1. Insulin Resistance – when cortisol is raised, the hormone is signally for glucose to be released from the cells to provide the energy needed to handle the stress in front of you. When this is happening frequently, the hormone insulin isn’t able to do its job to send glucose into the cells for storage. This makes the blood glucose level higher than optimal and we begin seeing the problems of insulin resistance. You will frequently wake up in the middle of the night. (Remember above how I mentioned that cortisol helps wake you up in the morning? It does so by releasing stored glucose into the bloodstream for energy!) You may also notice increased sugar or salt cravings, fatigue, increased thirst, and urination, to name a few. Going uncontrolled, over time you could expect to have full-blown Type 2 diabetes.

2. Obesity – Elevated cortisol also contributes to weight gain and obesity. When you are stressed and have high cortisol coursing through your body, you can have cravings for relief and comfort. That’s why we have “comfort foods”, to calm us down when we feel anxious or fatigued or any other stressful emotion. Because your endocrine system perceives constant danger, cortisol is responsible for making sure you have plenty of stored energy in your cells for quick use. This makes you hungrier and more likely to put to store this energy (aka calories) in your adipose tissue throughout the body. Weight gain continues as cortisol continues to be high, always making sure you have the storage necessary to survive.

3. Adrenal Insufficiency – Chronically high cortisol plays a big role in adrenal insufficiency, aka adrenal fatigue or adrenal exhaustion. The adrenal glands are responsible for producing several hormones, including cortisol and epinephrine, but also sex hormones like estrogen. When you are in a stressed state, the adrenals are working overtime to protect you. Cortisol is having to be constantly produced and released and after a while, the adrenal glands become exhausted. When this happens, you could find that everything seems to fall apart. Someone with adrenal fatigue is exhausted.

The simplest tasks seem insurmountable. In women, menstrual and menopause symptoms become more extreme because this is not as important as protecting you in a stressed state. Other symptoms of adrenal exhaustion include weight gain, depression, inflammation, compromised immune system, and slow metabolism. Just to name a few.