Let’s talk about stress and cortisol. I’ve seen many people get on the right track with their diet and exercise—but they're still stuck in fight-or-flight mode.

Being in fight-or-flight mode, having elevated cortisol and adrenaline, for a long period isn’t healthy.

Chronic stress has been known to negatively affect the body in many ways, including:

• Shrinking your grey matter

• Shrinking your thymus gland

• Creating muscle atrophy

• Decreasing testosterone

• Running the body on sugar (even when you’re not eating sugar)

• Disrupting healthy digestion

• Reducing quality sleep

Chronic worry and stress can also lead to ulcers, inflammation, and disease.

An interesting study measured 39 people’s cortisol levels before and after a 45-minute art therapy session. This study found a significant reduction of cortisol in participants.

I have found that hobbies are a fantastic way to stop the fixation on stress and move your attention to something more positive.

DATA:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...