How the 'Stress Hormone' Cortisol Affects You

Cortisol is a hormone made by the adrenal cortex (the outer layer of the adrenal gland). It's also a naturally-occurring steroid hormone that plays a key role in the body's stress response. Cortisol helps you wake up in the morning, stay alert when dealing with pressure, and even fight off infections.

It gets a bad rap for being the "stress hormone," but it also plays a crucial role in many body functions, including helping the body use glucose, protein, and fats. Healthcare providers often use lab-created cortisol (aka hydrocortisone) to treat conditions like inflammation, allergies, and some cancers.

The problem is when you remain in a state of prolonged stress. Exposure to elevated levels of cortisol for long periods can leave you feeling exhausted and burned out and even elevate your risk of specific health problems.

Keep reading to learn more about what cortisol does, how to tell if your levels might be too high, and what you can do to control cortisol and stress.

What Does Cortisol Do?

While it is often called the stress hormone for its best-known role, it also contributes to many of the body's processes. It's secreted by the adrenal glands and involved in the regulation of the following functions and more:

• Blood pressure regulation
• Glucose metabolism
• Immune function
• Inflammatory response
• Insulin release

The adrenal glands release cortisol in response to stress or fear as part of the body's fight or flight response. When confronted by a threat in your environment, your body goes through a series of near-instantaneous reactions that prepare you to either stay and deal with the problem or escape to safety.

A brain structure known as the amygdala alerts the hypothalamus, which then signals a range of responses, including the release of hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol.

Signs of High Cortisol

So, how do you tell if your cortisol levels might be too high? When it happens, you might experience a range of unwanted symptoms. Higher and more prolonged levels of cortisol in the bloodstream (such as those associated with chronic stress) have been shown to have adverse effects, such as:

• Blood sugar imbalances such as hyperglycemia
• Decreased bone density
• Decreases in muscle tissue
• Higher blood pressure
• Impaired cognitive performance
• Increased abdominal fat
• Lowered immunity and inflammatory responses in the body, slowed wound healing, and other health consequences
• Suppressed thyroid function

These negative effects also often come with their own consequences. For example, increased abdominal fat is associated with a greater amount of health problems than fat deposited in other areas of the body. Some of the health problems associated with increased stomach fat include an increased risk for heart attacks, strokes, metabolic syndrome, higher levels of "bad" cholesterol (LDL), and lower levels of "good" cholesterol (HDL).

Chronic high cortisol levels can also lead to a condition known as Cushing syndrome. Causes can include adrenal tumors or the prolonged use of glucocorticoids. Symptoms of Cushing syndrome can also include high blood sugars with increased thirst and urination, osteoporosis, depression, and more frequent infections.

How Does Cortisol Affect the Mind and Body?

Cortisol levels naturally fluctuate at different times in the day. For example, normally, cortisol is present in the body at higher levels in the morning, and it is lowest at night. The cycle repeats daily.

Your cortisol levels can also fluctuate based on your experiences. For instance, although stress isn't the only reason that cortisol is secreted into the bloodstream, it does spike during the body’s stress response. It's responsible for several stress-related changes in the body—which is why it has been termed "the stress hormone."

Small increases in cortisol can have some positive effects:

• A quick burst of energy for survival reasons
• Heightened alertness
• A burst of increased immunity
• Helps maintain homeostasis in the body

And not everyone's experience is the same. Some people get a bigger spike of cortisol when they are stressed. There are also things you can do to manage the amount of cortisol you secrete in response to stressors.

Tips for Controlling Cortisol and Stress

One way to keep cortisol levels healthy and under control is to activate the body’s relaxation response after the fight or flight response occurs. The good news is that you can learn to relax your body with various stress management techniques. Making healthy lifestyle changes to keep your body from reacting to stress in the first place can also help.

Many find the following strategies helpful in relaxing the body and mind, which assist the body in maintaining healthy cortisol levels:

• Breathing exercises
• Exercise
• Guided imagery
• Journaling
• Listening to music
• Meditation
• Self-hypnosis
• Sex
• Yoga

Getting more information on stress and resources to help you manage it can help you to build habits that can help you to cope with stress once your stress response is triggered.

Why Controlling Cortisol Can Be Challenging

Unfortunately, it may not always be possible to keep cortisol levels in check. Stress is sometimes just unavoidable, but other issues might affect your cortisol levels These include:

• Cortisol secretion varies among individuals. People are biologically "wired" to react differently to stress. One person may secrete higher cortisol levels than another in the same situation. And this tendency can change at different times in a person's life.
• Cortisol secretion can affect eating behavior. Studies have also shown that people who secrete higher levels of cortisol in response to stress also tend to eat more food and food that is higher in carbohydrates than people who secrete less cortisol.
• People with depression may also have elevated cortisol levels in their bloodstream. Stress management techniques to help lower these levels may be an important coping tool for people who are experiencing symptoms of depression.

Takeaways

While cortisol is an important and helpful part of the body’s response to stress, the body’s relaxation response must be activated so the body’s functions can return to normal following a stressful event.

Unfortunately, in our current high-stress culture, the body’s stress response is activated so often that the body doesn’t always have a chance to return to normal, resulting in a state of chronic stress.

If you are struggling to manage stress or are experiencing signs of chronically high cortisol, don't hesitate to look to your doctor for help.