We all know that unbalanced cortisol levels can wreak havoc on our health. So, we do our best to mitigate it: We meditate, we exercise, or we write in a gratitude journal. But often, we forget how our eating habits can influence cortisol, too. If you’re looking to improve your cortisol levels in the new year, re-evaluating your food choices might make a surprisingly big impact.
What and how we eat has a direct impact on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, the system that regulates the body’s stress response. “Sometimes we think that stress comes only from what we eat, but many times it comes from how we eat,” explains Ana Morales, a psychologist specializing in obesity, binge eating disorder and bulimia. “The way we eat can raise or lower cortisol as much as the dish itself.”
Cortisol and food
Many of us we eat quickly, standing up, or answering emails. The body interprets this as alert mode. “The message the brain receives is as There’s no time to digest because I’m in danger,” says Morales. “When the body is in danger mode, cortisol is triggered, even if we’re eating a nice organic salad.”
Digestion becomes incomplete, resulting is inflammation, fatigue, cravings, and elevated cortisol. “When we eat without presence we lose internal signals. We no longer distinguish whether we are hungry, full, or tired. The mind goes into a loop, eating becomes automatic and stress multiplies,” Morales says, adding that we should instead eat without rushing or looking at our phones.
Our beliefs about food can also contribute to the way our body responds. “Many people have a history of diets, restrictions, and rules that generate stress even when we’re just thinking about ‘eating well,’” says nutritionist Toscana Viar. “If your head already goes into control-restriction-guilt mode, your body responds with more cortisol, so working on that relationship is essential.”
When our dietary patterns trigger cortisol
We all acquire unhealthy habits that become established in the hard drives of our brains without us even realizing. In many cases, childhood might be to blame—especially if you grew up hearing the phrases “hurry up” or “finish everything on your plate” during mealtimes. “Your body learned that eating is a chore, not a time for self-care. The problem is that once we reach adulthood, the reinforcement is given by the pace of life we lead and a culture of hyper-demand. When there is no time for anything, food becomes the first need to be sacrificed,” says Morales.