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Massage and Cortisol
How managing cortisol can help you think faster, slim down, and even prevent a cold
Poor cortisol: it means well but just doesn't know when to quit. Produced by your adrenal glands, this "stress hormone" helps regulate blood pressure and the immune system during a sudden crisis, whether a physical attack or an emotional setback. This helps you to tap into your energy reserves and increases your ability to fight off infection.
Trouble is, relentless stress can keep this survival mechanism churning in high gear, subverting the hormone's good intentions. Chronically high cortisol levels can cause sleep problems, a depressed immune response, blood sugar abnormalities, and even abdominal weight gain.
"When cortisol spikes, it tells the body to eat something with a lot of calories--
a great survival tactic if you need energy to flee a predator but not if
you're fretting over how to pay bills,"
says nutritional biochemist Shawn Talbott, PhD, author of The Cortisol Connection.
Schedule a Massage and cut cortisol 31%!
A little pampering can rub your stress levels the right way. After several weeks of massage therapy, subjects' cortisol levels decreased by nearly one-third, on average, according to studies at the University of Miami School of Medicine and elsewhere. In addition to keeping cortisol under control, massage sessions reduce stress by promoting production of dopamine and serotonin, the same "feel good" hormones released when we socialize with pals or do something fun.
excerpted from "Beat Your Stress Hormone" By Elizabeth Svoboda Prevention Magazine ©2009
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