The Best Supplements to Reduce Cortisol
Cortisol is an important part of your body’s balance. It helps regulate your metabolism and immune system, as well as your stress response. But high cortisol levels can cause unwanted problems. Learn the best supplements to reduce cortisol, as well as other ways to lower your cortisol levels.
What is Cortisol?
Cortisol is a hormone that your adrenal glands produce. It helps your body deal with stress by preparing you to take action. Because of this role in regulating your “fight or flight” response, cortisol is sometimes called the “stress” hormone.
Cortisol isn’t just for stress. It regulates your metabolism and your immune system, affecting nearly every organ system in your body. It also helps regulate your blood pressure and the tone of your blood vessels.
While cortisol is important, too much cortisol can cause problems over time. Because cortisol responds to rising stress levels, managing stress can help keep cortisol levels where they should be.
How Does Cortisol Work?
Your brain’s hypothalamus communicates with your pituitary gland and your adrenal gland to regulate your cortisol levels. This is called the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, or the HPA axis.
Once cortisol is released, it increases your blood sugar, so that your brain and body have plenty of energy to act quickly.
What Can Raise Cortisol?
The main thing that causes high cortisol levels is stress. But you may also see elevated cortisol levels due to factors like sleep loss, a diet high in fat or sugar, or too much caffeine. Certain substances like alcohol may also raise cortisol.
What are Signs and Symptoms of High Cortisol?
If your stress is constant and your cortisol levels stay high for too long, then you may begin experiencing some side effects. Symptoms of stress can include emotional effects like restlessness, or feeling anxious or down. These mental health effects likely result from cortisol reducing your serotonin, a neurotransmitter important in regulating mood. You may have trouble remembering things or focusing on tasks.
Stress can also come with physical symptoms. You may experience high blood pressure, which can develop into cardiovascular problems over time. You may also deal with issues like headaches, grinding your teeth, and stomach issues like other loose stools or difficulty passing stool. Stress can even affect your sleep quality and your libido.
What Supplements Lower Cortisol?
Ashwagandha
Also known as “Indian Ginseng,” “Indian winter cherry,” or its scientific name Withania somnifera, Ashwagandha is an evergreen shrub that’s been popular across Asia for centuries. Ashwagandha is used in traditional Ayurvedic medicine, and modern studies show that it does offer plenty of health benefits.
Ashwagandha can help reduce inflammation and improve memory. But it can also ease stress and normalize cortisol levels, reducing the stress response.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Omega-3 fatty acids are touted for a wide variety of health benefits, including a possible reduction in accelerated aging. According to a 2021 study, it can also lower cortisol up to 33% in the face of a stressor - during the entire course of the stressor.
Gut-Brain Probiotics like PS128 and HT-PS23
A single-arm study of PS128, one of the psychobiotics used in Neuralli Mood, found that highly-stressed tech professionals experienced perceived mental and physical health benefits after taking the strain daily for 8 weeks.* Participants experienced improved mood and sleep quality. They also had reduced levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their saliva.
In a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study, highly-stressed nurses who took HT-PS23 (the other psychobiotic strain in Neuralli Mood) experienced several benefits.* Among other things, there was a measurable decrease in blood cortisol in the nurses who took HT-PS23 compared to the placebo group.
Rhodiola Rosea
Rhodiola rosea is an adaptogenic herb, like ashwagandha. It can help lower cortisol, helping your body adapt to stress so that you can get a better handle on your stress management.
Magnesium
Magnesium is very important when dealing with stress. Low magnesium and high stress can combine to really bring out the worst in each other. Magnesium has been shown repeatedly to ease stress levels by acting on serotonin, but some studies have also shown it to reduce cortisol, especially in cases of intense physical stress.
L-Theanine
L-theanine is an amino acid. It’s often found in tea leaves, and it’s an antioxidant and supports the immune response. It’s also been shown to improve sleep and reduce stress and anxious thoughts. Lab tests have shown varying results, but in some studies, L-theanine reduced cortisol in the saliva.
Ginseng
Ginseng contains several natural antioxidant compounds, and it’s been traditionally used as a medicinal herb in Korea, Japan, China, and the U.S. Scientific studies on ginseng have shown benefits for the immune system and metabolism. They’ve also shown benefits on nervous system health, including alleviating the stress response from cortisol.
Vitamins B and C
Vitamin B and C are important for plenty of reasons. The Vitamin B group is important for your cardiovascular and cell health. Vitamin C is important for making collagen, metabolizing protein, and maintaining neurotransmitters. Both have been shown to reduce cortisol levels and improve stress when taken daily as part of a multivitamin regimen.
What Foods Can Lower Cortisol?
There are plenty of foods out there that can help reduce your cortisol levels. These foods work by being a good source of one (or more!) of the nutrients mentioned above that can reduce cortisol.
- Fish, particularly salmon, are a source of omega-3 fatty acids.
- Nuts, including walnuts, are also a great source of omega-3s. Almonds, cashews, peanuts and other nuts also contain magnesium.
- Leafy green veggies like spinach have a lot of magnesium, as well as vitamin C.
- Tea (especially green tea) is a great place to find L-theanine.
Other Natural Ways to Reduce Cortisol
Of course, there are other ways to reduce cortisol and ease your stress levels than just food. Here are some other things that you can do to lower cortisol.
Exercise
Physical activity is great at helping decrease cortisol reactivity, especially as you get older. Be aware that cortisol may rise during intense exercise, but tends to decrease during recovery.
Sleep
Getting good sleep can reduce cortisol levels. On the other hand, sleep deprivation can raise your cortisol. That means that routinely getting a good night’s rest is important. Unfortunately, chronic stress can affect metabolism, including your sleep amount and quality.
Spend Time Outside
“Touch grass” is a common refrain online - meaning, you’ve spent too much time indoors, and it’s time to step outside. There’s something to that. Spending time outdoors can help your mental health and your sleep. It can improve your creativity and problem solving, and it’s also good for your cortisol levels - and with it, your stress.
Neuralli Mood Can Help
Finding time and motivation to eat healthy, exercise, or get outside, or just sleeping through the night can all be difficult to do when you’re feeling stressed.
One of the easiest ways to break the cycle of stress is to try a supplement like Neuralli Mood.
Neuralli Mood contains PS128 and HT-PS23, two clinically studied gut-brain strains. Each has individually been shown to reduce cortisol and stressful feelings in high-stress situations.
Once your stress symptoms are a little more manageable, you can use that foothold to make other lifestyle changes to keep your stress under better control for the long term. Trying a gut-brain probiotic + postbiotic blend like Neuralli Mood might be a helpful way to kick-start that process. Learn more here.
Recommended reading:
What Is the Gut-Brain Axis? How Your Microbiome Can Influence Wellbeing
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