Medically Reviewed by Lucas Rosa, PhD in Molecular Biology

We’ve all felt stress – before a test, during a work deadline, or when life just feels too overwhelming. But what many people don’t realize is that behind every stressful moment, a complex chemical reaction is happening inside your body. These reactions are led by what we call stress hormones – special messengers that help your body respond and adapt to challenges.

In short bursts, stress hormones are helpful. They make you alert, focused, and ready to take action. But when stress becomes chronic, these same hormones can become imbalanced and start working against you.

In this article, we’ll explore what stress hormones are, why they matter, how they get thrown off balance, and natural, practical ways to bring them back into harmony.

What Are Stress Hormones?

Stress hormones are chemicals your body releases when it perceives a threat—whether physical, emotional, or psychological. They’re produced mainly by the adrenal glands, two small glands that sit on top of your kidneys. These hormones act fast, sending signals to increase your heart rate, raise blood sugar, and sharpen your focus. The primary stress hormones include:

• Cortisol: Often called the “stress hormone,” cortisol regulates your body’s response to long-term stress. It helps manage blood sugar, inflammation, metabolism, and immune function.
• Adrenaline (epinephrine): This hormone acts almost instantly, giving you a quick burst of energy and focus. It’s what makes your heart race during moments of panic or excitement.
• Norepinephrine: Works alongside adrenaline to increase alertness and blood flow to muscles.
• Vasopressin: Helps regulate water retention and blood pressure, especially during stress.
• CRH (Corticotropin-releasing hormone) and ACTH (Adrenocorticotropic hormone): These are brain signals that kick off the stress hormone cascade from the hypothalamus and pituitary gland to the adrenals.

Together, these hormones create the “fight-or-flight” response – an ancient survival mechanism that helps you react quickly when danger is near.

The Importance of Stress Hormones

Stress hormones are not bad. In fact, they’re essential for survival. In short bursts, they can:

• Improve mental focus and clarity
• Boost physical energy and reaction time
• Increase blood flow to muscles and the brain
• Mobilize glucose (sugar) for quick energy
• Enhance memory and performance under pressure

This temporary state helps you rise to challenges and bounce back once the stress passes. The trouble begins when stress doesn’t pass – and the hormones keep flowing.

How Stress Hormones Can Become Imbalanced

Stress hormones don’t go out of balance overnight. It usually happens gradually, through repeated signals from your body that it’s overwhelmed and not getting enough recovery time. Over time, your adrenal glands – the small but powerful hormone factories sitting atop your kidneys – can become dysregulated from constant demand.

• Chronic psychological stress is one of the most common causes. This includes daily pressures like work overload, relationship issues, financial worries, or lack of emotional support. Your body responds to emotional stress in the same way it would to physical danger – by pumping out cortisol and adrenaline to help you “survive.”
• Poor sleep is another major trigger. When you don’t get enough deep, restorative rest, cortisol levels may rise as your body tries to keep you awake and alert, leading to further imbalance the next day. A disrupted sleep-wake cycle can throw off both melatonin and cortisol rhythms.
• Blood sugar instability is often overlooked but highly influential. Eating lots of refined carbs or skipping meals causes your blood sugar to spike and crash. Each crash triggers a cortisol release to bring your energy back up – creating a hormonal roller coaster that taxes your adrenals over time.
• Other contributors include overexercising, too much caffeine, undereating, or recovering from illness or trauma. Even gut imbalances can play a role, since your microbiome communicates directly with your adrenal glands via the gut-brain axis.

The key is recognizing and addressing these patterns early so your stress hormones can reset and start working with your body again – instead of against it.

What Happens When Stress Hormones Are Out of Balance

Chronic stress leads to continuously elevated stress hormones, especially cortisol. Over time, this constant activation can wear down the body and disrupt several key systems, including:

• Blood sugar regulation: One of the first things to shift is your blood sugar. Cortisol raises blood glucose so you have energy to deal with a stressful situation. But when stress is ongoing, this constant sugar surge can make your cells less responsive to insulin, leading to insulin resistance and stubborn weight gain, particularly around the abdomen.
• Thyroid function: Thyroid function is another system that takes a hit. Elevated cortisol can suppress the conversion of inactive thyroid hormone (T4) into its active form (T3), making you feel sluggish, cold, and mentally foggy – even if your thyroid tests look normal.
• Reproductive hormones: Your reproductive system isn’t spared either. The body prioritizes survival over reproduction, so prolonged stress can throw off sex hormone levels. This often shows up as irregular periods, low libido, worsened PMS, or even fertility issues. In those assigned male at birth, chronic cortisol elevation may lower testosterone, leading to fatigue, muscle loss, and mood changes.
• Immune system: High cortisol weakens immune responses, making you more vulnerable to illness. Cortisol is naturally anti-inflammatory, but when it’s elevated for too long, it starts to suppress immune function. This leaves you more vulnerable to infections, slower to heal, and prone to lingering colds or flare-ups of autoimmune symptoms.
• Sleep: Sleep also becomes disrupted. Ideally, cortisol is lowest at night so melatonin can rise and help you sleep. But with stress hormones constantly activated, cortisol may stay high in the evening or spike early in the morning—leading to difficulty falling asleep, frequent wakeups, or that wired-but-exhausted feeling when you open your eyes.

In short, when stress hormones are out of balance, your entire system starts working against itself. Over time, this can contribute to chronic fatigue, mood swings, digestive issues, and hormone-related conditions like adrenal fatigue, PCOS, or burnout. The longer this state continues, the more challenging it becomes to reset—making early support all the more important.

Natural Ways to Balance Stress Hormones

The body is built to handle stress in small bursts, but when the pressure doesn’t let up, your stress hormones can start working against you. The good news? You can gently bring them back into balance by creating space for rest, nourishment, and regulation in your daily routine. Here are some effective ways to do just that:

Prioritize quality sleep

Your stress response resets while you sleep. Aim for 7 to 9 hours of deep, uninterrupted rest each night. Try winding down with a relaxing routine—dim the lights, power down screens an hour before bed, and create a cool, quiet space to support melatonin release and ease nighttime cortisol. (1)

Nourish your body with whole foods

Balanced meals help regulate blood sugar, which prevents unnecessary spikes in cortisol. Include a source of protein, healthy fat, and fiber with every meal. Foods high in magnesium – like dark leafy greens, almonds, pumpkin seeds, and bananas – can support nervous system relaxation and calm stress-related tension. (2)

Exercise mindfully and in moderation

Movement helps release pent-up stress, but pushing too hard can backfire. Try combining moderate exercise like strength training or brisk walking with gentler practices such as yoga, stretching, or dancing – especially if you’re feeling run down or overstimulated. (3)

Breathe with intention

Slow, controlled breathing shifts your body from “fight or flight” to “rest and digest.” Practicing deep belly breathing, alternate nostril breathing, or even five slow inhales and exhales before bed can quiet the stress response and restore emotional balance. (4)

Reconnect with the outdoors

Spending time outside has a grounding effect on your nervous system. Just a few minutes of sunlight on your skin, walking barefoot in the grass, or listening to birdsong can lower cortisol levels and help you feel more centered and clear-headed. (5)

Take Away

Stress hormones aren’t your enemy – they’re your body’s way of protecting you. But when you’re under constant pressure and your system never gets a break, those same hormones can turn against you, throwing your body into an imbalance. Understanding how cortisol, adrenaline, and other stress hormones work gives you the power to support them, not fight them.

By building habits that lower stress naturally – like getting quality sleep, eating nutrient-dense foods, moving your body gently, and slowing down your nervous system – you can give your hormones a chance to recover. In doing so, you’ll not only feel calmer and more centered but also support everything from better digestion to sharper thinking and balanced energy. Your body knows how to find balance – it just needs your help getting there.

References

1. Kim TW, Jeong JH, Hong SC. The impact of sleep and circadian disturbance on hormones and metabolism. Int J Endocrinol. 2015;2015:591729. doi: 10.1155/2015/591729. Epub 2015 Mar 11. PMID: 25861266; PMCID: PMC4377487.
2. Soltani H, Keim NL, Laugero KD. Increasing Dietary Carbohydrate as Part of a Healthy Whole Food Diet Intervention Dampens Eight Week Changes in Salivary Cortisol and Cortisol Responsiveness. Nutrients. 2019 Oct 24;11(11):2563. doi: 10.3390/nu11112563. PMID: 31652899; PMCID: PMC6893582.
3. De Nys L, Anderson K, Ofosu EF, Ryde GC, Connelly J, Whittaker AC. The effects of physical activity on cortisol and sleep: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2022 Sep;143:105843. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2022.105843. Epub 2022 Jun 24. PMID: 35777076.
4. Örün D, Karaca S, Arıkan Ş . The Effect of Breathing Exercise on Stress Hormones. Cyprus J Med Sci. 2021 Dec;6(1):22-27. doi:10.4274/cjms.2021.2020.2390
5. Kobayashi H, Song C, Ikei H, Park BJ, Kagawa T, Miyazaki Y. Combined Effect of Walking and Forest Environment on Salivary Cortisol Concentration. Front Public Health. 2019 Dec 12;7:376. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2019.00376. PMID: 31921741; PMCID: PMC6920124.