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Apart from stressful situations, in the morning, when you wake up, your cortisol levels are at their highest. You should then be refreshed, full of energy and be optimistic about the new day.
During the day you should not feel tired – concentration is at a satisfactory level, you do not forget where you left your keys or phone, you do not have hunger / sweet pangs.
In the evening, along with calming down, the level of cortisol drops by nearly half, and our body takes over melatonin. You should fall asleep quickly, in a maximum of 20 minutes and sleep all night without waking up (maybe one visit to the toilet is still ok;)). And how do these standards look numerically?
- In the morning, from 8:00 to 12:00 – 5 – 25 µg / dl,
- during the day, from 12:00 to 20:00 – 5 -15 µg / dl,
- at night, from 20:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. – about 10 µg / dl.
| And in stressful situations? |
|---|
| Cortisol levels can increase up to nine times! |
The three main tasks of cortisol and the processes it manages
So what does this cortisol do to help us survive? As I mentioned at the beginning, it supports many processes, such as e.g. improved filtration in the kidneys, but it is worth highlighting 3 things:
- raises blood sugar levels → increases the level of glucose and stores the excess in the liver to take it up when there is a lack of strength,
- raises blood pressure → more oxygen gets to the muscles of the limbs and the brain, they are now the most important to be able to function properly (other organs temporarily receive the necessary minimum),
- counteracts inflammation.
In carrying out these three tasks, our hormone primarily manages our ability to cope with stress, but also cravings, digestion, blood pressure, sleep-wake patterns, and physical activity.
How are you with cortisol?
There are many abnormalities in cortisol levels. You may have too much of it, you may not have enough of it. Interestingly, in a XNUMX-hour urine collection, you may find that you have a normal average cortisol level, but have too little in the morning and too much in the evening – which is also a problem. While you are doing your research, I recommend that you do a blood test in the morning and evening of the same day.
Stress pendulum
Cortisol is there for us to survive, therefore it is not bad in itself, on the contrary, it is irreplaceable. When we collide with difficult situations, the body begins to defend itself. You have to shift energy to your muscles and brain to be able to escape or deal with a situation. Then everything returns to normal and cortisol levels drop.
However, if we live under chronic stress, there is no outflow of cortisol. The body is in a constant state of alarm, and this promotes inflammation. When we constantly need high blood cortisol levels, the precursor of other hormones – pregnenolone, is stolen.
One of these “stolen” hormones is progesterone. And when we have too little of it, we get chandra, heavy menstruation, premenstrual syndrome, insomnia and infertility. More about it in the next posts! And today, at the end, a graph showing a simplified diagram of the pathways of the formation of selected sex hormones.
I have just started registration for my hormonal course: https://zyciewlesie.pl/lista-zainteresowani-kursem-odfinansaj-rownowage-hormonalna-w-30-dni/. I also invite you to my Instagram, where you will find the most important information in the form of a graphic pill. If you have any questions or observations related to cortisol, feel free to let me know, I will be happy to develop or explore the topic next time!