Cortisol & Heart Disease

Cortisol, a hormone, is naturally produced when you experience a stressful situation. This is normal, according to the Mayo Clinic, but if you are always stressed out, too much cortisol can cause significant health problems.

Cortisol Effects

• Cortisol raises your blood sugar, aids in tissue repair, alters your immune system and suppresses your digestive, reproductive, and growth processes as a normal and temporary reaction to stress.

Biological Function

• Harvard Medical School notes that under stress your heart rate rises, blood vessels constrict and your blood prepares to clot to guard against injury. When the stressor passes, the brain is signaled to stop releasing cortisol. Under consistent stress, this process fails resulting in overproduction of cortisol.

Cortisol Can Cause Harm

• Overproduction of cortisol disturbs the way your heart responds to your body's demands. Stress hormones, such as cortisol, also cause damage to the lining of the arteries. These factors are all a recipe for heart disease.

Types of Stress

• Harvard Medical School also notes that emotional stress poses greater harm than physical stress. The latter increases the flexibility of the coronary arteries, while the former makes them rigid, impairing blood flow.

Prevention/Solution

• Experts at UT-Southwestern Medical Center suggest a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids. These acids help properly control cortisol levels in your body. Foods rich in vitamin C serve the same function.