Lower Cortisol Naturally: 5 Expert Tools

Search 'lower cortisol' and you will drown in supplement ads. But the specialists who actually study the hormone spend most of their time telling you it is misunderstood. Andrew Huberman reframes cortisol as a hormone of energy, not a stress hormone, and says its main job is deploying glucose to the brain. He even warns you do not want cortisol too low.

What follows is a plain-language roundup of what named experts have said about managing cortisol, gathered with timestamps so you can hear each claim yourself. None of it is medical advice. Cortisol problems, adaptogens, and any supplement belong in a conversation with your own doctor before you act on them.

The first correction almost every expert makes is that cortisol is not the enemy. Huberman is blunt: it is not really a stress hormone at all, and its main job is deploying glucose and energy, especially to the brain. In a separate essentials episode he calls it a hormone of energy and cautions that too-low cortisol is its own problem.

He also notes that cortisol is a steroid built from cholesterol, and when you are chronically stressed it competes with testosterone and estrogen for that same cholesterol. So the goal is not to crush cortisol to the floor. It is to fix the timing, because the shape of the daily curve is what matters.

In a healthy person, Huberman says, cortisol peaks about 45 minutes after waking and drops to very low levels by 4pm and 9pm. He describes that morning surge as the reason you wake up at all, a pattern researchers call the cortisol awakening response. Its fastest climb happens during the sixth to eighth hours of sleep, so people who cut sleep short also cut off part of the pulse.

Why care about the shape rather than the number? Huberman cites data that a flattened curve predicts lower lifespan and worse cancer outcomes, while sharper morning peaks correlate with survival. He adds that chronically high cortisol degenerates neurons in the hippocampus, harming memory and stress regulation. A strong morning peak followed by a low evening is the signature to protect.

Across four different episodes, Huberman keeps returning to one tool above all: light. His core instruction is to get sunlight in your eyes within 30 minutes of waking, without sunglasses, so the cortisol peak is timed to the morning where you want it. In his grief essentials episode he calls morning sunlight the single most powerful tool to regulate cortisol.

The effect is measurable. Huberman says bright light in the first hour after waking can boost the morning cortisol pulse by up to 50%, which he calls clinically significant for mood. Daytime light keeps helping too. In his aggression episode he notes that morning and daytime sun keeps cortisol in a healthy range, and warns that short winter days can push the system the wrong way.

Deliberate heat is the second physical lever Huberman keeps citing. He points to a study in which repeated hot and cold sauna sessions produced a significant decrease in cortisol output in young adult men.

For a practical dose, in his aggression episode he says a 20-minute sauna at 80 to 100C, or a hot bath, can meaningfully lower cortisol. Heat is not right for everyone, though. If you have cardiovascular issues, low blood pressure, or are pregnant, clear sauna and hot-bath routines with your doctor first.

If you came for a supplement, this is the one the experts actually name. Huberman says ashwagandha potently lowers cortisol. But he attaches a hard limit that most product marketing leaves out: it should not be used continuously for more than about two weeks before you take a break.

That two-week ceiling reframes the whole adaptogen pitch. In Huberman's telling, ashwagandha is a blunt short-term tool for acute high-stress stretches, not something you take every day forever. Because it moves a hormone, it can interact with medications and conditions, so run ashwagandha or any adaptogen past your own doctor rather than treating a lab number on your own.

Several everyday items quietly raise or prolong cortisol, and Huberman flags a few by name. Black licorice, through a compound called glycyrrhizin, potently raises cortisol and is unsafe for people with hypertension or who are pregnant or breastfeeding. Grapefruit inhibits an enzyme called CYP3A4 and can extend cortisol's life in the bloodstream by 25 to 50%.

Caffeine is more nuanced. Huberman says that for habitual coffee drinkers caffeine barely raises cortisol but stretches how long it stays high, while people who rarely use it get a large spike. On the other side, he explains that carbohydrates act as comfort foods partly because a rise in blood glucose suppresses cortisol release.

For acute stress, Huberman points to NSDR, also called yoga nidra. He says an 11 to 30 minute session can significantly reduce cortisol, making it one of the fastest behavioral tools on his list. He describes the deeper skill as training your adrenals to release adrenaline while keeping the mind calm, since cortisol crosses the blood-brain barrier but the adrenaline molecule epinephrine does not.

Mindset moves the needle too. Huberman's guest Dr. Alia Crum found that people guided toward a stress-is-enhancing mindset showed more moderate cortisol responses and a higher release of DHEA, a hormone tied to resilience. How you interpret and recover from stress changes the hormone, not just the stressor.

'Cortisol belly' is everywhere online, and here the experts openly disagree. On Huberman's show, Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple argues the fear is misinformation borrowed from Cushing syndrome, and that normal acute cortisol spikes do not cause belly fat. That is a direct pushback on the marketing behind most cortisol supplements.

A hormone specialist featured on The Diary of a CEO takes the more alarmed view. She says roughly 90% of the 40,000 patients she has tested have a cortisol problem, and recounts that after her own doctor pushed Prozac and birth control, she ordered her own labs and found cortisol three times normal plus pre-diabetes in her 30s. She also claims high cortisol shrinks the brain in women but not men, starting in midlife. Treat both sides as expert opinion rather than settled fact, and test with real labs before you treat.

Do adaptogens actually lower cortisol?

Huberman says ashwagandha potently lowers cortisol, but warns it should not be taken continuously for more than about two weeks before a break. He frames it as a short-term tool for high-stress stretches, not a daily forever supplement. Because it moves a hormone, ask your doctor before starting it.

What are signs of high cortisol?

Huberman links burnout, morning anxiety, and feeling wired and tired to a cortisol rhythm that is out of sync, and argues these can often be improved by fixing the timing of your morning peak rather than by any single supplement. Lab testing is the only way to confirm an actual cortisol problem.

Is cortisol belly real?

The experts disagree. Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple on Huberman's show calls the fear misinformation borrowed from Cushing syndrome and says normal cortisol spikes do not cause belly fat, while a hormone specialist on The Diary of a CEO argues most people she tests have a cortisol problem. Test before you treat.

What is the single best way to regulate cortisol?

Huberman repeatedly names morning sunlight in your eyes within 30 minutes of waking, without sunglasses, as the most powerful tool for timing your cortisol peak to the morning. He says bright early light can raise that morning pulse by up to 50%.

The through line across every expert here is that cortisol is a rhythm to protect, not an enemy to crush. Get light early, use heat and NSDR when you need to bring it down, and stay cautious with adaptogens and any supplement that promises to fix a number. Before you change anything, especially adding a supplement or reading a lab result, talk to your own doctor.