take care [Music] you

Channel: Therapy in a Nutshell

Views: 3,347,418

Keywords: therapy in a nutshell, emma mcadam, mental health, depression, anxiety, overthinking, social anxiety, cortisol, stress, foods for stress, foods for anxiety

Id: wpY1_RxjZQ8

Length: 7min 52sec (472 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 14 2022