Are your cortisol levels impacting your health?

How well is your body coping with the stress placed on it? A salivary cortisol test may help you gain insights into this specific question. So, who would benefit from a cortisol test? What can it tell you about your health? And how is it done? Let’s take a closer look.

This function test looks at several cortisol readings throughout the day which allows us to create something called the cortisol curve.

As well as this general pattern of cortisol, we can see the all-important cortisol awakening response (CAR) which is the healthy and natural spike in cortisol that happens generally within an hour of waking and light hitting your eyes.

What can a cortisol test tell us about health?

A healthy cortisol curve, we see the spike in the morning and then a tapering off with the cortisol level, and it then hits it’s lowest point at the end of the day in preparation for sleep and rest… You can see the graph results below, which is often referred to as a flat cortisol rhythm.

This flat cortisol reading- with the absence of that morning peak has been linked to several symptoms and health outcomes, including:

Chronic fatigue

Low Libido

Low Mood/ Depression

Poor Focus

Low Blood Pressure

It’s also been linked to outcomes for cancer patients- with one study performed on breast cancer survivors finding pooer outcomes longer term in those who had a flat cortisol reading.

There have also been several studies linking a poor cortisol arch with issues regulating blood sugar levels- leading to an increase in weight gain, and increases in systemic inflammation.

So what causes this flat cortisol reading in the first place?

Long term- low grade chronic stress

Brain injuries or concussions

Post traumatic stress dissorder

The healthy spike in cortisol within an hour of waking can tell us about your ability to react to stress, ability to regulate emotions, and your overall sense of resilience.

What can be done to optimise your cortisol rhythm?

Multiple lifestyle and naturopathic interventions can be used to help optimise your cortisol readings- addressing sleep, and stress, using adaptogenic herbs to improve adrenal function and improve resilience.

The test is relatively inexpensive- and by no means essential. There are a handful of clinical symptoms that may tell us what could be happening with your cortisol levels. However, the testing helps gain measurable data and have a clear goal to work towards improving your health and resilience.

If you’d like to know more about testing your cortisol levels please simply reach out to the clinic or book your complimentary call with a naturopath here.