Research reports that stress levels are on the rise across America, increasing up to as high as 58% among adults (1). experiencing high levels of stress. This means over half the population is producing elevated levels of cortisol, a hormone released in response to stress. While cortisol is often portrayed as a villain, it actually plays a crucial role in helping the body manage stressful situations. The issue arises when chronic stress keeps cortisol levels elevated for extended periods. The good news is that regulating cortisol doesn’t have to be complicated—there are simple, natural ways to bring it back into balance. Before exploring how our surroundings can help mediate cortisol’s effects, let’s take a quick look at its role in the body and the impact of excess levels.

What is Cortisol?

Cortisol is a steroid hormone produced in the adrenal glands. It plays an essential role in health when it is produced in situations like the ones below.

• Stress Response: Cortisol is most recognized for its role in the body’s stress response. It is secreted by the adrenal glands when the body perceives stress. It boosts energy by increasing glucose availability, enhances short-term memory function during stressful events, has pain-relieving effects, and helps the body maintain normal functions during stress.
• Metabolism Support: Cortisol plays a role in managing energy by temporarily increasing blood sugar levels and assisting in the breakdown of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates during stress. Rather than “fixing” metabolism, it helps the body adapt to energy demands. Maintaining balanced cortisol levels through stress management, proper nutrition, and regular movement can support overall metabolic health.

• Regulates Sleep-Wake Cyle: Cortisol levels naturally fluctuate throughout the day. They should slightly peak in the morning to help you wake up, elevate through the day, and then decrease at night to promote restful sleep, which is crucial for your circadian rhythm (2).
• Blood Pressure Regulation: It helps maintain blood pressure by increasing the sensitivity of blood vessels to epinephrine and norepinephrine, which help tighten the vessels and increase pressure.
• Immune Function Modulation: While high levels of cortisol can suppress the immune system, normal levels help regulate immune function, ensuring balance and preventing excessive inflammation, autoimmune reactions, and allergies.
• Psychological Well-being: Cortisol is involved in mood regulation and can help control anxiety and fear when released in appropriate amounts. In these short-term scenarios, cortisol is very helpful! However, when it is elevated for a prolonged period, then it can actually lead to increased anxiety levels (3).
• Anti-inflammatory Effects: Cortisol plays a key role in controlling inflammation by reducing the production of inflammatory molecules and moderating the immune response. Its anti-inflammatory properties can be highly beneficial in certain situations but problematic in others. Here is an overview on when cortisol is beneficial vs. harmful.

When Cortisol’s Anti-Inflammatory Effects Are Beneficial:

When Cortisol’s Anti-Inflammatory Effects Are Harmful:

Let’s review and break it down in a way that’s easy to understand. Imagine your body is a superhero, and cortisol is one of its powers. When you’re in a “fight or flight” situation, such as when you’re scared or stressed, your body releases cortisol, similar to how a superhero releases their power to save the day. Cortisol has a special role: it signals your body to break down glycogen (stored glucose). Glycogen is your body’s emergency stash of energy, stored in your liver and muscles. When cortisol sends the signal, glycogen is converted into glucose, a type of sugar your body uses for quick energy. This is especially helpful if you need to run away from danger or fight off a threat.

Too Much Cortisol

Chronically elevated cortisol is problematic for the body. Continuing with our “superhero” analogy, if you’re always stressed out, not sleeping well, or if you have something like diabetes, your body might think it’s always in superhero mode. That means it keeps making cortisol, and your glycogen keeps turning into glucose, even when you don’t need that extra energy. It’s like your body is always ready to battle, but there’s no actual battle to fight.

When there’s too much glucose, your body tries to get rid of it by making insulin, which is another hormone that acts like a key to let glucose into your cells to be used for energy. But if this happens too much, your cells might start to ignore the insulin, kind of like how you might start ignoring someone if they talk to you too much. This is one mechanism of insulin resistance, and it can make it hard for your body to control its blood sugar levels.

And here’s the last piece of the puzzle: when your body can’t use all that glucose for energy, it turns it into fat instead. So, if your cortisol levels stay high for a long time, it can lead to weight gain, especially around your belly (which is also a cause of insulin resistance!). It’s like if your superhero power was always on, you’d burn out and wouldn’t do your best. That’s why it’s important to manage stress, get good sleep, and take care of your health, so your body’s superhero power mode is only used when it’s really needed!

Now What? Using Nature to Recover

If chronic stress can weaken the body’s superhero powers, leading to fatigue, anxiety, elevated blood sugar, and other health issues, how can our natural surroundings help fix this? Nature and sunlight act as powerful allies, providing the superhero with the energy and strength needed to combat cortisol’s negative effects. Exposure to sunlight has been shown to reduce cortisol levels, improve mood, and enhance overall well-being (4).

Sunlight is like the energy source for the superhero body. It helps regulate the production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that boosts mood and helps promote a sense of calm. The sun and its light also trigger the production of the “sunshine vitamin”, vitamin D, that plays a crucial role in maintaining a healthy immune system and reducing inflammation (5).

Studies have shown that spending time in natural environments—such as a trail, the woods, a park, or other green space—can significantly lower cortisol levels and improve mental health, making your body more resilient to stress (6). Engaging in nature-based activities such as hiking, gardening, or simply walking in a park is all it takes to unlock these benefits. These activities not only provide physical exercise but also offer a mental escape from daily stressors, allowing your body to recharge and recover. Research indicates that immersing oneself in nature can lead to lower blood pressure, reduced anxiety, and improved cognitive function (5-6). By incorporating nature and sunlight into your daily routine, you can effectively “power up” your body and keep the cortisol as what it was intended to do, staying as the “emergency weapon” versus keeping the body on high alert 24/7 under chronic stress conditions.

Brightening Your Day: Nature as Medicine

Research shows that sunlight and nature help decrease cortisol and stress levels, but how do they do that? Just as medications are complex and work through different mechanisms in the body, so do the sun and nature!

Sunlight starts by regulating the body’s circadian rhythm, which is the internal clock that governs sleep-wake cycles. Exposure to natural light during the day helps synchronize this rhythm, leading to better sleep quality and better moods. These two things, especially sleep, have a large impact on cortisol. As mentioned above, sunlight also stimulates the production of serotonin. Higher serotonin levels are associated with reduced anxiety and stress, making you feel like a ray of sunshine (10)! Sunlight also triggers the release of something called beta-endorphins in the body. These act as natural painkillers and mood enhancers. When the skin is exposed to ultraviolet rays from the sun, it produces a protein called proopiomelanocortin (POMC for short), which is then broken down into several smaller fragments, including beta-endorphins. These beta-endorphins bind to opioid receptors in the brain, leading to feelings of euphoria and pain relief, similar to the effects of opioid drugs but without the harmful side effects (11-13).

Nature, on the other hand, provides a few different mechanisms to lower stress levels. The sights, sounds, and smells of our natural environments engage the parasympathetic nervous system—the body’s system that is responsible for the “rest-and-digest” response. This engagement helps counteract the “fight-or-flight” response triggered by stress. Think about some of the sound machines—waves crashing into a beach, rain on a tin roof, crickets in the night—by placing the outdoors inside, it is one way we can help trigger this response. The counteracting response from the parasympathetic nervous system leads to lower heart rates, reduced blood pressure, and decreased cortisol levels. Spending time outside in nature also has been shown to reduce activity in the prefrontal cortex. This part of the brain is associated with rumination and negative thought patterns. When activity in the prefrontal cortex is reduced, it allows for a mental reset, helping individuals feel more relaxed and less stressed (11-13).

By understanding these mechanisms, it is clear how nature and sunlight act as a powerful team in combating stress and promoting overall well-being. Scheduling regular time in your natural environments and increasing exposure to sunlight in your routine can help “power up” your body, making it more resilient to the effects of stress.

Sending Health Your Way!

The Tula Clinical Team

Austin MS, RDN, CSR, LDN, CD
Aubree RN, BSN