Transcription
If you've been feeling constantly overwhelmed, waking up exhausted, crashing midday, snapping at people for what feels like maybe no reason, and noticing you're carrying some extra weight around your belly, you might be dealing with high cortisol. And it's one of the most common things I see in women over age 35, especially those who have hit perimenopause. And here's the wild part: You can be doing everything right. Going to the gym, eating healthy, cutting sugar, taking supplements, getting your steps in, and still feel absolutely terrible, and also look inflamed, and feel like your body is working against you. And that can all come down to cortisol.
So, if that sounds familiar to you, I want you to know you're not failing here, okay? Your cortisol is likely dysregulated. And in this video, I'm going to walk you through four science-backed steps to rebalance your cortisol, especially during the holidays. And that way, your body can finally respond to all the efforts that you're putting in, and you can actually feel like yourself again. Because the reality is, you deserve to enjoy the holidays and not feel like a hot mess come January. So, I'm not going to give you more things to put on your to-do list or finger wag at you because you ate a cookie. Like, no, we are going to enjoy our holidays and fill our bus and have our cortisol regulated too.
So, step number one is we have got to stabilize your blood sugar. If you want to lower cortisol, the number one thing you can do, especially in December, is stabilize your blood sugar. And that is because every time your blood sugar drops, it's cortisol and adrenal hormones that have to come to the rescue and get your blood sugar back up. And during the holidays, when we're eating later, we're maybe drinking more, we're snacking constantly. Yeah, I just had a party this weekend, and that was for real. Or maybe we're skipping meals altogether. Our blood sugar becomes a roller coaster. And that means your cortisol becomes a roller coaster because it has to mount a response. And listen, I'm not going to tell you to skip desserts because that would be lame. Okay? Instead, I'm going to give you a framework right now on what you can do to stabilize your blood sugar and still enjoy, like, you know, your grandma's holiday cookie recipe or having a slice of pie because we shouldn't feel like we have to restrict everything in our life just to be fully functional in our body.
And by the way, I mentioned your adrenal glands. Your adrenal glands are two little glands that sit on top of your kidneys. They produce several hormones: DHEA, which is a precursor to testosterone and estrogen, and cortisol, which is what we think of as our stress hormone, but also aldosterone, which helps govern our blood pressure. If we get dehydrated, if we are not taking in as many fluids as we need to in the day, that can also be taxing to the adrenals. So, as we're going to talk about food here, I want you to keep in mind that hydration also matters.
So, first thing, you need to have a regular meal schedule. You need to eat 20 to 30 grams of protein at each meal. That's going to be step one in stabilizing your blood sugar. And then we want to make sure that we're bringing in fiber. When we travel, when we are in other people's houses, when we are on vacation, fiber seems to be the first thing to go. So, one trick you can do: bring chia seeds with you when you are traveling. You can always take a tablespoon and put it in some water. So, sometimes they'll just pour it in a water bottle. Sometimes I'll mix it in a little juice, or if, like, let's say I'm at a breakfast buffet at a hotel and they have yogurt available, I've got my chia seeds. Yeah, I know I'm kind of weird. I'm bringing chia seeds with me. But pooping every day is really good for your health, and really good for your hormones, and really good for moving out metabolic waste that you are creating all the time. More importantly, when it comes to blood sugar, for fiber, that is going to make it so you don't absorb things as rapidly. So it slows the absorption of sugar. It's going to help you feel full longer. So you are going to not possibly eat as much during the holidays, but I, I don't know. Sometimes the food's just too good to resist. Am I right? And it's going to help with your hormones come January. So I see all the time that women are like, "My hormones are so much worse. Why is my PMS worse? Why are my mood swings worse? My hot flashes? Why do I have worse brain fog? Why do I have less energy? Why do my periods hurt so bad in January and February?" It's everything we did or didn't do in November and December. And one of those things is not getting adequate fiber and not stabilizing our blood sugar.
So, let's get into some more tips so that your best period is actually happening in January, your perimenopause symptoms are better come January, and you feel like, "I had a great holiday season and I feel great after it." So, another tip that I give to my patients is to eat a protein, fiber, fat snack, PFF, protein, fat, fiber, before you go to a party. Even if they're going to have food, just give yourself a little bit of something because schedules run behind, right? And sometimes we end up really, really hungry. Then we do what we are biologically programmed to do, and that is reach for the most calorie-dense, sweetest, quick fix possible. And so making sure you have a little bit of something before you go to a party can help you be able to select the foods that are best for you first and enjoy the other things that are available to you. Now, why that is so important? This is not about, like, oh, withholding, restricting, anything like that. It is about making sure you're fueling your body and getting what you need. There is a theory around protein currently in nutrition science that we will continue to eat until we meet our protein quota for the day. We have to be making sure we're meeting our protein quota. That way we don't overeat. And we have to make sure that the body fills a safety signal by giving us ourselves a snack before a party. We have that. So our entire, like, system doesn't override us and say, "Okay, seek out anything and eat it all right now." It actually gives us an opportunity to be in the driver's seat when it comes to our appetite and the food that we're choosing. Because I think the one of the worst things about holiday parties is the post-holiday regret, like the post-party regret. And I will have patients say, like, "I enjoyed the party, but my memory of the party is that I failed. I was bad. I shouldn't have eaten this, or I ate too much of this, or I wish I had done things differently." And I don't want anyone to feel that way. So that's why I'm saying equip yourself before a party so that it's a good time all around, even post-party.
Now, when it comes to enjoying your dessert, pair your dessert with a decaf coffee or tea. So, some teas can directly improve glucose regulation. So, bitter compounds, like you find in coffee and tea, they can improve your blood sugar. Coffee also contains elements that slow carbohydrate absorption and can improve insulin sensitivity, but we don't want to mess with our cortisol. So, decaf only. And if you're someone who's like, "No, but decaf messes me up," switch it to a tea. So, think bitter, okay? Bitter flavors that will stimulate what's called cephalic phase insulin response, which is priming your body to handle the incoming glucose more efficiently. Green tea is very helpful. It improves insulin sensitivity and glucose uptake. So if you're not a coffee person, and in the morning maybe you're like having pancakes or waffles, or, you know, we tend to do sweet things during the holidays, you might want to switch to, if you're not a coffee person, having a hot beverage instead of hot cocoa. Maybe it's a black tea that can reduce glucose, uh, significantly in some studies, or doing the green tea like I mentioned. Cinnamon tea that contains polyphenols that improve insulin signaling. I also say, like, if you're making French toast, put, uh, cinnamon in the mix. If you're doing a smoothie, put a little bit of cinnamon. If you're going to have, like, um, you know, the pancakes we talked about, put a little cinnamon on there. That can help your blood sugar as well. Peppermint tea, it's not huge on how it changes your blood sugar, but it is huge on how it can support your digestion. If you're someone with heartburn, though, skip the peppermint tea because that can make heartburn worse. You might want to go with a ginger tea instead. And note that chamomile, rooibos, these are herbal teas without polyphenols. Those are not going to move glucose much. So have those for other benefits, but not necessarily for how they're going to affect your blood sugar. And while it's not common in the US to always have coffee with dessert, it is very common in a lot of cultures to have that, to have like an espresso with dessert. And I think it's really cool when you look at the research that validates this cultural practice that some, you know, countries have that when coffee is consumed with a higher carb meal or more sugar, it can help with the glycemic response. So the blood sugar response and how our insulin and blood sugar are being activated, deactivated, and everything's being utilized in our system.
Another tip that is so effective and so easy is to take a 10-minute walk after your meals. This is going to be a two-for-one. It's going to help with your cortisol, and it is going to help with your insulin. And this can literally, in a matter of days, if every single meal you're walking 10 minutes afterwards, in a matter of days, you can start to improve your blood sugar and your cortisol levels.
Now, before I talk about the next routine, I just want to note that research has confirmed that cortisol dysregulation, the imbalance of cortisol, is extremely common, especially in women over 35, and it's linked to perimenopause, chronic stress, symptoms like fatigue, weight gain, mood swings for sure, sleep issues, I see that all the time, and certainly hot flashes. And this impacts many women who are going through hormonal shifts. So, if this is happening to you, I want you to know it's not about you doing everything wrong, or you needing to blame yourself, or, um, you judging yourself. This is so, so common because modern society isn't really set up to be conducive to living a very healthy life in a lot of ways. Like, we're really stressed. And during the holidays, honestly, who makes magic? We make magic, right? I saw someone say they hated Santa Claus because, like, Santa Claus gets all the glory, and like, they did all the work. And I'm like, "Well, stop giving." I'm going to tell you a secret. I give the best gifts. Santa Claus, we, we do pretend Santa Claus in my house. He doesn't give the best gifts. He doesn't give the top thing that they wanted. Like, they get to be like, "Oh, fun. We got, like, something from Santa." And it is like, "Oh, that's a pretty cool toy. Like, that was the lowest on my list of things I wanted." Like, you be the star. You make magic. You be a star.
I want to get right into point two, but I am so grateful to all of you who listen, especially all the medical providers who've come in to learn to support women and to do better in practice to really support women in medicine. I see you too, and I appreciate you. For everyone who has left a review, that is one of the most impactful things you can do in the same vein as sharing this podcast with somebody who needs it. So, thank you all for your support, and let's get into the next thing I want to share with you about getting that cortisol regulated and getting your nervous system feeling its best. We have to guard your sleep.
So, holiday sleep disruption is one of the fastest ways to spike cortisol. And listen, if you want to tune out the second I say "sleep better," oh my gosh, listen to this. Even one night of fragmented sleep can raise your cortisol by 37% the next evening. So the next day, you're trying to go to bed. Sorry, your cortisol is up almost 40%, and now you can't sleep. So super lame because it's unfair. It is not always that you're drinking alcohol, that you're having late nights, that you're traveling, that your kids are out of routine. Like, it's not always that. It can just be your hormones, and you are doing everything to try to get sleep. So, you just want to acknowledge that because it can feel really heavy to be like, "Yeah, one night of sleep and now your cortisol is like thrown off." We can get it back on track. And the very first thing that you got to focus on to get it back on track is to keep your wake time consistent. This is more important than your bedtime. It can sometimes be more important than your bedtime routine for some people. If you're that person who's like, "Yeah, yeah, I do the, like, turn off the lights, and I wear amber glasses, and I have a whole bedtime routine, but it's not happening for me," then we need to look at making sure you wake up at the same time. Anyone who has kids knows that, yeah, we do need a bedtime, but there's something called sleep pressure, and we have to build the sleep pressure window, and that is what waking up the same time every day does.
So, two things I think are really important during the holidays or with travel is to set a 10-minute wind-down window and to leverage something like magnesium plus, which has magnesium glycinate in it to help you get deeper sleep. If you are someone who drinks alcohol, stop three hours before bed, especially if you're 40 years or older. We just, our metabolism changes, and it can absolutely disrupt your restful sleep, your, your ability to wake feeling rested, your deep sleep. I'd also recommend investing in noise-canceling headphones or getting noise-canceling apps that, like, you could play, like, rain while you sleep so that noise doesn't disturb you when you're trying to get good rest. And then if you do have a bad night of sleep, try a combination formula. So, phosphatidylserine, at least 50 milligrams, that can help with lowering cortisol. L-theanine and passionflower that supports nervous system regulation, staying asleep throughout the night, that can help you get better sleep. So if you have a bad night of sleep and the next night you're like, "Oh gosh, I'm having a hard time falling asleep," you can re-leverage a formulation like Adrenal Calm, taking that an hour before bed to help support your system to get better sleep. When we get better sleep, we have better cortisol. We have more emotional resilience. We don't feel so emotionally dysregulated.
And if you're enjoying this video so far and you want a plan that walks you through step-by-step how to address your sleep, your stress, and how to get that reduced in a non-dogmatic way, um, how to get enough protein and fiber at every single meal, I have put a plan together. You can grab it at drreightton.com/plan.com/pl. It's going to be the first link in the description. Those on the email list, you get, you get the show notes emailed to you. This is totally free, quick action strategies to help you put everything into action that we're talking about today.
Now, we got to talk about regulating your nervous system, but we're going to have to do that in like micro doses because it's the holidays, friends. And we don't need an hour of meditation to, like, bring down our cortisol. Again, we don't need, like, one more thing on our to-do list. So, let's talk about micro-regulation, especially when we're feeling overstimulated during holiday weeks. So, these are the tools I recommend to my patients. Number one is the, the physiological sigh. Everybody right now, take a breath with me. Mhm. That's somebody who just threw a holiday party this weekend. So, this lowers the nervous system arousal in seconds. So, do it in your car. Do it in the carpool lane. Do it in Target. Do it in, you know, Walmart, or whatever holiday store you're shopping in. Uh, just sigh. And if anyone looks at you weird, like, do it again. Just do it again. Let's normalize, like, taking care of our nervous system out in public, like whenever we need.
Now, wherever you're at right now, I need you to take a deep breath for the count of four. So, inhale, three, two, one. Now, hold it for me. Three, two, one. Exhale for four. And you got it. You're gonna hold it. Three, two, one. Fantastic. You just did box breathing. And box breathing is a very quick way to regulate our nervous system. Do that 10 times. You need to set an alarm so that you remember to do it. Do that. It's not a big deal. Who cares? Just do it. But if you are feeling stressed, leave the room if you feel overwhelmed. If it's, if it's possible, go outside for two minutes and do box breathing. Or maybe if you can go for a 10-minute walk, create a calming playlist. If you can't escape the room, if you can't escape the car or the plane, have your calming playlist ready to go so that you can put it on. Maybe it's a, maybe it's music, maybe it's binaural beats, and you can just breathe and go into your own world to help get that little micro-regulation. Even one to two micro-regulation tools per day can completely shift your cortisol rhythm. They may seem really trivial as we say them out loud, they're incredibly effective when you put them to use.
And by the way, if you stick with me until the end, I want you to know I'm going to give a bonus step that almost no one talks about, and it makes a huge difference, especially for women going through the holiday season. So stick with me. This is something that I do personally in my house, and I'm going to share it with you. Okay, but I'm going to get into our fourth one, and that is about having an anti-inflammatory plan. Not necessarily just anti-inflammatory eating, okay? But inflammation can drive the cortisol demand higher. In December, we have more sugar, more alcohol, more stress, more germs, less sleep. It's kind of a lot, um, as I say it all out loud. So, we want to keep inflammation in check because that's going to keep cortisol in check.
So, here's what to add: Omega-3 fatty acids. If you can't eat salmon, sardines, mackerel, like cold-water fish three times a week, maybe consider bringing on 2,000 mg of combo EPA DHA supplement. This is a great time of year for pomegranates. Eat them. Eat them. Eat them. Eat them. Splurge on them. Uh, they're so messy, and, and honestly, I've got four in my kitchen right now, and I'm like, "I don't even want to deal with you." But after this, I'm like, "No, I'm going to go. I'm going to go because they are so rich in polyphenols, and that has anti-inflammatory action." I started at the top of this talking to you about blood sugar regulation and about fiber. How we care for our gut during the holidays can be everything in terms of how we care for inflammation and cortisol. When there is inflammation, the most potent anti-inflammatory hormone is cortisol. Your body must produce cortisol because inflammation left unchecked is really, really bad. Really bad. Said to as a woman with endometriosis, adenomyosis, Hashimoto's, because, like, why not have all the things, right? When we have inflammation, we have more depression. We have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. It is the number one thing that has taken us out as women as we age, and I, for one, don't want that for you. So that is why we're talking about all of this. So pomegranates, yes, great for polyphenols. So are berries. You know, it's super cute this holiday season is rosemary. Rosemary is awesome with polyphenols. That's something else that you can add to your diet. Again, listen to me. I'm not telling you skip all the fun stuff during the holidays. I want you to focus on what things can I bring in that are going to support me.
Hydration. I talked to you at the top of this, uh, episode. That is a great place to add in things like berries, cucumbers, lemons, limes, cinnamon, ginger. So, creating what I call a hydration station in my house where we put together basically like spa water, but it feels very holiday-themed. We put cute little, like, glasses next to it, and then everybody's like drinking more water and also getting a little bit of polyphenols and nutrients that are anti-inflammatory. Whenever possible, I want you to move your body in the morning. Get movement going in the morning. That is when cortisol is supposed to be up. Let's expose ourselves to some sunlight. Let's get outside if possible, but let's get some movement because that is anti-inflammatory in itself. And the combination of doing these things, this helps reduce inflammatory signals. It takes the pressure off the HPA axis, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. So, you don't have to restrict, withhold, and, and, you know, feel like you're not having any fun or be a party pooper. You can still have fun and support yourselves with just a few of these tips.
Now for the step that most people have never heard of, and this is one that changes everything for women during the holidays. Create what I call a December box. Listen, nobody is talking about this, but we need a nervous system first aid kit in December if we want healthy cortisol levels. So, the December box is a personal nervous system toolkit that you build now so that you have it ready when the stress hits later. You still have time when this podcast comes out. Build your December box. You want to fill it with things that are calming, grounding, regulate your body. You're going to be the only one that knows what that is. I am sipping tea right now. December box. In my December box are Yogi teas that I love with the little mantras on it, and I'm like, "Oh, I just feel so special." Lavender honey tea on lock. Going to chill me out. Other things that you can put in your December box: fuzzy socks, weighted, uh, lap pad or weighted blanket, essential oils that you love, ones that you can spritz or that you can roll on. I will put together a list of ideas for email subscribers. You'll get that right in your inbox when I deliver this episode. If you're not an email subscriber, you can always sign up drreightton.com/newsletter or you can head the show notes at drreightton.com. I'll put a list there. Um, that way it's a lot more comprehensive, and I'm not taking up, uh, more of your precious time this holiday season. But, [snorts] a few other things that I would put in there: a journal, u magnesium bath flakes or, um, maybe Epsom salt. Sometimes they have those sachets that have like lavender eucalyptus, and then you're like, "I feel like I, I have a little treat in my basket." Fidget tools, stress balls, plushies, um, those little, uh, Squishmallows. Oh my god, I love squeezing those. I have a gnome Squishmallow. I squeeze him. I squeeze him in the holiday season. No apologies. Um, if you want to buy yourself, like, a cozy blanket, anything that makes you just feel like, "Ooh, I just, I just feel like me again when I'm in this space." I also recommend putting in there, like, protein snacks. It's really, I see sometimes people are like, "Oh, I put together these things for the holidays," and they're putting in, like, chocolate. I mean, I'm a fan of chocolate polyphenols. Let's get that, like, 70-plus. Let's get that going. Um, but they're like putting in candy canes and, and things that are like going to mess with your blood sugar. I want you to put protein snacks in there, noise-canceling earbuds. Um, write yourself notes. Oh, this is a big one. Uh, so, like, take a break. You're allowed. Um, you've earned rest. Uh, put, put a weighted eye mask in the basket, and, and write yourself a note that says, like, "You deserve five minutes to yourself." And so when cortisol spikes, whether it's, you know, sensory overload, um, you put too much on your to-do list, or your family stress is coming in, or holiday chaos is just, like, hit its max, go to your first aid kit, go to the December box. This interrupts the cortisol cascade before it gets out of control. And it's a nice prompt that gets you to do the, like, micro-regulations of your nervous system. My patients who use this box every day, like, they go to it whenever they feel stressed. They feel calmer, more grounded, more emotionally regulated when January arrives. Like, the holidays were a good time instead of a time that you look back and you're like, "Ugh, that was so depleting."
Now listen, if you want to go deeper on this topic and learn how stress chemistry changes during perimenopause and with our changing hormones, I want you to watch the full podcast, "Three Causes of Fatigue We Rarely Talk About and How to Get More Energy." I go even further into the cortisol talk. It's a perfect next step after this video, and we unpack the science behind cortisol, hormones, mood, in a way that literally every woman needs to hear. So you can just click right here to watch it next.