You’re probably already heard of cortisol. Otherwise known as the stress hormone, it plays a crucial role in the body’s stress response, and can lead to anxiety, high blood pressure, facial puffiness (also known by its social media moniker: cortisol face) and abdominal weight gain are just a few of the effects of elevated cortisol levels.
While it’s true that cortisol is a key player in your body’s flight or flight response — the evolutionary state that your body switches to when faced with an anxiety-driven situation, catecholamines, a group of hormones that also function as neurotransmitters are also part of the bigger picture. Catecholamines, which are grouped as dopamine, adrenaline and noradrenaline are pumped out when you feel threatened with both physical and emotional stress.
