Episode #151: “Cortisol: The Misunderstood Stress Hormone” with Dr. Carla DiGirolamo

We hear a lot about cortisol, the “stress hormone,” on social media as of late. Cortisol has turn out to be a buzz phrase within the well being and health trade—a part of a cautionary story used to warn girls away from intense bouts of train they age.

From fear-mongering posts about the way it’s ruining your well being to questionable recommendation from “hormone coaches” promoting expensive dietary supplements and restrictive diets—it may be onerous to separate reality from fiction.

That’s why we introduced in the skilled, Dr. Carla DiGirolamo—a Board Licensed Obstetrician/Gynecologist, Reproductive Endocrinologist, Menopause Society Licensed Practitioner, and health fanatic (to not point out a CrossFit coach and licensed diet coach). She’s spent her profession serving to energetic girls—from puberty to menopause—optimize their psychological and bodily efficiency. Yep, she’s principally a rockstar in the case of understanding hormones and training high-performing girls.

This week’s episode of The Match Bottomed Women Podcast is all about cortisol—the misunderstood “stress hormone” everybody likes to hate. We’re reducing by way of the noise, debunking myths, and exploring how cortisol performs a crucial function in your well being, health, and total resilience. Collectively, Dr. Carla and I sort out the dialog all of us want to listen to about cortisol, girls’s well being, and the reality behind these viral hormone claims.

Severely, this week’s episode is one for the books. 

Right here’s why we’re obsessive about this episode:

Dr. Carla’s analogy of cortisol because the trombone in a a lot bigger orchestra will fully change the best way you consider hormones, stress, and well being. (Spoiler alert: it’s not all about cortisol!) She additionally dives into sensible methods to dial down stress, recuperate higher, and keep sturdy as you age.

Actual Discuss: Restoration Issues

Restoration isn’t only a checkbox after a exercise—it’s the place enchancment really occurs. Whether or not it’s dialing in your diet, prioritizing sleep, or lastly studying to like your cool-down routine, restoration helps you keep resilient and prepared on your subsequent problem.

Don’t skip this one if…

✅ You’ve been freaked out by cortisol content material on social media.

✅ You wish to know learn how to be stronger (and more healthy) as you age.

✅ You’re interested by how hormones impression your stress and efficiency.

Tune in now to listen to Dr. Carla’s unimaginable insights and sensible recommendation!

👉 Listen to the Full Episode Here

👉 Watch the episode on YouTube

What You’ll Study in This Episode:

• Cortisol isn’t the villain—it’s important for all times and health. It’s the hormone that helps you sort out challenges, whether or not that’s a troublesome exercise or life stress. Nonetheless, it’s all about returning your stress response system to baseline after activation.
• Cease worrying about “spiking your cortisol.” You want cortisol to be conscious of outdoors stressors as a way to survive. As an alternative, begin specializing in returning your stress response system to baseline often by way of confirmed down-regulation methods like meditation, leisure walks, mild or stress-free yoga.
• Burnout isn’t brought on by cortisol—it’s brought on by power stress. Dr. Carla shares learn how to deal with what’s triggering your elevated stress moderately than blaming cortisol itself.
• Why getting older modifications the sport. Restoration will get trickier as girls age because of modifications in resilience and hormonal shifts, however correct restoration methods can preserve you thriving. Power coaching, diet, and aware restoration are extra essential than ever.
• The bounds of hormone testing. Single snapshots from blood exams might be deceptive! Dr. Carla explains why you’ll want to deal with the larger image of your well being.
• Beneath-fueling = underperforming. Beneath-eating can really be a giant explanation for persistent inner stress and elevated cortisol ranges. Vitamin fuels your physique for exercises and restoration.

About Dr. Carla DiGirolamo

Dr. Carla DiGirolamo is a double Board-Licensed Obstetrician/Gynecologist and Reproductive Endocrinologist specializing in caring for energetic and high-performing girls from puberty by way of menopause. Dr. Carla accomplished her residency coaching in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Brown College Medical Faculty/Girls and Infants’ Hospital and Reproductive Endocrinology fellowship coaching on the Massachusetts Common Hospital at Harvard Medical Faculty.

Dr. Carla has 20 years of expertise as a fertility specialist and extra not too long ago as a Menopause Society Licensed Practitioner. She can also be an endocrine advisor for Wild Well being and Everlasting Life. She has been featured in Boston Journal’s High Docs within the Boston space for 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.

Dr. Carla has been featured in a number of podcasts and speakerships at numerous occasions discussing the physiology of the hormonal modifications of menopause, hormone remedy, and optimizing bodily efficiency in elite and avid leisure feminine athletes. Dr Carla can also be the writer of a number of programs together with the “Menopause Health Specialist” course with MedFit Classroom, and the “Sturdy” and” Navigate Menopause” programs with Feisty Media.  

Dr. Carla has been within the health trade her whole life as a leisure athlete and for greater than a decade as a health skilled with credentials as a CrossFit Stage 1 Coach and Licensed Vitamin Coach.  As a pioneer in Girls’s Efficiency Endocrinology, she makes a speciality of optimizing psychological and bodily efficiency in girls in high-performance professions and feminine athletes of all ages. 

Dr. Carla has a weblog by way of Substack known as “Athletic Growing old”. https://www.athleticaging.blog/  and her second publication “Efficiency Edge” https://www.performanceedge.blog/  launched in February 2023

Observe Dr. Carla

Web site: https://www.drcarlad.com/

Fb: https://www.facebook.com/carla.digirolamo.14

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr_carla_d/

Linked in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carla-digirolamo-0109b8103/

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Do you suppose cortisol is your enemy? Suppose once more. –Alison