Hormonal means relating to hormones — the chemical messengers that glands release into the blood to coordinate the body’s functions. Hunger and satiety (ghrelin, leptin), blood sugar (insulin, glucagon), stress (cortisol, adrenaline), growth, reproduction, and metabolism are all hormonally governed. In nutrition, “hormonal” describes influences and disorders of this messaging: hormonal hunger versus true energy need, the hormonal chaos of puberty or menopause that shifts appetite and weight, or hormonal conditions like hypothyroidism and Cushing’s that reshape metabolism. The food industry’s “hormone-free” meat labels trade on consumer unease about hormonal residues — though the science of actual risk is far more nuanced than the marketing.