Stress is everywhere. But when it goes out of control, the whole body feels it. The main culprit of this strain is cortisol, often referred to as the “stress hormone.” Cortisol plays a vital role in how your body responds to pressure. But too much of it, especially over time, can wreak havoc, impacting everything from your sleep and mood to immunity and metabolism.

 

Mindfulness 101:Bring calm into your day with these daily tips. Sign up here.

 

A 2023 study by the National Institute of Health shows that cortisol is a powerful steroid hormone made from cholesterol. It’s produced in a specific part of your adrenal glands called the zona fasciculata. The production process kicks off when your brain releases ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone), which tells your body to bring in more cholesterol and convert it into cortisol. This process starts with a key enzyme that acts as the "on" switch.

What makes cortisol especially interesting? It has access to almost every tissue in your body. That means it can influence nearly every major system, including:

• Your brain and nerves (nervous system)
• Your immune response
• Heart and blood flow (cardiovascular system)
• Breathing (respiratory system)
• Sex hormones and fertility (reproductive system)
• Muscles and bones (musculoskeletal system)
• Your skin and hair (integumentary system)

What’s more surprising? It's not just major life events that trigger high cortisol. Everyday habits, like slouching in your chair, sipping too much coffee, or hitting the gym too hard, can all quietly nudge your stress levels up. Let’s explore some lesser-known but important cortisol triggers you should know about.

Related story: Cortisol And Its Link to Weight Gain

 

5 Factors That May Trigger the Stress Response

Stress is often perceived as mental pressure from deadlines, arguments, or financial concerns, but it encompasses much more. Your daily habits, posture, sleep patterns, and even that seemingly harmless morning coffee can all contribute to increased cortisol levels, the primary stress hormone in your body. It’s crucial to recognise how you might be elevating your stress levels without even being aware of it. 

1. Weariness of Body Posture: Your body’s physical state plays a huge role in how stressed you feel, yes, even how you sit or breathe matters. A 2024 study cited in the Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice reveals that if your body is exhausted from getting stuck in traffic or riding packed public transport daily, that routine frustration raises cortisol levels. Also, think slouched shoulders, hunched back, those "small" postural cues actually tell your body you’re under pressure, and cortisol goes up. Besides this, regular exercise is great, but going too hard, too often, especially with intense workouts, can spike cortisol instead of calming it down.

 

Related story: How To Stress Less, Live Long And Be Healthy

 

2. Substances That Spike Stress: Some things that make you feel good temporarily might be messing with your stress hormones behind the scenes. Take that glass of wine, it might help you unwind short-term, but regular drinking keeps cortisol levels high over time. Another harmful substance is smoke. Even just two cigarettes can increase cortisol, not to mention other health risks. Additionally, A 2018 study in Psychoneuroendocrinology shows that THC (marijuana) may relax your mind, but it raises cortisol in a dose-dependent way.

 

Related story: 3 Ways Stress Can Make You Sick

 

3. Sleep Disruptions & Circadian Chaos: Sleep is your body's way of nudging reset. If you’re not sleeping well, your stress levels will show it. A 2022 report in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience states that just one night of poor sleep can cause a cortisol spike the next evening. Another one is bad quality sleep. Interrupted sleep keeps your stress response on high alert. Similarly, staying up past your usual bedtime, even if you're "just scrolling" confuses your internal clock and raises cortisol. Not to forget, people who work odd hours or fly across time zones a lot (like flight crews) tend to have consistently higher cortisol levels.

 

Related story: How To Relieve Stress

4. Stimulants That Secretly Stress You Out: As a matter of fact, some of the things we reach for to keep going actually push our cortisol higher behind the scenes. Whether it’s coffee, energy drinks, or pre-workout, caffeine gives you a quick boost, but it also spikes cortisol, especially when you’re already stressed or sleep-deprived.

 

Related story: How Anxiety Impact Your Body

5. Environment Can Stimulate Stress Too: But it’s not just what you consume, but also the environment you live in can provoke stress in the body. That sudden notification from your phone might seem harmless, but those random interruptions shock your nervous system and subtly trigger a cortisol release. Apart from this, blue light messes with melatonin and throws off your natural sleep-wake cycle, which in turn hikes cortisol. And doomscrolling the crisis headlines can cause anxiety that keeps your brain in alert mode. 

 

Cortisol isn’t your enemy, it’s essential for survival. But chronic high levels? That’s a different story. By becoming aware of these everyday triggers, from your posture to your coffee habits, you can take small, mindful steps toward a more balanced stress response. Your body’s whispering all the time. You just need to listen.

 

Mindfulness 101:Bring calm into your day with these daily tips. Sign up here.