The Truth About Cortisol Face and The Exact Steps To Fix It

Millions of people are looking into their phone cameras and wondering why their face suddenly appears puffier, rounder, or more tired. The internet calls it “cortisol face,” but the truth is more complicated: cortisol itself is essential for survival, and the real danger may be a stress rhythm that never properly switches off. In this episode, Dr. Josh Axe explains how poor sleep, blood-sugar instability, fluid retention, chronic inflammation, emotional overload, and disrupted hormone signaling can all change what you see in the mirror—and why creams and cosmetic treatments may never address the underlying cause. Learn the practical correction protocol designed to help restore your natural hormone rhythm, reduce the visible signs of stress, and address the problem beneath the surface. Download this FREE Cortisol Correction Protocol: https://bit.ly/draxecortisolcorrection Uncover what’s really going on in your body with advanced biomarker testing for hormones, thyroid, and metabolism— plus a 1-hour consultation with a Senior Health Advisor! → http://mybloodwork.com Thank you to our sponsors! Sunlighten Sauna: https://get.sunlighten.com/axepodcast Manukora Manuka Honey: https://manukora.com/axe Caraway Home: carawayhome.com/drjoshaxe (Use code DRJOSHAXE) for an exclusive discount Watch The Dr. Josh Axe Show every Monday & Thursday on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@drjoshaxe?sub_confirmation=1 🎧 Early Access! Our listeners enjoy every episode before anyone else! Tune in below and join our exclusive group of listeners → Spotify: https://bit.ly/DrJoshAxeSpotify Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/3JDvWcS Pre-order my NEW BOOK, Heal Your Cells → https://bit.ly/3QJBcQ5 Watch my free training on how to naturally balance your blood sugar and reverse your symptoms → http://DrAxeDiabetesClass.com Discover practical steps you can take today to start healing your thyroid naturally → http://DrAxeThyroidClass.com If you’re ready to start feeling like yourself again and balance your hormones, take my free class → http://DrAxeHormoneClass.com CONNECT WITH DR. JOSH AXE Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/drjoshaxe/ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/DrJoshAxe/ TikTok → https://www.tiktok.com/@thedrjoshaxeshow/ X → https://x.com/drjoshaxe/ LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshaxe Website → http://thehealthinstitute.com Sign up for my newsletter → https://bit.ly/4oE9Jf3 Ask Dr. Axe → http://speakpipe.com/drjoshaxe 00:00 — Is “Cortisol Face” Changing the Way You Look? 01:36 — Cortisol Face vs. Cushing’s Syndrome 04:05 — What the Internet Gets Wrong About High Cortisol 05:12 — How Cortisol Controls Insulin, Thyroid and Sex Hormones 08:30 — The Real Problem: Cortisol Is Out of Rhythm 10:02 — 6 Ways High Cortisol Can Show Up in Your Face 12:53 — Inflammation, Collagen Loss and Blood-Sugar Imbalance 14:18 — Poor Sleep, Lymphatic Drainage and Facial Puffiness 15:29 — The 6 Root Causes Keeping Cortisol High 18:52 — Blood-Sugar Spikes, Undereating and Weight-Loss Mistakes 20:40 — Poor Sleep, Overtraining, Caffeine and Alcohol 23:50 — Why Your Body Treats Your Inbox Like a Threat 25:04 — One Bad Night May Raise Cortisol by 45% 26:07 — The Best Tests for Measuring Cortisol 27:49 — The Morning Routine That Resets Your Cortisol Rhythm 29:01 — Night Eating, Blue Light and Nervous-System Recovery 31:17 — The Top 10 Supplements for Lowering Cortisol 35:51 — The Biggest Cause of Cortisol Imbalance 37:42 — The Cortisol Correction Protocol DISCLAIMER This content is strictly the opinion of Dr. Josh Axe and is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice or to take the place of medical advice or treatment from a personal physician. All viewers of this content are advised to consult their doctors or qualified health professionals regarding specific health questions. Neither Dr. Axe nor the publisher of this content takes responsibility for possible health consequ

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Josh Axe?

  So right now, there are millions of people staring right into their phone camera, and they're absolutely certain that their face is puffier than it was a year ago. And there's a phrase for this, and it is cortisol face. Okay, it's everywhere, and people are noticing that their body is holding on to more water. It's puffier, it's affecting their jawline, their appearance, and people don't like what the hormone cortisol is doing to them physically. So today, I'm going to do what the internet won't. I'm going to tell you the truth about what cortisol does to your face, what it doesn't, and then lay out for you the exact plan, including the diet, the supplements, and the natural treatments to fix it naturally. So here's a big idea and one of the first things to note.

• 0:43Josh Axe?

  When your face looks puffy, or tired, or inflamed, that's not vanity, and it's not random. It's a readout of what's actually happening a layer deeper, several layers deeper, in your hormones, and then with your cellular health. And these are things actually you don't want to overlook. Listen, if you are puffy, if you have bags under your eyes, if you feel like your face is aging too quickly, that's a message your body's sending to you, and you actually do want to take action in order to heal and correct, imbalance cortisol, cortisol face, and actually fix the root of these hormone and cellular problems. And I'm going to teach you exactly how to do that today on the Dr. Axe Show.

• 1:36Josh Axe?

  So let me define what's happening, okay? Cortisol face is the name the internet gave to a face that looks rounder, fuller, puffier, maybe more than it used to, and soft in the cheeks and jawline, like you're holding water you can't shake off. And here's my first honest word to you. Cortisol face is not a medical diagnosis, okay? You won't find it in a textbook. It was born, I think, likely on TikTok. But that doesn't mean it's not important, okay? It is giving a different label to a symptom that people are having. Where there is an imbalance in your biology. Now, I do want to mention, there's a really big difference between what people are labeling as cortisol face and

• 2:18Josh Axe?

  what is actually what we call true moon face, and this is a clinical condition called Cushing's Syndrome. Okay, in cortisol face, what you'll notice is mild everyday puffiness in your cheeks and your jaw and sometimes around your eyes. Okay, this is typically driven truly by excess fluid, excess salt, which can cause your body to hold more fluid, poor sleep and poor diet. And this is something that can come and go. One day you wake up and it's a little different. One day you wake up and you're like, okay, my face looks fine now. And it's not a disease. Okay, it is a symptom and it's not an official diagnosis. Now, Cushing's Syndrome is where your face gets round and full due to chronic excess cortisol.

• 3:00Josh Axe?

  All right, now, Cushing's Syndrome, again, is can also happen from long-term steroid use. Over time, what starts to happen with Cushing's Syndrome is people also start to get a hump at the lower part of their neck and their upper back. That starts to happen over time, and this is a real serious diagnosed condition. Now, I will say there's a relationship there, though, in imbalance cortisol, and if your cortisol stays really, really high over time, it can lead to numerous health problems that I'll get into. Now, the first thing I want to share with you is what the internet is getting wrong. Okay. First off, cortisol face or high cortisol, it's not just stress. Now, stress can be a big component, right? But it's not just stress. Everyday stress alone rarely puffs the face dramatically.

• 3:43Josh Axe?

  Okay, it tends to be poor sleep and excess sodium or a very low potassium intake, excess alcohol and chronic inflammation combined with cortisol. That's what does the visible work. Okay, it's typically that combination that can contribute to cortisol face, but it's typically not stress alone. Okay, also, again, it's not just water. Yes, fluid is part of it, but chronic cortisol also shifts fat and feeds inflammation under your skin. Also, it's not just excess weight, and it's not something that you can fix with, with, you know, face cream and fillers, which is something I see a lot of people trying to do. This is an issue related to hormone imbalance. And poor diet, excess stress and poor sleep.

• 4:29Josh Axe?

  And before we make cortisol the villain, let me defend it for just a second because without it, you would die, right? We have to have cortisol to survive. It is our, literally, it's actually our survival hormone. Cortisol comes from your adrenal glands, run by what we call your HPA axis, your hypothalamus, your pituitary and adrenal axis. So it's sort of like your brain working with your adrenal glands. And this HPA axis is literally your body's command center for stress and it does an incredible job. It wakes you up in the morning, it pulls energy out of storage, it steadies your blood sugar, it calms inflammation, and it holds your blood pressure up. Cortisol does all those things.

• 5:11Josh Axe?

  So cortisol isn't your enemy, you need it, okay? It's actually more important than almost any hormone in your body, and I want to share with you why. So cortisol is actually known as your body's master hormone, okay? It sits on top of what we'd call your hormonal cascade or chain, right? So for insulin to change, your thyroid hormones, or any of these things to change, cortisol is typically the first hormone that starts the domino effect. Cortisol is a key hormone for your metabolism, it sets how you burn fat, and actually where you store fat. It actually impacts insulin maybe more than any other hormone. So if you're ever wondering, okay, why is my blood sugar off?

• 5:50Josh Axe?

  Okay, or if you're insulin resistant or prediabetic or diabetic, cortisol, when it goes up, insulin rises with it. So if you want to fix your blood sugar, along with diet, the other thing you have to fix is cortisol. Third thing cortisol really impacts is your thyroid hormone, okay? It is the single biggest thing that's going to impact your TSH levels and your T3 levels, all right? So if you have a high cortisol, it actually slows the conversion of T4 to T3. The other big thing is it impacts sex hormones, especially estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. If you're a male and cortisol stays high, your testosterone starts to drop, okay? If you're a woman and cortisol stays high, progesterone typically drops and estrogen

• 6:35Josh Axe?

  could go either way, but overall it's going to imbalance your sex hormones. It's important for sleep, right? The inverse, or what we call the yin and the yang of cortisol is melatonin. It's sort of when cortisol goes up, melatonin typically is down. When melatonin is up, cortisol drops down. Those typically go the opposite way of each other. So in cortisol, what you want at night is cortisol to drop, melatonin to go up, so you can sleep and repair. Getting that deep restorative sleep all night long, it typically comes from cortisol lowering, melatonin going high. And then your immune system. Cortisol regulates your immune system and inflammation as well. So it is absolutely critical for your overall hormone health.

• 7:20Josh Axe?

  And it's typically the single most important hormone for you to balance if you want all of your other hormones in balance as well. Now, the thing about cortisol is it's supposed to follow a curve, right? So, starting in the, in the early morning hours, it should really start to rise up, okay? And then kind of midday afternoon should sort of peak. And then it should start to drop down overnight and melatonin going in the opposite direction. So you want to have this nice cortisol curve in order to have hormone balance. Now, what happens to somebody if they have really unhealthy hormone levels and cortisol's off, is cortisol will almost just stay the same. It stays a little bit too high and it doesn't really have this curve. And so you kind of feel tired during the day.

• 8:04Josh Axe?

  And then you don't get deep sleep at night and it doesn't drop down to where it should be. And it flatlines as a curve. And so you feel tired when you should have energy and you have just a little bit too much energy when you should be tired and sleeping. And so the key thing we want is we want to create the proper cortisol curve in order for you to heal. And there's certain things you could do, certain times of day in order to start to improve cortisol. And so here's the reality, the problem is not cortisol. The real problem is cortisol being out of rhythm, okay? Chronically elevated, especially at night. If you can fix that rhythm, you can fix cortisol. And you can also, by the way, you'll also look different in the mirror. You're also going to have your energy higher.

• 8:48Josh Axe?

  You're also going to balance most of the other hormones in your body.

• 8:53Josh Axe?

  Hey, so it's important to remember that cortisol and chronic stress aren't just mental. They create real physical strain on the body over time. They disrupt your hormones, your sleep, your metabolism, and your recovery. And when that stress response stays elevated, it becomes much harder for your body to reset and heal. One tool that helps regulate your stress response, supports your detox pathways, and promotes recovery is Sunlighten Infrared Saunas. These are targeted infrared light and heat which are absorbed at the cellular level, helping reduce stress and improve circulation. That's why I trust Sunlighten, as they've led infrared technology for over 25 years with patented systems designed to deliver high-quality infrared.

• 9:37Josh Axe?

  Their Impulse Sauna, which is what I personally have, lets you customize precise wavelengths to match your health goals. If lowering stress and supporting long-term resilience is a priority for you, learn more at sunlighten.com/axe. Use the code A X E to save up to $1,600 plus free shipping with additional savings throughout the year.

• 10:01Josh Axe?

  Now, there are six ways high cortisol typically shows up in your face, and I alluded to some of these earlier. Number one, from excess fluid and salt, right? So your body, under your eyes, on your cheeks, around your jawline, you're holding fluid. It tends to be a few things, okay? Too much salt, too low of potassium, okay? And then just your organs being overtacked, typically your kidneys and adrenals, okay? But if you are eating a diet really high in salt and processed foods, also sugar, by the way. Sugar and salt cause fluid retention, so does alcohol. So those things are going to cause you to hold on to fluid. Potassium, and to a degree, things like magnesium,

• 10:42Josh Axe?

  but really potassium more than anything, will help your body flush excess fluid out, okay? So remember, more potassium... More magnesium, keep sodium moderate, natural, a little bit of sea salt's fine. You should be getting that, but doing fast food or excess electrolytes isn't going to help you do that, is going to hurt your body in that way. So you want to create, there's actually something in your body called your body's sodium potassium pump. And sodium brings, causes your body to hold on to water. Potassium causes your body to release water. And the foods highest in potassium tend to be fruit and beans. Okay. So if you can increase your intake of fruit and beans and sweet potatoes in particular,

• 11:23Josh Axe?

  those tend to have the most potassium, which can help your body start flushing out some of this excess water. And you do want to drink plenty of water at the same time, but potassium, magnesium, it's a lot of fruits, a lot of vegetables, a lot of avocados, sweet potatoes, beans, that's what's going to move the needle and typically help the most, that fluid retention. The next one is sometimes what I would call excess fat storage. Okay. If your body starts to hold on to more body fat, you gain five or 10 pounds extra, you'll start to see some of that puffiness as well. And for that, we know we need to increase protein, we need to increase fiber, be careful with excess carbohydrates, right? And then just move as well, exercise is really good.

• 12:08Josh Axe?

  That's also good for fluid exchange, by the way. Even doing walking more or doing light sweating, could be weight training, could be, you know, 20 minutes on a Peloton bike or a treadmill or swimming, any of that's fine, but all those things are going to help. So typically, the ways that cortisol are show up on your face is excess fluid and salt and sugar, a fat shift, okay, increasing body weight, and then inflammation, okay? Leaking vessels and swelling gives your body an inflamed look. If your body's really inflamed, that's going to start to happen over time as well. Increasing your intake of the fruits, vegetables, and here's the big one, omega-3 fatty acids, consuming things like turmeric tea, that's going to help calm some of that inflammation.

• 12:52Josh Axe?

  Number four is collagen loss. Your body will start to sag with collagen loss over time. Okay. Your body needs collagen, you can get that as bone broth, you can take a collagen supplement, you can also take things that support collagen production like vitamin C and zinc. Those are some of the most beneficial things you can do there. And then of course, blood sugar imbalance. When you have your blood sugar spike, now I mentioned this earlier, when cortisol goes up, insulin starts to go up. You know what else happens? When insulin goes up, cortisol oftentimes will go up as well. Okay, now then later on, sometimes they can both crash. But those two hormones, insulin and cortisol, really impact each other. So if your blood sugar is off, you're consuming excess carbohydrates,

• 13:34Josh Axe?

  or not getting enough protein and fiber, that's going to cause an issue as well. And then number six, and this is one of the most important. If you are not sleeping well and your lymph is not moving well, you will also store fluid in your face. Okay, poor sleep stalls drainage of your lymphatic system. So one of the greatest things you could do is prioritize deep and restful sleep. Turn off the devices a couple hours before bed. Wear the blue blocker sunglasses, just kind of really getting a nice calming routine in the evening. That is going to help tremendously move your lymph. The best way to move lymph is typically walking and getting on a mini trampoline like rebounder. Okay, doing those things are going to help you move your lymph system.

• 14:17Josh Axe?

  And what I want to do now is I want to go one layer deeper. Okay, on exactly how to fix these issues. Okay, every one of those six things I talked about traces back to the same place. Your cells, okay, chronic cortisol drains your mitochondria. Those are those little power plants that live in very, very dense amounts of throughout every cell in your body, but also very densely in your brain, in your heart, in your adrenal glands, in your muscles. And when your body is flooded with oxidative stress, it starts to rust and damage your cells and your mitochondria. So when your face looks tired, that's not just your head talking, that's your cells talking. They're on low power mode, they're trying to survive.

• 15:00Josh Axe?

  And here's the reality, if you heal your cells, your face will follow. Now, before I go deeper, I want to ask you for a quick favor. Subscribe to the podcast. It is the number one thing you could do to support the show. In this way, you don't miss a single episode or well-known guest that's coming on the show. Also, think about one person that could really benefit from hearing the truth here about how to balance cortisol and hormones. Share with this with them on a text message, your social posts. Thanks so much for being on mission with me here in the show. Okay, so let's talk about why your cortisol is stuck high. All right, number one reason is this, your mind is always on.

• 15:38Josh Axe?

  Chronic mental and emotional stress puts your nervous system in overdrive. And so your brain just never shuts down. Now, by the way, I want to confess something right now. This is something that I am guilty of. Okay, this is one of the things of all the things on this list. I have the hardest time shutting my brain off. You know, in the summers, what I like to do, and so like I find certain things that help me shut my brain off. We have a pool at our house. So I found in the evening going in there with my two girls, going in Chelsea, going in and swimming. That helps me shut my brain off rather than watching TV. For me to read a book like a novel or listen to an audio book, that helps me shut my brain off. There are certain things that just help me shut my brain off because if not, my brain is running all the time.

• 16:22Josh Axe?

  You know, I used to think this, I used to think I'm not stressed and I realized this, I am stressed. I'm stressed because I never turn my brain off. And just because I don't worry or I really don't have much fear at all or any anxiousness, that doesn't mean I'm not stressed. I have a type of mental stress where I'm always thinking and analyzing and researching and studying. And I love it. I love reading. I love learning, but I shouldn't be doing it all the time. And so really my rule is this, after dinner, shut my brain off. And that's the single biggest thing where I found if I do that, my hormones stay balanced, my health is good. But if I start to work on my laptop or I'm on my phone or doing those things after dinner. And especially and also on the weekends, if I don't take one day just fully, fully off.

• 17:07Josh Axe?

  That's when I notice my hormones and my cortisol start to get too high. So one of the biggest things you can do is turn your mind off and think about for you, what is that thing you need to do and have a rule on the weekend, on Sundays, do not look at any devices. Or maybe it's Saturday or, or after dinner. And then what are those things that help you turn your brain off? Is it connecting and having deep conversations, reading a book, playing with your kids, doing sports? What is it? Do more of those things. But that is the single biggest reason for most people why their cortisol is too high. Their mind is always on and you might be one of those things. And I know for instance, women tend to struggle with this more than men where you start to.

• 17:48Josh Axe?

  Overanalyze things and think about them and put them on repeat over and over and over again in your head and just know that makes you sick. You know, when I have patients and they reach a roadblock and they feel like, okay, I got 50% better, but now I can't get any better. I've been taking the right supplements. I've been following the right diet plan. Why can I not fully reverse hypothyroidism or PMOS or whatever issue you're dealing with? It tends to be a couple of things. You had something happen in the past emotionally and it still bothers you today. Deep down, you've never addressed it. Or in a very similar way, there's an emotion and it's just continually bothering you still today. There's something where you have this anxiousness or this fear or this underlying emotion,

• 18:32Josh Axe?

  or you're obsessing or everything, or trying to control things that are out of your control. You're worrying about your kids. It could be all kinds of things, but that mind being on, keeping cortisol high, you can eat the perfect diet. You can take every supplement. You can do every therapy, but if you can't fix that, and that's simply cortisol, you know, your mind being on, imbalances your hormones. So fixing that is the single biggest fix for cortisol. Number two, blood sugar roller coasters. Okay. There are so many reasons why I see blood sugar out of balance. Number one is just poor, poor diet, right? You're eating out too much. You're eating too many carbohydrates. You're not getting enough protein. You're not getting enough fiber. You're not getting enough fruits and vegetables. You're not, oh, just that imbalance. Okay.

• 19:17Josh Axe?

  That inconsistency, of course, that is a really big reason why. Another thing though, I see on occasion is under eating. So if you're trying to lose weight and you're just not eating enough calories, here's the rule, okay? Your body, if you want to lose weight, you don't want to greatly reduce your calories. You want to reduce your calories by about 300 calories a day or so. Maybe you can do a little bit more than that, but about 300 calories and just consistently be in that 300 calories. So if you're burning about, let's call it 2,000 calories a day and you're eating 1,700 calories a day, long term, and then you're getting, eating a lot of protein and fiber and fruits and vegetables, that's actually the best way to lose weight is just a Little bit of calorie deficit.

• 20:00Josh Axe?

  But if you go a lot and you say, I'm only gonna eat, you know, I'm gonna skip one meal per day. And I'm just gonna eat like a bird. That will actually, your body will then say, whoa, I, we're going into survival mode here. Cortisol will actually go up and your body will start to store into the body fat and you'll lose the muscle and not the body fat. Or, or your body will just stay stuck. So if you're trying to lose weight, remember, high protein, high fiber, lots of vegetables, lots of berries, and a slight caloric deficit, but you don't want to do too much. Okay. And, and that's, that's sort of how you want to do, but you want to keep your blood sugar balanced. And the other thing, of course, there's many things that can help that. Uh, cinnamon and herbs like berberine can be fantastic.

• 20:41Josh Axe?

  Number three, poor sleep and late nights. Okay. Staying up too late and poor sleep will absolutely cause your cortisol to stay stuck. All right. So doing all the practices I talk about, make your room pitch black, make it cold, have a weighted blanket at night, get to bed early, you know, have a wind down routine rather than watching TV. I mean, watch TV from, I don't know, six to seven 30, but then if you're going to bed at nine 30 or 10, you know, shut the TV off or whatever, two hours before, right? You're going to bed at 10. Uh, and by the way, you really want to be in bed at least eight hours. You want eight hours of sleep. Okay. And I have, I wear an Oura ring and I'm constantly tracking my sleep because, and so is my wife, because we just know sleep is that important.

• 21:24Josh Axe?

  Number four, overtraining and under recovering. Now, listen, this is probably something only about 10% of you are guilty of. Okay. Um, is, is you're, you're working out, you're in the gym all the time, but you're not recovering enough. And this is where sleep is maybe the most important part of this. Uh, but, but you do want to, more isn't always better. It's a balance, right? Now, listen, 10% of you are overtraining, probably 40% of you are under training, right? And there's maybe about 50% of you that are finding the right balance there. But you do want to find that balance there of weight training with a day or so of cardio or two. And if you do that, you're really in the sweet spot. Number five, stimulants and alcohol. Alcohol, excess caffeine, especially later in the afternoon, that will absolutely throw off your cortisol curve.

• 22:08Josh Axe?

  Okay. And then number six, you know, hidden physical stress, it could be an infection like a parasite or Lyme or mold, those sort of issues. Toxin exposure, nutrient gaps. This is a big one. If your body is deficient in certain B vitamins, it absolutely stresses your, your adrenal glands out. So if your adrenals and mitochondria don't have the nutrients they need, that is a major, major factor in your cortisol being stuck. Okay. And I'm going to get into more of that in a minute, but those are some things you absolutely, these are the six big things where if your cortisol stuck, if you address these six things, you will experience a cortisol breakthrough and a hormone breakthrough all around.

• 22:49Josh Axe?

  Have you noticed a puffy, rounder face, stubborn weight around your midline and that wired but exhausted feeling and you're tired of being told it's just stress or you're just getting older? Now here's the thing, what you're seeing in the mirror often starts with your stress hormones running the show at the cellular level and most blood work won't measure the markers that actually reveal what to do about it. This new test completely changes things and my team knows exactly what to look for. I'm currently offering a simple at home blood test that actually tests for the right things, targeted biomarkers, including hormones, thyroid and metabolism.

• 23:30Josh Axe?

  You'll also get a full hour with one of my senior health advisors to review your results and discover ways that you can work with the health institute to finally find lasting healing. If you want to check it out and grab one before they're gone, just go to mybloodwork.com now.

• 23:50Josh Axe?

  Now I talked about stress being one of the biggest causative factors of high cortisol or imbalanced cortisol and having cortisol affect your appearance, causing cortisol face. And let me name something I think so many of you are dealing with and it relates back to again, the number one thing I just talked about that causes high cortisol. And I see this especially in women. For a lot of you, you are carrying the entire world on your shoulders. You're trying to maintain a career. You've got kids at home. Aging parents, you're trying to have a good marriage, you're maybe trying to volunteer at school or church and it maintains some friendships and relationships, your phone is buzzing constantly and your body can't tell the difference between a lion chasing

• 24:35Josh Axe?

  you and your inbox and your phone being full. Okay. It just keeps your cortisol on. Your body's like, okay, I, I am in emergency mode here. I want to mention this, sleep is a big multiplier. If you are wondering, how do I get back into balance? Prioritize sleep. I'm telling you, get to bed early, do things to wind down early. That's one of the greatest things you could do to get your body back in rhythm. You know, there was a recent study that looked into this, and here's what they found. Even one night of shortened sleep raised the next evening's cortisol by 37 to 45%. Think about that. One night of really poor sleep. And that's why you will notice your, your puffiness of your face could be bags

• 25:18Josh Axe?

  under your eyes or around your cheeks or jawline. You will notice you will have the puffiest face after your worst night's sleep. That is the signal biggest causative factor. So listen, the goal isn't more discipline piled on an exhausted person. It's taking the load off your mind and body and even your cells. Which brings me to a rule I build everything on. Tests don't guess. Okay. Don't diagnose your cortisol from simply looking at a mirror or your phone. Measure it. Because the fix for generally high cortisol is different from the fix for a salty dinner and a four hour night of sleep. Okay. And you deserve to know

• 25:59Josh Axe?

  which one you're actually dealing with. And so really, here are some of my favorite tests for figuring out your cortisol level. One is called a four-point salivary cortisol test. Okay. This is something that I do in the longevity clinic. It's something that we can do at the health institute, but looking at your cortisol via a salivary test. Okay. This is a great way to look at your actual cortisol levels at four points during the day. The other one is what we call a Dutch test. This is dried urine and it's Cortisol plus how you metabolize it and also looking at many of your other sex hormones. So we get kind of a full picture there. Another way is serum cortisol. So it's blood cortisol

• 26:40Josh Axe?

  plus ACTH and other hormonal markers around it will often indicate what's going on with your cortisol. And so you can find a doctor of functional medicine who can run this for you. You could reach out to the Health Institute or somewhere to actually test and see where your cortisol is and also to see what some of your other numbers and markers are because there are other things that can really impact your cortisol. Many nutrients can. I mentioned zinc. Magnesium is a big one. If your cells don't have magnesium, you know, it's hard for your body to relax. It's hard for your body to get out of the fight or flight state. So looking

• 27:20Josh Axe?

  at some of these different numbers, B vitamins, magnesium, inflammation, high sensitivity CRP, knowing what your markers are can be really important at fixing things for good. All right. So now you know what cortisol is, what it does, you know what it is, and you know how to measure it. Now here's the part I want to dive deeper into. What are the top foods and supplements and some other things you can do that are going to help make a difference? So let's dive into the foundation here. Okay. Number one, anchor your morning. Remember this, we want to give, and nature gives your body signals of what cortisol should be doing, right? This is why God created, you know, the sun to rise, cortisol should be rising. The sun is setting, cortisol should be

• 28:05Josh Axe?

  setting. All right. So there should be that balance there. So you want to anchor the morning, 10 to 15 minutes of sunlight early, ideally as soon as you wake up, within 30 minutes, getting outside, just doing a quick 10 minute walk. It's so easy, quick 10 minute walk to set your cortisol for the day. Okay. Number two, I've talked about this, protect the night, keep your room dark and cold and get your screen time down as soon as possible where the blue blockers, right? So light, the power of light, light in the morning, way less light in the evening, especially the blue light. Next, calm your nervous system. In the evening, after dinner, you want to do everything to just calm your body. Okay. That's, that's really the key I would say is after, eat an earlier dinner.

• 28:50Josh Axe?

  And then after dinner, by the way, that's another big problem is eating late. If you are eating dinner, let's say you go to bed at 10. You want to have eaten dinner by seven at the latest. Okay. At the very late, you want a three hour gap. Night eating absolutely destroys your insulin and cortisol. But you want to calm your nerve system. You want to do what we call Vegas work, work on your vagal tone, which is your parasympathetic nerve system, right? Cortisol is all about sympathetic nerve system. We want to enhance and amplify your parasympathetic nerve system. And so the way to do that, the most effective ways is, one is doing breath work, just deep breathing. And you do this, it's just two minutes. You breathe in real slowly, five seconds. Hold for one second, out for five to seven seconds. Do that for two minutes. Here's another really good one.

• 29:35Josh Axe?

  You can buy, there's something called a neuropod. You can place it over your ear typically. And there's, there's some other ones out there that do this. And you kind of put it on, on, on your ear. And it just has a little bit of like a sort of like a vibration. It's vibration. And that actually has been shown in clinical studies to calm the nerve system. So that is very, very helpful. A few other things that can be really, really helpful there. Spending time, you can do sauna or cold work. Okay. Getting an infrared sauna, that helps calm the nerve system. Doing a two minute cold shower. Okay. You can have it warm, two minute cold shower, then get out. Okay. So cold actually calms the nerve system. And then of course prayer and meditation, these are powerful things that can calm the nerve system.

• 30:18Josh Axe?

  So reading your Bible, spending time in prayer, meditating on something you've read. And then here's another big one, gargling. Okay. For two minutes. Have a two minute timer on your phone. You put water in your throat and you gargle vigorously for 30 seconds. Take a break for, you know, five, 10 seconds. You breathe, do it again 30 seconds. You do that about three to four times, just sort of calming your nervous system there. But gargling, humming like, mm. You know, they've monks have done that for, for a very long period of time. But that's sort of, it's a vibration. The vibration of gargling, the vibration of humming, the vibration of sort of doing some of those newer vagal tone devices tech,

• 31:02Josh Axe?

  those all help calm your sympathetic nerve system, getting your body into parasympathetic. We actually call the sympathetic nerve system fight or flight. And parasympathetic, we call rest and digest. It supports digestion, organ function, hormone balance, and getting into a more restful state. And now let's get into the top 10 supplements to lower your cortisol. Okay, here's the top 10 and how they work. All right, number one is ashwagandha. I would say about 600 to 900 milligrams daily for most people. There are studies showing that it can drop cortisol by about 28% in some trials. So I mean, it is a really big needle mover there. By the way, this is also incredible.

• 31:42Josh Axe?

  If you have hypothyroidism, ashwagandha is my favorite herb for correcting the combination of cortisol and thyroid hormones if they're off. Okay, so ashwagandha, it's an adaptogen that helps your body better adapt and deal with stress. Number two, magnesium glycinate, typically around 300 to 400 milligrams daily. We know this is really important for HPA access, for calming your body, healthy bowel movements, detoxification, cellular function. But magnesium glycinate, the reason I like magnesium glycinate is magnesium is attached to glycine and glycine is an amino acid is more calming for the body. It's good for sleep. And so that's a really good one to do typically in the evenings, about 30 minutes to 45 minutes before you go to bed.

• 32:27Josh Axe?

  Number three, phosphatidylserine. Now, this is a type of phospholipid that's often partnered with phosphatidylcholine. Choline is more enhancing and building, serine is more calming. But phosphatidylserine around 300 to 600 milligrams, similar about the time you take magnesium glycinate in the evening, it's great. L-theanine, and by the way, these are oftentimes good to take one of two times, either before you go to bed to support sleep, or if you feel kind of revved up from something, could be in the afternoon, could be midday, could be in the evening, and you want to help your body to start winding down and getting out of that fight or flight state. Magnesium, phosphatidylserine, L-theanine will have a more immediate impact of helping your body do that. And then we have rhodiola rosea.

• 33:12Josh Axe?

  Okay, rhodiola, another great adaptogen. If you are dealing with not only imbalanced cortisol, but major fatigue. Okay. You're just very tired. Rodeola is the best herb to do. Number six is holy basil. This was used in Ayurvedic medicine. I like doing this as an herbal tea. You can buy what's called tulsi tea or holy basil tea. There's a brand I get. I think it's called Organic India. There's a few other brands. Oftentimes I'll do turmeric, tulsi tea together. So you get to reduce the inflammation. You also get some of the tulsi again, which is holy basil. Same thing. Great for balancing hormones. Number seven, omega threes, getting those EPA, DHA, types of omegas, two to three grams daily are going to be very helpful.

• 33:53Josh Axe?

  Vitamin C is important for adrenal gland function and for collagen building. Number nine, a B complex. The most important for this are typically vitamin B6 and folate. Those are probably the two most crucial for adrenal function. However, vitamin B2, vitamin B3 in the form of N80 plus and B12 are also very, very important. So getting a B complex supplement can do wonders for people for cortisol and hormone balance and adrenal health as well. And number 10 is the amino acid glycine. Again, it's great for calming the body. By the way, the number one food high in glycine is bone broth.

• 34:37Josh Axe?

  So another option is do bone broth in the evening. Chicken broth or beef broth are great as well. Typically you do about three grams daily, but in the evening it's best because it's going to help you improve your sleep. And so, listen, the clinical research is really strong behind a lot of the things I shared today. You know, for instance, you know, there is a 28% drop in serum cortisol. If you're doing ashwagandha, 300 milligrams twice a day, so 600 milligrams daily versus the placebo. So ashwagandha earlier in the day can make a big difference. As I mentioned, phosphatidylserine can reduce stress spikes by up to 35%. If you do 600 milligrams a day, amazing. And then as I talked about, those sleep as well, right?

• 35:19Josh Axe?

  If you get a poor night's sleep, the next night can impact and have a negative impact on your cortisol by 37 to 45%. So making these simple lifestyle changes, improving your diet a bit, taking a supplement or two. These things can make the world of difference in you improving your cortisol levels. Now here's the last thing I want to share with you about this. As I mentioned, of all the things that I see throwing cortisol off, listen, diet is incredibly important. Keeping exercise balanced, getting the right nutrients, all those things are very important. Okay. Sleep is very important, but emotional stress really is still the single biggest thing. If you are trying to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, you're overextended,

• 36:01Josh Axe?

  you're overcommitted, you're overwhelmed. Okay. You need to learn to say no more. That's the big thing. Think about what are your biggest priorities? What are the things that matter the most? Focus on those things and say no to everything else. Learn to say no. Set boundaries in your life. Listen, God did not create you to carry everything on your shoulders. Okay. White knuckling it all day, you know, trying to just grind through the day. There's a reason why the Bible says, cast your cares on me. And Jesus says this in the Bible. He said, listen, my yoke is easy, my burden's light. Okay. We're not meant to carry the weight. God is. All right. So give those things that you are trying to control that are out of your

• 36:42Josh Axe?

  control, give those to him, prioritize, focus on the things that matter most. God wants you enjoying your life, having fun. And if you're exhausted and tired and overcommitted all the time, you can't do that. So you want to focus on building real peace. So the other thing I'd encourage you to do is listen, create a plan here. By the way, I do have a plan for you at the end where you can download this for free and follow the plan. But I would encourage you to set up a daily spiritual triathlon in the morning for 15 minutes, read your Bible, spend some time praying. Listen, when you go outside, if you do that 10 minute walk outside in the morning to get the natural sunlight, spend five minutes of that saying everything you're grateful for, five minutes of that praying. And then when you get inside, read

• 37:27Josh Axe?

  your Bible five minutes. I guarantee that will change your life. That will help get you out of that fight or flight state. But spend more time in prayer and meditation, giving those things you can't control to God, saying no more. And if you can do that, that is going to make a huge difference. And I put together a cortisol correction protocol for you. It is a $150 value that I'm going to give to you for free. So if you want to go in the show notes and have everything there. Including the eating plan to balance cortisol, the cortisol checklist, the supplements, kind of the daily routines, the spiritual guidance, all of that in there. Go to the show notes and just click the cortisol correction protocol. I have it there. Again, it's typically

• 38:11Josh Axe?

  $150. It's for free for all of you listeners out there. You can grab it when you go to the show notes right now. And if you've enjoyed the show today and it's added value to your life, don't forget to subscribe. All right. So here's what I'm asking. Don't try and do it all. Pick one thing from today, right? The morning sunlight, the earlier bedtime, the ashwagandha, whatever stirred something in you and take action on it this week. Because the people who get well, aren't the ones who learn the most. They're the ones who take the first step. I want to say thanks so much for spending the time with me today on the Dr. Ak Show where each and every week, we unlock the power of natural medicine. So

• 38:51Josh Axe?

  you can heal your body and live life at the highest level. I can't wait to see you on the next one.