Cortisol seems to be the hormone du jour right now with lots of attention from social media and popular magazines (Vogue anyone?). While there are hundreds of hormones in the body, cortisol is a steroid hormone that is naturally produced in the adrenal glands. The primary function of cortisol is preparing the body for stressful situations. Cortisol is integral in the Fight or Flight response and is key in morning wakefulness. It has been suggested that prolonged, high levels of stress that keep the body in a perpetual Fight or Flight mode can lead to negative health outcomes, increasing the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity. In fact the media has coined the phrase “cortisol belly,” suggesting that high cortisol from stress makes women retain fat in the abdomen and that losing this belly fat is as simple as drinking a “cortisol cocktail,” a drink containing coconut water, magnesium powder and citrus juices. While cortisol levels can be extreme and cause disease states such as Cushing’s disease (characterized by too much cortisol—whether from natural production or from taking steroid medications) or Addison’s disease (characterized by inadequate adrenal production of cortisol and other adrenal hormones), there is no good data to suggest that cortisol impacts the female hormones or that cortisol levels should be checked routinely. Because cortisol levels naturally vary during the course of a 24 hour day, the timing of cortisol testing is very important to achieve accurate results, should your doctor recommend that your cortisol level be checked. Eating can also impact the cortisol level, so testing should be done fasting. While I don’t find any compelling evidence to support routinely screening hormone levels, I do find that many women are STRESSED OUT. I suspect that if more rigorous research were performed, we would probably find that these women have higher cortisol levels than is ideal. So what do we do about it? We manage stress in healthy ways. Regular exercise, adequate sleep (7-9 hours per night), deep breathing or box breathing, practicing mindfulness and meditation, and limiting caffeine are all great ways to manage stress and keep cortisol working for you and not against you.
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Thank you, Beth, for this great question, and I apologize for the delay in getting information back to you!