Cortisol 101

Cortisol is the main glucocorticoid produced by your adrenal glands. It’s essential for regulating glucose metabolism, immune system hormones, cardiovascular function, and the metabolism of the fats, protein, and carbs you eat.

But the thing that cortisol is best known for is providing the body with a much-needed surge in energy when the sympathetic nervous system, aka fight-or-flight response, is activated by a threat in our environment. In the times of our hunter-gatherer ancestors, this response was activated when a threat entered the external environment: for example, coming across a giant deadly snake while you’re foraging berries.

In this situation, the pituitary gland would send a signal to the adrenals that there’s imminent danger in the environment, which would then begin to release cortisol, increasing immediate energy production at the expense of other bodily functions that aren’t super important for survival, like digestion for example. This activation of the sympathetic nervous system would give us the energy needed to run away as fast as we can or stay and fight that snake to the death.

Fight-Or-Flight: 5 Ways Your Body is Affected

1. Blood pressure increases, insulin activity decreases (weight gain, sexual disfunction, lower libido, risk of heart attack, reduced detoxification function via kidneys)

2. Fuel storage decreases (less energy, brain fog, fatigue)

3. Salivation and digestion decrease (poor absorption of nutrients, digestive symptoms like bloating, gas, indigestion, constipation, diarrhea)

4. Immune response decreases (more susceptibility to infections and viruses)

5. Vision narrows; adrenaline increases (poor concentration, increased agitation and overwhelm)

Luckily for us, we don’t encounter deadly snakes on a daily basis, but that doesn’t mean our stress response isn’t going into overdrive often. Unfortunately, all our pituitary gland needs to send a signal for the adrenals to do their thing is to perceive a threat- whether in our external environment or internal environment. Which basically means, an imagined threat is enough to set this response into motion. So, a bad habit of constantly ruminating on the past or worrying about a future project is enough to do the job. Yikes.

So, how stressed are you? Click here to download the fillable self-reflection PDF before moving on.