Is Your Cortisol Out of Balance?
You’ve Been Told It’s “Just Stress”—But What Does That Actually Mean
Fatigue, stubborn weight, anxiety, broken sleep, digestive issues, inflammation many people hear the same explanation: “It’s just stress.” But no one takes the time to explain what’s happening inside your body.
What is stress actually doing? And how do you begin to fix it?
Let’s walk through what cortisol really is, how it gets made, and how long-term stress can silently wear down your health, energy, and resilience.
What Is Cortisol and Where Does It Come From?
Cortisol is your body’s primary stress hormone. It’s made from cholesterol in the adrenal glands—two small glands that sit on top of your kidneys. When your brain perceives a threat—whether it’s a bear, a deadline, a breakup, or poor sleep—it signals your adrenal glands to pump out cortisol.
In acute stress, this is a good thing. Cortisol gives you quick energy, raises your blood pressure to help you move fast, and increases sugar in the bloodstream to fuel your brain and muscles. It’s your fight-or-flight hormone, and it’s essential for survival.
But here’s the catch: your body was never designed to live in a constant state of stress.
Cortisol Overload: Acute vs. Chronic Stress
In short bursts, cortisol is protective. But when stress becomes chronic, cortisol begins to backfire. Your body is no longer responding to a threat it’s stuck in survival mode. And that’s when deeper imbalances start to unfold across your body systems.
Let’s break down what stress actually does to your body behind the scenes.
Immune System Suppression
Cortisol shuts down your immune system during times of stress so your body can focus on immediate survival. But when this becomes chronic, your immune defense weakens. White blood cells become sluggish. You get sick more often, inflammation increases, and healing slows down. This is often the root behind lingering infections, slow wound healing, and even the flaring of autoimmune issues.
Inflammation and Pain
Cortisol initially helps reduce inflammation. But over time, your cells stop responding properly. This leads to a rise in inflammatory messengers like cytokines. That’s why chronic stress is often linked with joint pain, flare-ups in chronic conditions, or even a constant feeling of being inflamed or puffy.
Sleep Disruption and Circadian Rhythm Breakdown
Cortisol is meant to follow a rhythm—high in the morning, low at night. But chronic stress reverses or flattens that rhythm. You might wake up exhausted, hit a wall at 2:00 p.m., and feel wired at night. Worse, cortisol and melatonin (your sleep hormone) work in opposition. If cortisol is up, melatonin is down—leaving you struggling to fall or stay asleep.
Gut Health and Digestion
Chronic cortisol suppresses stomach acid and digestive enzyme production. That means poor digestion, bloating, and malabsorption of key nutrients. It also contributes to leaky gut by weakening the tight junctions in the gut lining, making you more reactive to foods and more prone to inflammation.
Nutrient Burnout
Stress burns through nutrients at a rapid pace. Magnesium, B vitamins, vitamin C, and zinc are quickly depleted. These are the very nutrients your body needs to regulate stress, so this creates a vicious cycle—low nutrients, more stress, worse symptoms.
Hormone Imbalance and Energy Issues
When the body prioritizes cortisol, it often does so at the expense of other hormones like progesterone, testosterone, and thyroid hormones. This is sometimes called “pregnenolone steal”—when raw materials are hijacked to make more stress hormone instead of sex hormones. This can lead to irregular cycles, low libido, slow metabolism, or even thyroid symptoms without a thyroid diagnosis.
Blood Sugar Instability
Cortisol raises blood sugar to fuel your muscles and brain. But over time, this leads to blood sugar crashes, cravings, and fatigue. Many people with cortisol imbalances describe feeling “hangry,” foggy, or shaky between meals—and often blame it on poor willpower when it’s really biology.
So, Is Your Cortisol Out of Balance?
You might not need a lab test to know something is off. But a structured symptom questionnaire can help you see where you are on the spectrum of stress imbalance.
That’s why I use the IdenT Stress Questionnaire in my practice. It’s designed to help you identify which pattern of imbalance you may be experiencing—and where to begin.
4 Free Ways to Start Supporting Your Stress Response
You don’t need to overhaul your life to get started. Here are four simple but powerful tools that help regulate cortisol and calm the nervous system.
1. Get Morning Sunlight
Natural light exposure within 60 minutes of waking helps reset your internal clock, balances cortisol, and improves mood regulation. Even on cloudy days, it works.
2. Start Your Day with Protein, Not Coffee
A high-protein breakfast helps balance blood sugar and provides amino acids that fuel neurotransmitters. This helps lower morning cortisol spikes and stabilizes your energy.
3. Add Salt and Electrolytes to Your Water
During stress, you lose minerals faster. Adding a pinch of sea salt or using an adrenal cocktail mid-morning can help replenish key nutrients and support adrenal function.
4. Practice Deep Nasal Breathing
Deep breathing through your nose sends signals of safety to your brain and helps switch off the fight-or-flight response. One of the most effective methods is box breathing: inhale 4 seconds, hold 4, exhale 4, hold 4. Repeat for 1–2 minutes daily.
The Top 4 Stress Support Supplements I Use in Practice
These are the tools I use most often when clients are dealing with chronic stress and cortisol imbalance. Think of these as strategic supports for a body stuck in survival mode.
1. Exhilarin – For mental stamina and burnout recovery
Think of Exhilarin like the multitasker for your mind. It blends adaptogens like ashwagandha and holy basil to help your body adapt to stress without overstimulation. Ideal for those who feel mentally foggy, burned out, and need to keep going without crashing.
Best for: People who feel depleted but still have responsibilities to juggle.
2. Serenagen – For calming emotional tension
Serenagen is like the calm switch for your nervous system. It contains herbs like scutellaria and rehmannia that support mood and promote a sense of calm under pressure. It doesn’t sedate you it just helps take the edge off emotional stress.
Best for: People who feel edgy, emotionally reactive, or tense.
3. Magnesium (Glycinate or Bisglycinate) – For sleep, relaxation, and muscle tension
Magnesium is like the reset button for your nervous system. It helps relax tight muscles, supports quality sleep, and soothes your brain. It’s one of the most common deficiencies I see in people under stress.
Best for: Anyone with trouble sleeping, jaw clenching, tight muscles, or overwhelm.
4. Catecholacalm – For high adrenaline and racing thoughts
This formula is for those who feel like they’re running on nerves. It helps modulate the catecholamines (like adrenaline and norepinephrine) that spike when you're constantly in fight-or-flight. Catecholacalm smooths out that edgy, buzzing, wired feeling.
Best for: People with racing thoughts, irritability, or emotional rollercoasters.
Adrenal Cocktail Recipe
This simple drink helps replenish the minerals your body burns through during stress and supports adrenal recovery.
Ingredients:
½ cup fresh orange juice or coconut water
¼ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp cream of tartar (or potassium powder)
Optional: collagen powder or magnesium powder
Why it works: It restores sodium, potassium, and vitamin C three nutrients crucial for adrenal and nervous system health. Use it mid-morning or mid-afternoon when your energy dips.
If you’ve been told your symptoms are from stress, and you’re still struggling it’s not in your head. It’s in your hormones.
Cortisol is powerful. When it’s working well, it energizes and protects you. But when it’s out of balance, it silently impacts every part of your health. Understanding what stress is doing behind the scenes is the first step to taking back control.
If this feels like your story, let’s talk. You can book a free 15-minute consult, or download the questionnaire to see where you stand. You don’t have to guess anymore.