Since 1998, ZRT has tested adrenal hormones for 1.8 million individuals.
What Are the Adrenal Glands?
The adrenal glands, otherwise known as the "stress glands," enable our bodies to cope with stress and survive. Shaped like two tiny pyramids, they sit atop the kidneys and from this central location mobilise the response to changes in our environment.
Whether stress comes from outside — in the form of a natural disaster — or from within, like the anxiety we experience before public speaking, it is the adrenals' job to help us adapt to the situation.
Key Adrenal Hormones and What They Do
The adrenal glands accomplish their work by secreting three key hormones:
- Cortisol: The primary stress hormone that fine-tunes our response to the stress of everyday living.
- DHEA: One of the most abundant hormones in the body and a precursor to estrogens and testosterone; also balances some of the negative effects of high cortisol.
- Epinephrine / Norepinephrine: Neurotransmitters that mobilise the body's natural "fight or flight" response in an emergency.
Adrenal glands that are in balance produce adequate amounts of hormones to power us through the day. These hormones impact just about every process in the body — from energy production and immune activity to cellular maintenance and repair. They are key regulators of glucose, insulin and inflammation, and play a major role in bone and muscle building, mood and mental focus, stamina, sex drive and sleep cycles.
What Happens When Adrenal Hormones Are Out of Balance?
High Cortisol
Results in insomnia, anxiety, sugar cravings, feeling tired but wired, increased belly fat and bone loss.
Low Cortisol
Causes chronic fatigue, low energy, food and sugar cravings, poor exercise tolerance or recovery, and low immune reserves.
DHEA Imbalance
Out-of-balance adrenals can lead to either high or low DHEA, both of which have downstream effects on sex hormone production and overall vitality.
How to Test Your Adrenal Hormones
Patients can conduct a saliva cortisol test or a urine cortisol test to assess adrenal hormones. This involves collecting four non-invasive samples over the course of one day, from which ZRT is able to generate results with a diurnal cortisol curve. This four-point graph reveals cortisol levels throughout the day and allows health care providers to pinpoint issues with adrenal gland function.
Saliva testing has long been used as an accurate and reliable method for measuring cortisol because it is simple and non-invasive, and patients can collect samples multiple times per day. It is also easy to assess DHEA in these samples.
Our Adrenal Stress Profile (Saliva) measures cortisol at four time points across the day alongside DHEA-S, giving you a complete picture of your adrenal function from the comfort of home. For a broader hormonal overview that includes sex hormones alongside your adrenal panel, our Multi-Hormone Profile Tests combine cortisol, DHEA, estradiol, progesterone and testosterone in a single kit.
10 Tips to Achieving Adrenal Health & Hormone Balance
The adrenal glands enable your body to cope with stress and survive. Whether stress comes from inside or out, it is the adrenals' job to help us adapt. Here are the top 10 tips for returning to hormone balance and achieving adrenal health.
Do these symptoms sound familiar?
- Aches & pains
- Sleep disturbances
- Chronic irritability
- Weight gain around the waist
- Depression
- Morning or evening fatigue
- Sugar / food cravings
- Susceptibility to infections
- Diabetes / pre-diabetes
- Low libido
- Exercise aerobically to improve oxygenation and relieve stress. Exercise outside whenever possible.
- Counteract stress with stretching, deep breathing, yoga, Pilates, walking or swimming.
- Consider daily meditation to help decrease stress on mind and body — work up to 20-minute daily sessions.
- Support your adrenals nutritionally with vitamins C, D3 and E, plus magnesium, calcium, zinc, selenium and iodine — essential co-factors required for the production of adrenal hormones.
- Increase fun activities that fuel your life's passions — gardening, painting, cooking, or anything that brings you joy.
- Try adaptogenic herbs known to strengthen the adrenals' ability to adapt to stress — look for preparations with ashwagandha, maca, rhodiola, cordyceps and/or Siberian ginseng.
- Prioritise sleep: aim for 7–8 hours a night, and never underestimate the restorative power of a 15-minute power nap.
- Prioritise ME time to unwind, enjoy life and soothe stress hormones.
- Test your hormones to detect hidden imbalances. Our Adrenal Stress Profile is the ideal starting point.
- Act the way you want to feel — research shows it works. Recommended reading: The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.
Originally ZRT Laboratory. Reproduced with permission. Last reviewed: May 2026.