What Are Stress Hormones And How To Balance Them; Did you know that stress, which most of us define as a negative feeling in daily life and that occurs in the face of challenging situations, is actually a vital physiological response that our body gives to protect itself?
The stress created by challenging experiences in business life, relationships or daily responsibilities can cause many hormones, especially cortisol, to change in our body and the functioning of the systems to become imbalanced. Knowing ‘stress hormones’ and how these hormones affect the functioning of our systems helps us both minimize the negative effects of stress on our health and manage stress in healthy ways.
Although the most well-known hormone associated with stress is cortisol, there are many different hormones that are secreted by the endocrine system in the face of a perceived danger and can decrease or increase in relation to each other. Being aware of what these hormones are and how they affect your body’s functioning can help you better understand the symptoms of stress and incorporate wellness practices into your life that can help bring your systems back into balance.
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What are Stress Hormones?
Stress hormones are responsible for transmitting signals to organs and muscles necessary to regulate flight or fight responses in the face of perceived danger. Hormones secreted during the stress response, which is extremely important for the survival of the organism under normal conditions, provide the production of the energy required to fight or escape in the face of danger, such as acceleration of heartbeat, increased breathing, body sweating and muscle contraction.
However, there does not always have to be a ‘real’ danger in the environment for the stress response to occur. Many events, situations or thoughts that make you feel insecure, such as someone around you making a negative comment about your personality, not being able to complete your work on time, or financial difficulties, can turn into a chronic source of stress for you. Let’s get to know the stress hormones that manage the changes in your body in such situations a little more closely.
1. Adrenaline (Epinephrine)
When you are faced with any situation or thought that causes stress, the adrenal glands located above the kidneys secrete the stress hormone known as adrenaline or epinephrine. This hormone, which is secreted in large amounts when you take a big risk or do extreme sports, accelerates heartbeat, increases blood pressure and can cause excessive sweating in certain parts of the body.
2. Noradrenaline (Norepinephrine)
This hormone, known as noradrenaline or norepinephrine, is another of the stress hormones released from the adrenal glands and brain during stressful times. Although it helps the body survive in the face of real danger, too much secretion of this hormone, that is, chronic stress, can cause many health problems such as anxiety, poor quality sleep, heart rhythm disorders and high blood pressure.
3. Insulin
Insulin hormone, which is produced by the pancreas and helps regulate blood sugar levels, is known as another stress hormone whose release increases in connection with the increased cortisol hormone when under stress. When cortisol levels rise, insulin levels also rise, which negatively affects the body’s glucose metabolism.
The increased desire to eat sweets and carbohydrates when under stress is also a result of sudden changes in the glucose level in the blood. Consuming more carbohydrates and sugar along with changes in insulin levels can trigger more cortisol release, causing you to enter a vicious cycle and causing your systems to become unbalanced.
4. Prolactin
Another hormone that increases when exposed to stress is known as prolactin hormone. This hormone, which supports milk production in women who have just given birth under normal conditions, is found in both men and women. High levels of prolactin hormone secretion disrupts the balance of estrogen and progesterone, causing menstrual irregularities and sudden emotional changes.
5. Estrogen
Chronic stress can lead to suppression of estrogen secretion, especially in women. A sudden drop in estrogen levels can cause irregular menstrual cycles and mood disorders. Studies show that women may be 1.5 to 3 times more likely to show symptoms of major depression throughout their lives compared to men, and this may be due to the irregularity in the release of the estrogen hormone.
6. Testosterone
Decreased secretion of testosterone hormone in conjunction with other stress hormones in stressful situations can lead to the emergence of symptoms such as chronic fatigue, muscle loss, and decreased libido in both men and women.
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Symptoms of Stress-Induced Hormone Imbalances
As we mentioned above, all the reactions caused by stress in the body are extremely necessary and important reactions for the survival of the organism. However, when your body is chronically exposed to intense stress, the functioning of all your hormones and therefore your systems may become permanently imbalanced, paving the way for problems that will negatively affect your health.
If you have one or more of the symptoms below, it may be time to learn ways to manage your stress in healthy ways and get support from an expert. Here are some signals that your hormones may be out of balance due to stress:
1. Menstrual irregularities
If your menstrual cycle is irregular, longer or shorter than it should be (average 28 days), you may be dealing with a stress-induced hormone imbalance. Similarly, many ‘abnormal’ conditions, such as too much or too little menstrual bleeding, an increase in the amount of clots in your blood, painful cramps, may be a sign that your hormones are out of balance due to stress.
2. Chronic feeling of fatigue and tension
Another important indicator that stress causes irregularity in your hormone balance is that you may feel tired during the day and have difficulty falling asleep at night despite this feeling of tiredness. Having trouble sleeping at night due to a state of tension and irritability that you cannot understand, and therefore waking up tired in the morning; It is an important indicator of the dysregulation caused by chronic stress in your systems. Failure to secrete cortisol, the hormone that keeps you awake and alert, in harmony with your circadian rhythm may prevent your body from going into rest mode in the evening.
3. Desire to consume excessive amounts of sugar and salt
Turning to excessively sugary or salty foods, which are known to help relax during stressful times, may also be an indicator of the changes and hormone imbalances caused by stress in your body. Stress hormones increase the release of the ghrelin hormone, known as the hunger hormone. Sodium mineral, the main ingredient of salt, is included in the structure of electrolytes that transmit information from the brain to the systems and helps regulate blood pressure, which increases due to stress. Similarly, in stressful situations, imbalances in the insulin hormone may cause the body to need more sugar to regulate blood sugar. However, consuming too much of these foods, which will make you feel better in the short term, may cause your systems to go into imbalance in the long term.
4. Fat around the waist
One of the most important indicators of chronic stress is known as fat around the waist. Stressful situations and thoughts can increase metabolic activities that cause insulin resistance, paving the way for weight gain, which manifests itself as fat, especially around the waist. Since increased insulin secretion increases appetite, especially the desire for sugar, it can cause fat around your waist and weight gain.
Suggestions to Help Balance Hormones by Reducing Stress Levels
Hormonal imbalances caused by stress can significantly affect your appetite, sleep quality, mood and the proper functioning of your systems. At this point, you can get support from good life habits and strategies that will help you manage stress.
Incorporating anti-inflammatory and Omega-3-rich ‘stress-fighting foods’ into your diet, such as salmon and walnuts, can help regulate insulin, cortisol and other stress hormones.
As we mentioned above, there doesn’t always have to be a ‘real’ threat around you for stress to occur. Worries about the future and negative thoughts left over from negative experiences in the past can also cause your body to be chronically stressed and the functioning of your systems to go into imbalance. This is an important indicator that we have control over our stress level, that is, we can manage our stress level by regulating the relationship we establish with our thoughts.
Stress is not related to the events that happen to us, but to our emotional and physiological reactions to these events. Many activities such as meditating regularly, engaging in hobbies that will help your mind stay in the moment, spending time in nature, and walking can help you calm your mind and regain control.
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Aromatherapy oils such as lavender oil, herbal teas, candles and incense that help you relax can also help you reduce the negative effects of stress on your body. Many good life practices that provide parasympathetic stimulation, such as taking a warm shower before going to bed, breathing exercises, and massaging your body, will also help regulate stress hormones and reduce the negative effects of stress.
As a result, many events, situations and thoughts cause you to feel stressed; It can cause an increase or decrease in the release of certain hormones in your body. If this change is not noticed and intervened early, it can negatively affect your mental and physical health. You can minimize the negative effects of chronic stress on your body with habits that will help you manage stress and get hormone levels back under control.
