Simple Nutrition Insights

Is Cortisol Detox the Secret to Real Stress Relief?

• Leonila • Episode 53

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Can you really detox from stress? On today's Simple Nutrition Insights Podcast, hosted by Leonila Campos, we crack open the concept of "cortisol detox" to understand its true impact on stress relief and overall health. You'll learn the essentials about cortisol, the stress hormone produced by our adrenal glands, and why keeping its levels in check is crucial. We also touch upon the hot trend of cortisol detoxes that promise to balance this hormone through dietary changes, herbal supplements, and mindful practices like yoga and meditation. Are these detoxes backed by science, or just another wellness fad? Tune in to get the facts and practical advice on managing stress more effectively.

If you're looking to make impactful changes in your lifestyle to manage stress, this episode is packed with actionable tips. We dive into the importance of a diet rich in whole foods—think leafy greens, fatty fish, nuts, and seeds—to reduce inflammation and support overall health. Leonida also covers the effects of caffeine and processed foods on stress levels, providing healthier alternatives. Learn why moderate exercise like walking or yoga can be a game-changer for stress reduction, and discover simple mindfulness and meditation techniques that fit into even the busiest lifestyles.

Lastly, we emphasize the importance of mindful eating and a stress-free bedtime routine. By being present during mealtimes, you can better recognize your body's signals of fullness and improve digestion. Poor sleep quality caused by high cortisol levels can be addressed by creating a peaceful pre-sleep environment—consider walks, calming audio, and steering clear of screens before bed. We also touch on the role of supplements like magnesium but stress the importance of professional guidance. Don’t miss out on this comprehensive discussion aimed at helping you manage stress and optimize your health. Remember to check the show notes for a quick handout of practical tips!

Cortisol Detox- A Guide to Manage your Stress!

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Speaker 1:

Hey, welcome back to another episode of the Simple Nutrition Insights Podcast. I am your host, leonida Campos, and I'm sure you've heard of this term, cortisol detox. I actually just I've heard about such things, but recently, over the weekend, I was asked right, like, have you heard about cortisol detox? Like, what are your thoughts? Do you agree? What do you recommend? So I love these questions because, number one, it gives me the opportunity to research, like, what the trends are, because as dietitians, we have to be, you know one, up to date with our education, which is part of our registration, to keep our credentials, but also the trends right, because there are some crazy trends out there. So this one specifically, I was asked about it and I said you know what? Can you tell me more? Because I didn't. It's not something that I was exposed to it, and so, yeah, you know they mentioned, yeah, you know they recommend to do these things right, especially if you have, if you have gained weight in, like your abdominal area, your fatigue all the time. And so I thought, okay, if, if I'm getting this question, this question, I'm sure a lot of people also have these questions or have been exposed to it, and so why not talk about it in a professional way, to give my professional opinion what to do really about it. So, essentially, that's what the podcast is today we're going to talk about.

Speaker 1:

Cortisol detox is right. Is it really the key to reducing stress and optimizing our health, or is it just a wellness myth? So, hopefully, by the end of this episode, you'll have the tools to make informed decisions about managing stress and your health. So, to make informed decisions about managing stress and your health, so let's get started. The first thing that we have to do, right, is really break it down. So we want to talk about, okay, what is cortisol?

Speaker 1:

Cortisol is a hormone produced by our adrenal glands and it plays a huge role in how our body responds to stress. So think of how our body is built. Think of it as a built-in alarm system, right? So if you have an alarm system at home, right, and someone breaks in, that alarm system is going to go off, right, and it's going to alert you. It's going to alert the authorities, and so everything is like almost like panic mode, right? But there are systems that are put into place to give you a response. So, essentially, that's what cortisol is. It is like our own built-in alarm system. So when we are faced with a stressful situation, cortisol jumps in to help to control blood sugar levels, to regulate our metabolism, reduce inflammation and there's many, many more functions. And so when we are stressed, right, those systems are put into place. But here's the thing While cortisol is helpful in a short term, chronically elevated cortisol levels can lead to problems right Like weight gain, sleep disturbances, anxiety can even weaken our immune system.

Speaker 1:

So it does make sense that people are searching for ways to lower our cortisol right, or detox, although I have a problem with that word. We'll talk about it more in a little bit. But can we really do that? Can we really detox ourselves from cortisol, or is there such a thing as cortisol detox? That's where we're going to really dive deep into. Next, we talked about just what cortisol is right and what triggers it. So I'm sure not only now it. So I'm sure not only now, right, I'm sure you've heard the terms cleanses and detoxes or reset, but now we're seeing that concept applied to cortisol too.

Speaker 1:

The idea is that by lowering cortisol, you can reverse the negative effects of stress. So what are people really doing in these so-called cortisol detoxes? Based on some of the research that I did. It usually involves a mix of dietary changes, herbal supplements, stress-reducing exercises and sometimes even lifestyle overhauls. For example, some popular practices include using adaptogens like ashwagandha and rhodiola herbs, to believe, to help balance cortisol levels, but the big emphasis on adding anti-inflammatory foods like leafy greens, nuts and berries and cutting out things that can spike cortisol, such as caffeine and sugar. On top of that, many programs promote stress relief techniques like yoga, meditation and deep breathing. Now, I do agree with all these things right, because these are actually all the things that I recommend to my clients. Let's focus on adding more of a variety of nutrients, right, coming from our fruits, our vegetables, our nuts and our seeds. Are fatty fish and we eat animal foods, so it's not such a new thing, right? But when there's a high emphasis on it, it almost is like a new thing, and so, yeah, let's keep talking about that a little bit more. But I do agree with these things right.

Speaker 1:

And also stress. I actually ask this question all the time, right. And also stress. I actually ask this question all the time right To my patients tell me about your stress levels, right? How do you manage stress? How do you know when you're stressed? Because we do live in a society that is highly stressful, and so our bodies might be used to it, right? Or we feel that, hey, this is how I've been feeling forever and that's the new norm for me. For someone else it could be like that is just a lot of stress, right, and our body? The beauty about our bodies is that they're able to adjust and adapt to things. It doesn't mean that what we're doing is healthy, right. It's just that your body's trying to adapt to what you are doing for homeostasis purposes, right, to keep those things balanced.

Speaker 1:

So, as it all sounds good on the surface, but is there really scientific evidence to back it up? Are these detoxes really necessary or are just a trend? So here's the interesting thing, right? Well, there is not scientific consensus on a specific detox right for cortisol, meaning have these combination of herbs, right, or this combination of exercises and that is going to cure you, right, from elevated cortisol levels. There is a consensus that living a healthy lifestyle can help bring cortisol levels back to a balanced state. So one of the answers that I gave when I was asked that question is that.

Speaker 1:

Number one we have to identify the root cause of why our cortisol levels are elevated. Because if we're just adding these random things and we're like, let's see what works right, let's hope for something, then we're not really going to find the root cause and then we're going to continue to struggle, right, until we really realize this is what's causing the problem. Right, we're just treating the symptoms. So, number one we have to really understand okay, I actually feel this way when I have high levels of stress right, what are my stressors? You can even write them down and based on that, right, you can almost create an actionable plan for yourself. I have really high levels of stress at work because of X, y, z. How can I reduce those levels? Right? At first we might feel like I cannot reduce those levels at all, but there's always a way. We have to almost dig deep and continue to dig deep until we find a solution.

Speaker 1:

So, looking at that right, really looking at what the root cause because that's what's going to help you bring those cortisol levels down and support, right, adding those foods that I mentioned, practicing healthy lifestyles that can really help you with that. So it seems to that the best approach isn't really just to follow a fat detox, right, or a cleanse or a reset, but to really focus on sustainable ways to reduce your stress and again promote overall health, and that alone can not only help you with your cortisol levels, but it can help with your inflammation, it can help with your pain, it can help with, like, just overall well-being, and essentially that's what we want to do, right? I'm sure this is not going to go away. I'm sure a lot of people are going to get rich out of it and there's going to be more things on it, but I really want you to, I really want to bring this knowledge to you, right, so you really understand.

Speaker 1:

One, what cortisol is, how it changes? Right, because we cannot eliminate cortisol. Right, that is a hormone that is in our bodies and we need it. But how can we manage it to a level? Right, that is not high all the time. And, believe it or not, our cortisol levels are going to change throughout the day. They're up, slightly elevated, during the morning, because you have to wake up, right, our bodies have to be able to. Usually, there's that increase in those hormones, right, the hormones that are going to wake us up, and then they level off as we go about our days, if we wake up like startled and like we already have these high levels of stress, which I completely understand.

Speaker 1:

Mornings are chaotic, even for me at home, like I have to be telling my kids let's go, let's go. It's like we're going to be late and I can feel my cortisol levels, right, increase or those stress levels increase. But then, once I drop them off, then I take a deep breath, I talk to myself and I say, okay, let's go, let's have a good day, right? So you have to create these techniques for yourself, right, to be able to bring these levels down by yourself and on your own. It's almost and these are things that I talk to my patients, too, and clients, right, okay, and these are things that I talk to my patients, too, and clients.

Speaker 1:

But, okay, let's figure out some of the reasons why we crave these sugary foods or crave this particular food, right, and we want to practice more of these stress relief techniques, like let's take a deep breath, let's take a walk or let's talk to a friend, something that brings us like a sensation or a sense of peace, right, but you want to do that consistently, because when you are in that stressful situation, when you feel like, oh my gosh, I'm going to explode, it's really difficult to really have the critical thinking as to, okay, what is it that I need to do? Because your body is in like an alert? Right, your alarms are going off and your body's like okay, tell me what you want me to do. Do you want to run? Do you want to fight something? Or are we like frozen? Right, we don't know what to do. So, when you practice these techniques, right, on a consistent basis, not even when you're stressed, you develop the system for yourself, right? So if, when you do have these higher levels of stress, your body already knows what to do, okay, let's take a deep breath. Right, you know what? I'm going to walk away and I'm going to take a walk and I'm going to come back and see how my brain now sees things. Right, so, practicing those techniques are going to help you. Again, if it's something that you've struggled for such a long time and at the moment, you feel like I have no way, no techniques, no skills, no resources to know what to do, and my stress is just so high and it's affecting me in so many ways, I think talking to a therapist can really help, because they are experts in that area. Right, they can give you techniques, they can give you tools on how to deal with these situations. So, going that route, but here are some other practical ways to also manage your cortisol.

Speaker 1:

I mentioned a little bit about nutrition, of course, right. So making those dietary changes, not a particular food, right per se, because we know, as dietitians, as healthcare professionals, we know that not only one food is going to be like a magic change. Right, we have to have a combination of these foods. So, eating a balanced meal, a balanced meals, a balanced nutrition plan that is going to be rich in whole foods, again, your anti-inflammatory foods, like leafy greens, your fatty fish, like salmon, nuts and seeds right, think of, like eating the rainbow, right, different colors of fruits and vegetables, not only because they're going to add these antioxidant components, but you are going to get other components to you by other other nutrients that your body needs vitamins, minerals, fiber. So you want to add a variety of those. Your nuts and your seeds for healthy fats, for magnesium, potassium, by selenium, which, which also help with stress.

Speaker 1:

And thinking about how much caffeine you consume? Right, because when we said you're drinking too much caffeine, right, we can think sometimes there's that resistance Like, what do you mean? Like, do I have to eliminate coffee, not necessarily right, but think about how much coffee you drink. Do you drink coffee all day long? Because caffeine is a stimulant, right, and so if you're already like super stressed, right, and you're drinking coffee all day long, that also might not be a good practice, right. But let's say you enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning, right, or another cup of coffee hopefully not like late in the afternoon, because that can affect your sleep. So, thinking about those things, right. But also, how do you drink your coffee? Is it just black, but maybe a splash of milk? Or is it black? Or is it coffee for like, loaded with sugar, right, which can also affect just your body in general, which can absolutely increase your inflammation. If you already have issues with insulin resistance, right, that is absolutely going to affect your blood sugars and your insulin response.

Speaker 1:

The other thing, too right, is how often do you consume processed foods? Right? More of these foods that are higher in sugar, higher in fats, that are higher in sugar, higher in fats, saturated fat, trans fats? Because, if that is the case, oftentimes we are not adding enough of the other balanced meals foods, right, adding enough of the other wholesome foods, because we're replacing them so by just switching that? No, I'm not telling you eliminate everything, right, but you have to be able to make some changes to help your body. There is research that shows that consuming high processed foods right, also increase your inflammation, which can also trigger your cortisol levels. So really think about those things and these are things that you can do on your own before you decide to spend tons of money, right, or giving tons of money to someone that is saying, oh, I have a cortisol cleanse for you or cortisol detox for you, right. Focus on these things first, because you're able to make these changes.

Speaker 1:

Exercise right, it's another one. Moderate exercise like walking, yoga, swimming right, it's great for reducing stress without really overloading your body. High intensity exercise can temporarily increase your cortisol, so you have to have that balance right. You have to remember that If you already have high cortisol levels right, and you're already in high intensity exercises, that is going to increase it just naturally does that, right, because you're asking your body to do so much, and even when you exercise, your cortisol levels are going to increase temporarily. Then they'll come down because they're helping you. Right, we need more sugar at that time to fuel our exercises right For that response, but it usually comes down. But if you already have these high cortisol levels because of stress, you want to start with something more moderate, right, like walking, yoga, swimming, and then if you're like I really would need a high intensity workout, then you can add it one or two times to balance those things out.

Speaker 1:

Some other practices right, mindfulness and meditation, just really really taking time to practice that, even for just a few minutes a day, right. Some of the practical ways to add them that I've mentioned to my clients is, even just before you start checking your email, right, just take a few minutes to deep breathe. Right, calm yourself down to really help, maybe talk to yourself, have some positive affirmations like today is going to be a great day or something along those lines that helps you. And then again, right before you start your meal and this is really important, actually, because if you go into your meal, being really stressed, right, and you're almost eating mindlessly Number one you're not paying attention to those hunger and satiety cues.

Speaker 1:

Right, when your body says, hey, I think we had enough to eat, let's stop now because we're so distracted, right, we're not present with our meals. We're just like eating, right, like we. And then we finish our meal and we're like did I even eat? Like I'm still hungry and it's because of that specifically. So being really mindful when it comes to your mealtime and even taking a breath at that time, right, okay, I'm going to start my meal, let me take a deep breath. Right, let me be really present as I'm eating my meal One, because you're allowing your body, you're allowing your digestive system in your brain to have those connections right, like we're starting to eat. Right, let's connect. Right, let's have that synchronization of those hormones in our brain. And then, at the end of the day, right, you're finishing at the office, you're finishing at work. Take another deep breath and then go home, because we know that our day usually doesn't end when we finish our work.

Speaker 1:

Right, we still have a life at home, and so if it's stressful, you wanna be able again throughout the day. Right, you wanna be able to manage this stress by doing little things. So, taking deep breaths right, going for a little walk, listening to an audio, listening to a podcast, whatever it is right, writing some things down, and that's another way to also do some self-care too. Let's see sleep right. Sleep is a huge one. We already know that high cortisol levels right, stress levels affect our sleep, specifically if we are ending our day being stressed, right, so we want to be able to, even if, sometimes, even if we have the opportunity to sleep seven, eight hours, right, which is the goal.

Speaker 1:

But maybe our quality of sleep is not the best, right, because we're tossing and turning, we're waking up multiple times during the night. Something comes up, right, like we think about something, and now we're awake and we're, like you know, just really thinking about that. So, number one, right, you have to look at, okay, what is my routine leading to bedtime. Do I spend mindlessly hours or time scrolling through social media or watching the news and, like now, I'm really upset because of what's happening? These are things that we don't have control over, right, but yet they are affecting our health. If that is the case, right, okay, I'm going to make sure that, at least two hours before bedtime, I'm just going to create this environment where it's like, peaceful and less stressful, if possible. Right, we have kids, I have kids, sometimes even sleep. You know, sleep routine is stressful when the kids don't want to go to sleep.

Speaker 1:

But once they go to sleep, right, trying to bring yourself back to like a more zen mode right that can help you with your sleep, with your quality of sleep, right? Not using blue light, not using any kind of technology, again, at least two hours before bedtime, because it is going to affect you either in your cortisol levels or in the melatonin right, which is the hormone that helps us to go to sleep. If there's a blue light present, right, your brain is like, okay, is it nighttime, is it daytime? Like what is happening? Right, so those levels are not increasing where they need to be to really help you to go to sleep. So really think about that and make changes, right, based on what you find out, because stress is going to help. Stress is or, I'm sorry, sleep is where we balance things out, right, hormones balance out. At that time, your body recovers and repairs and replenishes for next day. But if we don't allow our bodies to do that right, then we just are in this vicious cycle of lack of sleep, poor quality sleep, high levels of cortisol, high levels of stress, right, and we're stressed throughout the day and it's just all over again. And so when do we allow our bodies to really have a break? Never, until we, like, feel fatigued and just feel really horrible. So think about those things, my friend.

Speaker 1:

In terms of supplements and adaptogens, you really have to talk to either your healthcare provider, your dietitian, because you want to be able to monitor them, you want to make sure that anything that you drink or take it doesn't interact with medications or, if you have a specific health condition, that it doesn't affect that health condition. But there are some supplements that are out in the market right now. Right, like ashwagandha, rhodiola, magnesium is one of them. So magnesium and I've done a podcast on magnesium itself right, you can go back and listen to that podcast but magnesium has over 300 biochemical roles in the body, and so if you're not consuming high magnesium foods most of the time you find them in your nuts and your seeds, some of your fruits and vegetables If you're not adding enough, you could have low levels, not to a deficiency level where you can really feel them, but they could still be low, right.

Speaker 1:

And so, if that is something that you need, talk to your doctor or talk to your dietician, right, about adding one and what is the best one to add, and then always checking in when you change your supplements to make sure that they're right for you. Let's see what else. Yeah, hopefully this is helpful. Right again, I think you really have to understand these trends because they sound, you know, they do such a great job at marketing, almost like I want to learn, like their marketing way of doing things, because they use words that you can really resonate with, right, like are you, are you fatigued? Are you seeing waking in your midsection, right, are you foggy all the time? Do you have poor quality sleep? And so you're like, yeah, that's all me, and you fall into these fads, right, when we really need to be looking at.

Speaker 1:

Okay, how is my environment? Right, specifically for myself, what is it that I really need to focus on to help me with my cortisol levels? Right, it's different for every single person, and so hence why you have to do the research on yourself, right, or work with a dietician like myself to help you look into these things, right, okay, let's figure out how your nutrition is, because, let me tell you, when I have clients, we just don't talk about nutrition. Nutrition is something that we talk about after. I ask tons of questions, right, to help me learn about you specifically, and I ask all these questions. I ask about sleep, I ask about stress. I ask about sleep. I ask about stress. I ask about your movement, your bowel movements, your nutrition, your physical activity, because I want to understand you as a whole person, not only as nutrition. You know wise, so you really have to understand that about yourself.

Speaker 1:

And how can we make changes? Slowly, right and throughout the day? Specifically if it's about stress, specifically if it's about your cortisol levels, right, we don't need a magic pill. There's not a magic pill or herb or whatever that is going to lower or that is going to cleanse you out right. Or cortisol Cortisol is in our system. We're going to have it all the time, unless if you have a specific condition that for some reason, you don't have it, which I haven't heard of it's going to be present, right, it's your alarm system, and so how can we manage this alarm system? Right, so it's not going off all day long, every single day. It's only going off when we really need it, right? So think about these things, my friend.

Speaker 1:

I hope this episode was helpful. I did create a quick handout for you, a quick guide, basically summarizing what I talked about, giving you some practical tips. So you remember. I am going to add it in the show notes, so take a look at that. I am going to add it in the show notes, so take a look at that. And if you enjoyed this episode again, don't forget to subscribe, rate my podcast, share it with a friend. And, yes, remember to stay strong, stay safe and I will see you in another episode. Take care for now, bye-bye.