Cortisol is essential; chronic stress is the real culprit
Experts say cortisol is vital for life; social media wrongly blames it for fatigue and weight gain.
Cortisol gets a rough deal on social media, blamed for stress to weight gain. University researchers and endocrinologists say it's actually essential.
The hormone helps control blood sugar, blood pressure and immune function. The hormone even helps with emotional processing.
Your cortisol levels naturally rise and fall throughout the day, and that's normal and healthy. Problems only emerge in rare conditions like Cushing's syndrome.
In this condition a tumour causes extreme, sustained elevation. For most people, the data linking cortisol to health problems is weak.
The real issue is chronic stress itself, not the hormone. Experts recommend ditching cortisol worry.
Focus instead on sleep, daylight, activity and actually addressing sources of stress.
- Theresa Larkin, University of Wollongong
- Researcher
- Ann McCormack
- Endocrinologist
Why it mattersYou may be wasting energy chasing cortisol hacks when the real solution is managing stress directly.
