Join Kristin as she explains how cortisol impacts our bodies and lives.
Cortisol, in small amounts, in normal fluctuations day to day, can suppress inflammation. High cortisol has shown to be associated with high blood pressure and low cortisol associated with low blood pressure. Cortisol naturally ebbs and flows throughout our day.
Cortisol, actually, in small amounts, in normal fluctuations day to day, can suppress inflammation. So that in turn can actually help us when we have chronically high cortisol, whether from a medical condition or like very severe chronic stress, your body adapts to having that amount of cortisol and it no longer has as much of that effect. So then you can get some of that chronic inflammation. Blood pressure. We're not sure the mechanism with blood pressure, but high cortisol has shown to be associated with high blood pressure and low cortisol associated with low blood pressure.
So that's another thing. Cortisol naturally ebbs and flows throughout our day. So when you think about, oh, you have high cortisol at any given moment, we might, depending on the day, and in some ways it's supposed to be that way. So cortisol is highest right before you wake up. And with all of those mechanisms that I just shared, it's increasing blood pressure, it's increasing your blood sugar. It's really prepping you for the day to wake up. And it's also, you see a higher level of cortisol in, like, not early afternoon, I guess, like late afternoon.
And then it's lowest when we sleep, so it's naturally going up and down. And that way it's playing with our sleep cycles and our circadian rhythms as well.
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