8 effective ways to beat stress

... or how to reduce cortisol will help us think faster, not really, and even lose weight.

Produced by the adrenal glands, cortisol (often called the "stress hormone") helps to regulate blood pressure and strengthen the immune system during a sudden crisis - physical or emotional trauma. This enables us to leverage our energy reserves and increase our ability to fight the emergency - whether it's an infection or a mental breakdown.

Problem occurs when prolonged high stress keep this survival mechanism activated too long and the positive effect of the hormone becomes negative. Chronically high cortisol levels lead to sleep problems, poor immune response, too high (or too low) blood sugar levels and even weight gain. When cortisol prevail, it causes your body requires foods with lots of calories - a great technique for survival if we need more energy in an emergency but not if you harass us thinking about how to pay their bills.

Fortunately, this situation has created techniques - such as relaxation. We offer eight may be surprising for some effective ways to deal with stress and in some cases - to reduce cortisol levels by almost half.

1. Lower cortisol by 20%: say "Ommm"

People who know the Buddhist meditation know how effective it is to reduce the levels and cortisol, and blood pressure. Participants in the study, during which they meditated every day for four months, reduced hormone levels by an average of 20%.

2. Lower cortisol by 66%: make great music mix in your player

The music often has a calming effect on the brain, especially when faced with a stress or. Experiment conducted in Japan, during which patients received surgical intervention serious, was played specially selected music, show that cortisol levels in these people grew less than those of patients who remained in complete silence. Even if you are not talking about this crisis, we can prevent cortisol overpower other stressful moments - when you prepare dinner with important guests such as music can increase the "background." To relax faster in bed at night, will help us better relaxing music instead of TV.

3. Lower cortisol by 50%: go to bed early or nap

What is the difference between sleep 6 hours at night instead of the recommended 8? 50% more cortisol in the blood! Various experiments in this direction unambiguously confirms that frequent tiredness cortisol levels significantly increased. Recommended 8 hours of sleep provide the body enough time to recover from the stress of the day. If you did not go to bed on time last night, steal a little time for a nap - this will compensate for insufficient sleep last night and reduce levels of stress hormones.

4. Lower cortisol by 47%: drink black tea

In his homeland - Far East refreshing drinks is associated with the end time, comfort and convenience. This is typical for the UK, for example - just remember how much it means to the English afternoon tea. And science confirmed the link: in stressful task cortisol levels in people who regularly drank black tea, decreased by 47% one hour after its execution, while in those who consumed tea hormone decreased only 27%. It is assumed that naturally occurring chemicals such as poly phenols and flavonoids are responsible for the calming effect of tea.

5. Lower cortisol by 39%: a fun walk with a friend

Someone who can laugh uncontrollably, will make us much more than that to distract us from the problems - his presence will help the body to give a better response to stress, followed by an increase in cortisol. Even the expectation of the upcoming fun and to laugh enough to take off his levels by almost half.

6. Lower cortisol by 31%: a massage

A little pampering can also direct stress levels in the right direction. It has been shown that after a few weeks of walking massage reduces cortisol levels by an average of 1/3. Another advantage of the massage which keeps hormones under control, the body increased production of dopamine and serotonin - the same hormones that make us feel better when we communicate with friends or do something fun.

7. Lower cortisol by 25%: do something spirited

Several studies have shown that religion supports many mentally against daily stress and thus also leads to less release of cortisol. Church-goers have lower levels of the stress hormone than those who never attend services. If you accept yourself an atheist, try to induce spirituality in yourself by spending "Temple of Nature" - in the woods or on the beach, or become a volunteer in a charity program.

8. Lower cortisol by 12-16%: just take gum

Next time you feel tired, try to chew gum to remove tension. The effect is almost instantaneous. It has been shown that when under moderate stress, people who chewed gum had cortisol levels 12% lower, but they also show a high ability to concentrate and react the mind. One possible mechanism that explains the process: it was found that chewing gum increases blood flow and neural activity in specific brain areas.

The good side of stress: under certain circumstances a little more cortisol can:

• hyper sexuality
Research shows that women who were exposed to the odor component of male sweat - pheromone, improved mood that appears is sexual arousal and cortisol increased them within 15 minutes.

• Ease the Pain
Patients suffering from chronic fatigue have shown improvements in their condition by up to 75% when taking certain doses of cortisol. In some critical situations, even medical uses sharp increase in stress hormones to increase the activity of certain systems in the body.

• Improve Memory
Research shows that moderate levels of cortisol positive effect on memory and concentration, while very high levels have the opposite effect - because high and prolonged stress results deteriorate.