🧠 Stress Hormones & Hormone Harmony: What You Need to Know

Stress is part of life—but what if we told you that how your body handles stress comes down to a few key hormones? And that understanding them is the first step toward reclaiming your energy, sleep, and mood?

At Itasca Naturopathic Clinic, we specialize in Hormone Harmony, and stress is often at the root of the imbalances our patients experience—whether it’s fatigue, insomnia, mood swings, or hormone-related weight gain.

Let’s take a closer look at the two primary stress hormones:

🧪 Cortisol & Adrenaline (Epinephrine)

• Adrenaline is your body’s immediate response to stress—think “fight or flight.”

• Cortisol works on a longer timeline, influencing your metabolism, immune function, sleep, and mood.

A healthy cortisol rhythm looks like this:

• ☀️ Morning peak (to energize you for the day)

• ⛅ Steady decline in the afternoon

• 🌙 Low at night (to support restful sleep)

When life is overwhelming—or when daily habits pile up—this rhythm can get thrown off.

🚨 What Disrupts Cortisol?

Stress doesn’t just come from emotional strain. Your body can feel “stressed” by:

• Skipping meals or undereating

• Scrolling late at night

• Overdoing intense workouts

• Living on caffeine and adrenaline

At our clinic, we help patients investigate what’s actually going on with cortisol. We use urinary or salivary hormone testing to understand your stress pattern—and then design a plan to reset your rhythm.

🥗 Food is Medicine (Even for Stress!)

Blood sugar balance is one of the most underrated ways to support cortisol levels.
Here’s how we guide our patients:

• ✅ Eat balanced meals consistently

• ✅ Avoid blood sugar spikes (limit refined sugars)

• ✅ Choose fiber-rich foods

• ✅ Stay hydrated

Skipping meals? That’s a stressor. Balanced eating? That’s a signal of safety to your body.

🏃‍♀️ Movement Matters—But Balance Is Key

Exercise is a powerful tool for stress resilience—when used wisely. While high-intensity workouts temporarily spike cortisol, they also help recalibrate the stress response over time. And gentler practices like yoga or tai chi can activate your calming parasympathetic system.

We help patients figure out what type and level of movement matches their current hormone and stress picture.

💬 Want to Know What Your Cortisol is Doing?

We include hormone testing in some of our Jumpstart Your Health and Olympic Tier Membership packages. These insights help us create personalized strategies so you can feel balanced, energized, and clear-headed again.

✨ Ready to feel like yourself again?
Let’s find your rhythm—book your free discovery call today.

Rachel Oppitz, ND