Join Kristin as she explains how cortisol impacts our day-to-day life.
Cortisol is a steroid hormone, produced by your adrenal glands. It increases in a small amount when we eat, when we work out. It's normal to have acute upticks in cortisol. Where it can become an issue is when you have chronically elevated cortisol.
So cortisol, what is it? How much does it really impact us? Is it something we need to worry about? Let's talk about it. So cortisol is a steroid hormone, and hormones in general are messengers in the body, and they coordinate different functions throughout your systems. So steroid hormones, in particular glucose glucocorticosteroids, are the class that cortisol falls under. And cortisol specifically is produced by your adrenal glands, which sit above your kidneys. They are signaled to do so from the pituitary gland and hypothalamus in your brain.
So there's a lot of interplay. Pituitary, pituitary gland, hypothalamus in your brain signal. Oh, we need some cortisol. Adrenal glands are like, we got you. We pump out the cortisol. Cortisol increases in a small amount when we eat, when we work out. When you get a random, vague email from your boss, that freaks you out a little bit. That's normal. It's normal to have those acute upticks in cortisol. Where it can become an issue is when you have chronically elevated cortisol. And that I'll get into can come from a couple different things.
But acute upticks in cortisol are normal, and most important, they are transient. So when your cortisol goes up, it doesn't stay up. Your body knows how to react and respond to that, and it comes back down.
Reactions and comments are for members. Joining is free and takes a minute.
