Cortisol Part IV: What to do if it goes astray

So is it a lie that cortisol is bad?

Dec 11, 2022

∙ Paid

Welcome to the fourth and final installment of this mini-series on cortisol. You may know cortisol as "the stress hormone", but if you have been following along, by now you realize it does a lot more. You may be wondering: if cortisol helps regulate... pretty much everything... why does it have this bad reputation?

And if you are just jumping in, here are parts I-III:

Brighter Days, Darker Nights

Cortisol Part I: Stop the anti-cortisol rhetoric

Blaming cortisol for health problems is like blaming EMTs for accidents. It doesn't make sense. Cortisol is an endogenous (made by the body) hormone with many vital functions. Like vitamin D, another endogenous hormone, cortisol comes from cholesterol. In today's post, I will share a more welcoming and integrated view of cortisol. This is the first in a new series all about learning to appreciate the “stress hormone” cortisol…

a year ago · 2 likes · 1 comment · Doula Nikko

Brighter Days, Darker Nights

Cortisol Part II: Optimal Rhythm

Welcome to the second article in my new cortisol series. Last time, I shared the view that cortisol is a natural hormone the body needs. Cortisol increases in response to stress, but itself, is not bad. Today, I'll share with you the optimal daily cortisol rhythm. As you may remember, cortisol plays a big part in your circadian rhythm…

a year ago · Doula Nikko

Brighter Days, Darker Nights

Cortisol Part III: More than a "Stress Hormone"

Welcome to the third part of my new series on cortisol. The study of hormones is endocrinology. While the workings are dense, they also explain a lot about our experiences as humans. Today, we're going to look into what cortisol does, and why we need it. This is part of my mission to stop the anti-cortisol rhetoric. We need to love, understand, and most of all, trust cortisol, if we are going to adopt a more circadian lifestyle…

a year ago · Doula Nikko

So is it a lie that cortisol is bad?

Some of the cortisol-stigma comes from the time before we knew about the rhythm of cortisol. To early researchers, time of day (which causes >70% of the variance1) was "nuisance variation." A nuisance to measure, but not a nuisance to the body! Strong daily variation is what we want to see.

You may be wondering: if cortisol helps regulate... pretty much everything... why does it have this poor reputation?

As it turns out, a flattened cortisol slope (lack of variance) is the problem when it comes to cortisol. Think about what would would happen if:

cortisol levels didn't rise in the morning (…

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