Is Stress Aging You? The Truth About Cortisol After 35

Is cortisol really the problem, or have we been blaming the wrong thing?

If you've spent any time on social media, you've probably heard that cortisol is responsible for everything from belly fat and poor sleep to weight gain and burnout. But is that actually true?

In this episode of Healthspan on Her Terms, we're separating science from social media and exploring what chronic stress really does inside the body. You'll learn why your stress response is not broken. It is one of the most remarkable survival systems you have. The goal is not to eliminate cortisol. The goal is to build resilience.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• What cortisol actually does and why your body needs it

• How the hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal glands work together during stress

• Why stress often feels different during perimenopause and menopause

• The truth about "adrenal fatigue" and what the evidence actually says

• When cortisol testing may be helpful and when it is not

• Simple ways to support recovery, improve resilience, and protect your long term health

We'll also connect the dots between stress, hormones, sleep, energy, and healthspan because no system in the body works in isolation.

If you've ever wondered why you're feeling more overwhelmed, sleeping more lightly, or taking longer to recover than you used to, this episode will help you better understand what your body may be trying to tell you.

Building your healthspan is not about eliminating stress. It is about helping your body recover, adapt, and thrive through every stage of life.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a friend. Together, we're helping more women understand their bodies and build healthier, more vibrant years ahead.

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Courses & Digital Guides: Not in a state I serve? Browse self-paced courses and clinically written guides on hormones, energy, sleep, cortisol, and gut health:
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Transcript

Stress And The Cortisol Hype

Speaker 0:00

Have you ever found yourself saying I'm just stressed? Maybe you're balancing work and family, taking care of an aging parent, helping adult children navigating their own lives, trying to make healthier choices while somehow fitting everything into an already full day? Stress has become such a normal part of modern life that we almost expect to feel overwhelmed. We say it's just stress or keep pushing through. But what if stress isn't something you simply have to live with? What if it's quietly affecting your sleep, your mood, your weight, your blood sugar, your digestion, even how well your immune system works? And then there's social media. Everywhere we look, someone is talking about cortisol. Lowering your cortisol, balancing your cortisol, heal your adrenals, drink this, take that, avoid these foods. It's enough to make everyone wonder is cortisol really the problem? Today we're separating science from social media. We're talking about what chronic stress actually does inside your body, why it often feels different during midlife, and why understanding stress isn't about fearing cortisol. It's about understanding one of the most remarkable survival systems your body has. Welcome back to Healthspan on Her Terms. I'm Dr. Sheri Erwin, a doctorate prepared nurse practitioner, certified integrative clinician, and founder of Root and Remedy Integrative Care. If you're new here, welcome. This podcast is all about helping women better understand what their bodies are trying to tell them so they can make informed decisions about their health and create a longer, healthier, more vibrant life. One of the themes you've probably noticed if you've been listening is that our bodies are constantly communicating with us. Fatigue, brain fog, hair loss, weight changes, sleep problems, they're all symptoms, and symptoms are clues. They invite us to slow down, become curious, and ask better questions. Over the past two weeks, we've talked about normal thyroid tests and why they don't always explain how you're feeling. Then we talked about hair loss and why it's often a reflection of what's happening somewhere else in your body. One of the things we mentioned in that episode was stress. Because whether we're talking about your thyroid, your hair, your sleep, your metabolism, or your hormones, stress has a way of showing up in almost every conversation. But somewhere along the way, I think we've oversimplified the discussion. Today it seems like every symptom gets blamed on cortisol. Feeling tired must be your cortisol, can't lose weight, must be your cortisol, waking up at 3 o'clock in the morning, definitely your cortisol. Social media has made cortisol the villain, but here's what I hope you'll discover today. Cortisol isn't your enemy. In fact, without cortisol, you couldn't survive. The problem is when the stress response that was designed to protect you stays switched on longer than it should. And that's a very different conversation. Today we're going to explore what chronic stress actually does inside the body, why it often feels different during perimenopause and menopause, and why building resilience is far more important than trying to lower your cortisol. Because once you understand how your stress response works, you'll stop seeing your body as something that's working against you. You will begin seeing it for what it really is. A remarkable system that's doing its very best to protect you.

Why Stress Keeps You Alive

Speaker 4:15

So let's start with a question. What if I told you that stress isn't actually the problem? In fact, without stress, you wouldn't be alive. Stress isn't the enemy. If I asked you whether stress is good or bad, I think most people would immediately say bad. And honestly, I understand. When we think about stress, we think about feeling overwhelmed, being exhausted, feeling anxious, having too much on our plate. But here's something that may surprise you. Stress itself isn't the enemy. In fact, stress is one of the reasons you're alive today. Let me give you an example. Imagine you're walking through a parking lot, you're thinking about what you're going to make for dinner. Maybe you're listening to a podcast, and suddenly a car backs out without seeing you. Without even thinking, you jump out of the way. Your heart starts racing, your breathing becomes faster, your muscles tighten, your vision becomes laser focused, your brain isn't thinking about dinner anymore. It's thinking about one thing, keeping you alive. You didn't consciously tell your heart to beat faster, you didn't tell your lungs to breathe more deeply. You didn't tell your muscles to prepare to move. Your body did it all on its own for you. In a fraction of a second, that's your stress response. And it's absolutely remarkable. In fact, stress isn't harming you. Stress is protecting you. It's allowing you to react faster than conscious thought ever could. For thousands of years, this system has helped humans survive predators, natural disasters, injuries, and other life-threatening situations. Without it, our species probably wouldn't be here. So I never want you to think stress as something your body does wrong. It's actually something your body does incredibly well. The problem isn't that we have a stress response. The problem is the problem is many of us rarely give our bodies permission to turn it off.

The Brain To Adrenal Relay

Speaker 6:38

So what happens inside your body during those moments? Let's take a quick tour through one of the most incredible communication systems you have. Because once you understand how it works, all of those conversations about cortisol begin to make a lot more sense. So what actually happens inside your body when you encounter something stressful? Whether it's that car backing out of the parking space, a heated argument, a difficult phone call, or even opening an email that instantly makes your stomach drop. Your brain is constantly scanning your environment. Its number one job is simple. Keep you alive. The moment your brain perceives a threat, it begins sending messages throughout your body. Think of it like a relay race. The first runner hands the baton to the second, the second hands it to the third. Each part of the system knows exactly what to do. It starts in a small area of the brain called the hypothalamus. You don't need to remember that name. Just think of it as your body's command sender. The hypothalamus sends a message to another small gland called the pituitary. The pituitary then sends a signal to your adrenal glands, which sit on top of your kidneys, and your adrenals release cortisol. Now here's something important. Cortisol didn't create the emergency. It responded to it. Its job is to help your body meet the demands of the moment. It helps make more glucose or sugar, availability so your brain and your muscles have fuel. It supports your blood pressure so blood continues to flow where it needs to. It works alongside adrenaline to prepare your body to react quickly. It temporarily shifts your body's priorities. Digestion can slow, reproduction takes a back seat. Your immune system changes the way it responds. Because in an emergency, your body isn't worried about digesting your lunch or growing healthy hair. It's focused on survival. That's exactly what it's supposed to do. And here's the amazing part. Once the danger passes, your brain receives another message. You're safe now. Your heart rate slows down, your breathing settles down, your digestion resumes, your body begins repairing, restoring, and recovering. That's how the stress response was designed to work. A challenge, a response, and a recovery.

When Stress Becomes Your Baseline

Speaker 9:19

But here's where modern life becomes different. Most of us aren't running from predators. We're dealing with deadlines, financial concerns, caregiving, relationship challenges, constant notifications, sleep deprivation, health concerns. The stressors may look different than they did thousands of years ago, but your brain doesn't necessarily distinguish between physical threat and psychological. If your brain perceives something as significant threat, it activates many of the same biological pathways. That's why your heart can race before giving a presentation, why your stomach tightens before a difficult conversation. Why you can lie awake replaying an argument that happened hours earlier. Your body is trying to protect you. The challenge isn't that the system exists, the challenge is that many of us experience one stressor after another without giving our bodies enough opportunity to recover. Instead of moving through stress, we begin living in it. And that's when we start seeing effects throughout nearly every system in the body. So why does this seem to become even more noticeable during our 40s and 50s? Why do so many women tell me I used to handle stress just fine, but now everything feels so much harder? That's where hormones, aging, and resilience all begin to intersect.

Why Midlife Stress Hits Harder

Speaker 10:52

Why stress feels different in your 40s? Why can't I handle stress the way I used to? Maybe you've even said something similar. Ten years ago, I could juggle work, kids, aging parents, and a hundred other responsibilities and tasks. Now, one unexpected problem feels overwhelming. If that's you, you're not imagining it. Many women notice that stress feels different during perimenopause and menopause. Not because you've suddenly become weaker, not because you've lost your ability to cope, and certainly not because you failed somehow. The truth is your body is changing. During our reproductive years, estrogen does far more than regulate our menstrual cycles. It influences our brain, it affects our blood vessels, it interacts with the immune system, it supports our bone health, and it plays a role in metabolism. And it's also interacting with many systems involved in our stress response. As estrogen begins to fluctuate during perimenopause and eventually decline after menopause, many women notice they don't recover from stress the way they used to. You may find yourself feeling more emotionally reactive. Your sleep may become more fragile. You may notice that it's taken longer to recharge after a busy week. The same amount of stress that felt manageable in your 30s may feel much heavier in your 40s and 50s. That doesn't mean your stress response is broken. It means the environment in which it's operating in has changed. And then there's another piece of the puzzle. Many women reach midlife carrying more responsibility than they ever did before. And you may be building your career, supporting teenagers or adult children, helping aging parents, managing your own health, navigating relationship changes, planning for retirement, or grieving the loss of a loved one. It's often not one major stressor, it's a culmination of dozens of small ones. Each one asks just a little more from your body. Over time, those demands can leave you very little room for recovery. And remember what we talked about earlier. A healthy stress response isn't just about responding. It's about recovering. If every day brings another demand, another deadline, another interruption, your nervous system may never fully receive the message that it's safe to settle down. Here's something I think is fascinating. Our brains don't only respond to what's happening right now, they also respond to what might happen. And sometimes even to what's about to happen. And sometimes even to what already happened. Think about that for a moment. You can be sitting quietly in your living room, completely safe, and suddenly remember an uncomfortable conversation from yesterday. Your heart starts to increase, your shoulders tighten, your stomach tightens, nothing is happening in the room around you, but your body responds because your brain has brought that experience back into the present. The same thing happens when we worry about the future. Maybe you're lying in bed thinking about tomorrow's meeting, or waiting for a test result, or worrying about someone you love. Your body begins preparing for a threat that hasn't even happened yet. That's one of the reasons chronic stress can feel so exhausting. Our stress response isn't only activated by what's happening, it can also be activated by what we're remembering or anticipating. And while that's part of human life, it also reminds us why practices that help us come back to the present moment can be very powerful.

Cortisol Basics And Daily Rhythm

Speaker 15:00

So if stress affects nearly every system in the body, why does so much of the conversation focus on just one hormone? Let's talk about cortisol, what it actually does, and why I think it's one of the most misunderstood hormones in the modern health conversation. By now, you've probably noticed something. We've talked a lot about stress, but not very much about cortisol. Because while cortisol plays an important role in the stress response, I think it's become one of the most misunderstood hormones on social media. Somewhere along the way, we've started blaming cortisol for almost everything. I can't lose weight, it must be cortisol. Waking up at three in the morning, it must be cortisol. Feeling tired, it must be cortisol. Brain fog, definitely cortisol. Our bodies are much more complex than that. Cortisol isn't simply good or bad. It's a hormone with a job to do. In fact, if your body didn't make cortisol, you would become critically ill. People with conditions that prevent them from producing enough cortisol require lifelong treatment because cortisol is essential for life. It helps regulate your blood pressure, it supports your immune system, it helps maintain blood sugar, it influences your sleep-wake cycle, and it helps your body respond appropriately to both physical and emotional stress. So the goal isn't to eliminate cortisol. The goal is for your body to produce the right amount at the right time for the right reason. That's what healthy physiology looks like. So what about high cortisol? This is where things become more nuanced. Yes, there are medical conditions where cortisol levels are abnormally high, such as Cushing syndrome. There's also conditions where cortisol production is too low, such as Addison's disease. Those are real medical disorders and they require medical evaluation and treatment. But those conditions are relatively uncommon. Most people talking about cortisol online aren't talking about those disorders. They're talking about everyday stress. And that's where we have to be careful. Chronic stress doesn't necessarily mean your cortisol is constantly high. In fact, your body's stress response is dynamic. Cortisol naturally rises and falls throughout the day. It tends to be highest in the morning, helping you wake up and become alert. Then it gradually declines as the day goes on, preparing your body for rest at night. The daily rhythm is just as important as the amount of cortisol your body produces. When sleep is disrupted, when we're constantly under stress, when we're not recovering well, the rhythm can become disrupted. And that's one reason stress can influence energy, mood, sleep, without being it's just high cortisol.

Adrenal Fatigue Claims And Testing

Speaker 18:16

What about adrenal fatigue? You may also have heard the term adrenal fatigue, often used to describe symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, feeling burnt out, or difficulty handling stress. Those symptoms are absolutely real. I want to emphasize that. They're real, but based on the evidence we have today, the idea that the adrenal glands simply become fatigue from everyday chronic stress isn't supported by any major endocrine organization. That doesn't mean nothing is happening. It means the explanation is likely much more complex. Your brain, your nervous system, your sleep, inflammation, hormones, nutrition, physical activity, mental health, and your immune system. All of these systems influence how you experience stress. That's why I think it's more helpful to stop asking, how do I lower my cortisol? Instead, ask, how do I better support my body's ability to respond to stress and recover from stress? That is a very different question. Should you test your cortisol? Another question I hear a lot. The answer is sometimes. It depends on the question you're trying to answer. If your healthcare provider is concerned about a condition like Cushing syndrome or adrenal insufficiency, there are well-established medical tests that can help evaluate those possibilities. In some situations, clinicians may also use specialized testing to determine and answer specific clinical questions. But testing should always be interpreted in the context of your symptoms, your medical history, your medications, your physical exam, and the reason the test is ordered. A laboratory result without a clinical context rarely tells the whole story. Remember what we've talked about throughout this podcast. Whether it's a thyroid test, an iron study, or cortisol, labs are tools. They're incredibly valuable tools, but they're one piece of a puzzle, not the entire puzzle.

Building Resilience Through Real Recovery

Speaker 20:33

So if the answer isn't simply lower your cortisol, what can we actually do to help our bodies handle stress more effectively? The good news is the goal isn't to eliminate stress, it is to become better at recovering from it. And that's something we can all work on. So what can we do? By now you might have been thinking, okay, I understand stress works, but my life isn't going to become less stressful tomorrow. And you're probably right. Most of us can't simply eliminate stress. We can't quit every demanding job. We can't remove every family responsibility. We can't prevent difficult seasons of life. The goal isn't to create a life with no stress. The goal is to help your body recover from stress more effectively. Remember what we talked about earlier. A healthy stress response has three parts a challenge, a response, and a recovery. Many of us have become very good at responding. We're incredibly resilient women. We solve problems, we take care of our family, we meet deadlines, we show up for everyone else, but we're not always very good at recovery. And recovery isn't laziness. Recovery is physiology. It is the process that allows your nervous system to shift out of survival mode and back into a state where your body can repair, restore, digest, build. Muscle, support your immune system, and prepare for tomorrow. That recovery looks different for everyone. For some people, it starts with protecting sleep. For others, it means eating enough protein and nourishing their bodies consistently instead of skipping meals. Sometimes it's regular physical activity, not because exercise burns calories, but because movement helps regulate the nervous system and improves resilience over time. It might be spending time outside. Maybe it's connecting with people who make you feel safe and supported. Maybe it's practicing mindfulness or prayer. Deep breathing, yoga, laughter, moments of quiet. None of those things eliminate stress, but they help your body recover from stress. And those moments matter more than most people realize. I also want to say something that I think many women need to hear. You don't have to earn rest. You don't have to wait until everything on your to-do list is finished before you give your body permission to recover. In fact, if you're waiting for life to become stress-free before you care for yourself, you're probably going to be waiting a really long time. Sometimes the healthiest thing you can do is intentionally create small moments throughout your day that remind your nervous system, I'm safe. That might be taking five minutes of slow, deep breathing before walking into your next meeting, stepping outside for a few minutes for fresh air every day, maybe calling or texting a friend, putting your phone down during dinner, or simply sitting quietly with your morning coffee before the day begins. These aren't small things. They're ways of helping your body shift from constant survival into recovery. And over time, those small moments can have a meaningful impact on your overall health. If there's one thing I hope you remember from today's episode, it is this. Stress isn't something your body does to you. It is something your body does for you. The goal isn't to fear your stress response, it is to understand it and give your body the opportunity to recover. If there's one thing I hope you take away, stress is not your enemy. In fact, your stress response is one of the most remarkable systems your body has. It is designed to protect you, to help you adapt, to help you survive. The challenge isn't that your body responds to stress. The challenge is in modern life, we're not often given enough time to recover. And the recovery isn't a luxury. It is part of how your body was designed to function. Every night you sleep, every nourishing meal you eat, every walk you take, every meaningful conversation, every moment you spend laughing, every deep breath. Those are all ways you're telling your body you're safe now. And that's when healing begins. I also hope today's conversation gives you permission to be a little more skeptical of simple answers. Health is rarely explained by one hormone, one lab test, one supplement, or one diagnosis. It's about understanding all of the systems in your body are working together. That's what we've been exploring over these last few weeks. First, we talked about the thyroid and why normal thyroid tests don't always explain how you're feeling. Then we explored hair loss and why it's often a reflection of what's happening somewhere else in your body. Today, we've learned that stress isn't simply cortisol. It's about understanding one of the body's most important survival systems and recognizing that resilience isn't built by avoiding stress. It's built by creating opportunities to recover. And I think that's an encouraging message because while we can't control every stressful event in our lives, we can support the remarkable bodies way to recover.

Key Takeaways And What’s Next

Speaker 26:29

If you found today's episode helpful, I'd love for you to share it with a friend or leave a review wherever you listen to the podcast. It helps more women discover these conversations and it builds a community of women who are learning to better understand their bodies. Before we finish today, I want to leave you with one more thought. The goal isn't to live a stress-free life. That's simply not realistic. The goal is to build a body that's resilient enough to move through life's challenges, recover well, and continue doing the things that matter the most to you. That's what Healthspan is all about. Next week, we're going to tackle another question I hear all the time. Why do I keep waking up at three in the morning? Is it my hormones, my blood sugar, stress, aging, or is there more to the story? We'll connect the dots between sleep, hormones, metabolism, and the nervous system, and I'll help you understand why a good night's sleep is about much more than simply getting enough hours in the bed. And I hope you'll join me. If you'd like to connect with me or explore more resources, you can reach me at root and remedyic.com or through the links to in today's show notes. Thank you so much for spending part of your day with me. Until next time, remember your body isn't working against you, it's communicating with you. And every symptom is an opportunity to better understand the remarkable woman you are becoming. Take care, and I'll see you next week.