Glossary
Cortisol
The main human glucocorticoid, released tens of minutes into a stress response. It permits, stimulates and prepares the response and also shuts it down: the accelerator and much of the brake.
Published Updated
Graded claims that mention Cortisol
- Should you wait 90 minutes after waking for coffee?Untested, and the reasoning looks backward.Evidence grade: Emerging. Early, small, animal-only, or actively contested.
- Is adrenal fatigue real?False.Evidence grade: Probable. Good observational evidence with a plausible mechanism, or small or few trials.
Chapters of the book that mention Cortisol
Where this comes from
In the reference topic that owns this term
Reference topic 28, Stress and the Hijacked Alarm, states the mismatch as a card: what the system evolved to expect, what it gets instead, and what happens in the gap.
Mismatch card
- What it expects
Threats that arrive, get answered with the body, and end, among allies.
- What it gets
Uncontrollable social evaluation without end, in steep hierarchies, carried into the night on short sleep and thin company.
- What happens in the gap
Rhythms flatten, tissues stop hearing cortisol's stand-down order, inflammation runs on, wounds close slowly and primed arteries fail sooner.
What that chapter recommends
3 of the 7 graded recommendations in Reference topic 28, strongest evidence first. How the grades work.
Move most days, and let some of it be hard
StrongEvidence grade: Strong. Multiple randomized controlled trials, or consistent large cohort studies with a well-understood mechanism.Across 97 reviews covering 1,039 trials and 128,119 people, physical activity produced medium reductions in depression, anxiety and distress, larger at higher intensity. In 10 trials it lowered cortisol modestly.
For persistent anxiety or stress, consider an eight-week mindfulness course
StrongEvidence grade: Strong. Multiple randomized controlled trials, or consistent large cohort studies with a well-understood mechanism.Meditation programs beat inactive controls modestly and no active treatment reliably. In one trial of 276 adults with anxiety disorders, an eight-week course of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) was non-inferior...
Borrow calm from people before you need it
ProbableEvidence grade: Probable. Good observational evidence with a plausible mechanism, or small or few trials.Bring a trusted person to the stressful thing, not just to the debrief.
Related terms
Graded recommendations elsewhere that mention Cortisol
- Make each visit 20 to 30 minutes; 10 minutes still registersEvidence grade: Emerging. Early, small, animal-only, or actively contested.Topic 27
- Use touchEvidence grade: Probable. Good observational evidence with a plausible mechanism, or small or few trials.Topic 29
- Keep touch in the repertoire, where it is welcomeEvidence grade: Probable. Good observational evidence with a plausible mechanism, or small or few trials.Topic 42
Other reference topics that mention Cortisol
Corrections that mention Cortisol
The argument behind this term, its studies and its notes are in Reference topic 28 of the reference library. The book gives the practical version. Get the book.