I feel as though I have seen an uptick in (holistic) health folks online talking about the importance of being aware of your cortisol levels. I am incredibly sceptical of holistic medicine, particularly when new ‘levels to track’ seem come out of nowhere, and when the suggested resultant ‘symptoms’ pointed to on social media are so vague so as to apply to basically anyone experiencing the effects of living everyday life.
What is cortisol, what does it do, and is it something doctors rely on as a marker of health? Is there even a way for laypeople to track and target this one variable reliably?
In: Biology
If stress is fire, cortisol is the smoke.
Remember, though, that you need a bit of stress. You’re a steam engine, not a cantaloupe.
From memory you can experimentally track cortisol using a saliva test.
You can learn about cortisol in any good textbook on stress. Ask your local public library.
Tracking cortisol is a 100 dollar answer to a 10 dollar problem. Be aware of your stress. Blood pressure, appetite, exercise, forgetting things are all indicators.
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