How to Control Your Cortisol & Overcome Burnout

In this episode, I explain cortisol and science-based protocols for properly setting your cortisol rhythm, which can significantly increase your daytime energy, focus, mood, and stress resilience, while also improving your sleep quality.

Most people mistakenly think cortisol is bad, and many assume their levels are too high, when in fact many health and performance challenges simply stem from a disrupted cortisol rhythm. Getting your cortisol rhythm right can be transformative for your health and performance.

I outline behavioral, nutritional, and supplement-based strategies to raise or lower your cortisol levels at the appropriate times of day and night. I also provide specific protocols for overcoming burnout.

If you’re dealing with stress, low energy, hormone or sleep challenges—or simply want to optimize these for the sake of your physical and mental health and performance—this episode offers science-backed protocols to help.

Articles

• Individual differences in light sensitivity affect sleep and circadian rhythms (Sleep)
• Twenty-four hour pattern of the episodic secretion of cortisol in normal subjects (The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism)
• The effects of post-awakening light exposure on the cortisol awakening response in healthy male individuals (Psychoneuroendocrinology)
• Recommendations for daytime, evening, and nighttime indoor light exposure to best support physiology, sleep, and wakefulness in healthy adults (PLOS Biology)
• Is the cortisol awakening rise a response to awakening? (Psychoneuroendocrinology)
• Effects of gender and age on the levels and circadian rhythmicity of plasma cortisol (The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism)
• Endocrine responses of the stress system to different types of exercise (Reviews in Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders)
• Short-Term Head-Out Whole-Body Cold-Water Immersion Facilitates Positive Affect and Increases Interaction between Large-Scale Brain Networks (Biology)
• Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis on the effects of cold-water exposure on mental health (Frontiers in Psychiatry)
• Caffeinated coffee does not acutely affect energy intake, appetite, or inflammation but prevents serum cortisol concentrations from falling in healthy men (The Journal of Nutrition)
• Caffeine stimulation of cortisol secretion across the waking hours in relation to caffeine intake levels (Psychosomatic Medicine)
• Dose effect of caffeine on testosterone and cortisol responses to resistance exercise (International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism)
• Influence of consumption of a high-protein vs. high-carbohydrate meal on the physiological cortisol and psychological mood response in men and women (PLOS ONE)
• Low-carbohydrate diets and men's cortisol and testosterone: Systematic review and meta-analysis (Nutrition and Health)
• 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type-II activity is affected by grapefruit juice and intense muscular work (Archives of Endocrinology and Metabolism)
• Effects of grapefruit juice on cortisol metabolism in healthy male Chinese subjects (Food and Chemical Toxicology)
• Grapefruit Juice Facilitates Cortisol Replacement Therapy: Role of CYP3A Variant Alleles (Archives of Clinical and Medical Case Reports)
• The Effects of an Online Yoga Nidra Meditation on Subjective Well-Being and Diurnal Salivary Cortisol: A Randomised Controlled Trial (Stress and Health)
• Clinical burnout is not reflected in the cortisol awakening response, the day-curve or the response to a low-dose dexamethasone suppression test (Psychoneuroendocrinology)
• The morning salivary cortisol response in burnout (Journal of Psychosomatic Research)
• The neural addiction of cancer (Nature Reviews Cancer)
• Diurnal cortisol rhythm as a predictor of breast cancer survival (Journal of the National Cancer Institute)
• A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study of the standardised extract shr-5 of the roots of Rhodiola rosea in the treatment of subjects with stress-related fatigue (Planta Medica)
• Adverse physiological and psychological effects of screen time on children and adolescents: Literature review and case study (Environmental Research)
• Creatine Supplementation Beyond Athletics: Benefits of Different Types of Creatine for Women, Vegans, and Clinical Populations-A Narrative Review (Nutrients)
• The effects of creatine supplementation on cognitive performance-a randomised controlled study (BMC Medicine)
• Effect of creatine supplementation and sleep deprivation, with mild exercise, on cognitive and psychomotor performance, mood state, and plasma concentrations of catecholamines and cortisol (Psychopharmacology)
• A prospective, randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study of safety and efficacy of a high-concentration full-spectrum extract of ashwagandha root in reducing stress and anxiety in adults (Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine)

Other Resources

• 10,000 lux therapy lamp (Amazon)
• Red or amber light bulbs (Amazon)
• How to Triple Tap on iPhone to Turn on Red Screen (YouTube)
• ROKA Wind Down Lens
• Huberman Lab NSDR protocols (10 and 20-minute versions)
• Yoga Nidra (Kelly Boys)

Huberman Lab Episodes Mentioned

• Tools for Managing Stress & Anxiety