Know Your Numbers Series Part 9: Should I Test My Cortisol Levels?
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Welcome to Part 9 of the "Know Your Numbers" series, your go-to guide for understanding the lab results behind your health. This week, we're breaking down cortisol.
Cortisol is having a moment online, and for good reason. It's a key hormone with wide-reaching effects on the body, especially in our high-paced, always-on lifestyles. But while cortisol is crucial to understand, testing it? That’s not always the answer.
Let’s break it down.
WHY CORTISOL MATTERS
Cortisol plays a central role in the body’s stress response and is deeply involved in regulating energy, focus, immune function, blood flow, and even our sleep-wake cycle. It’s part of what helps us survive in high-pressure situations—ramping up the systems we need in an emergency, while downregulating functions that aren’t immediately essential, like digestion, reproductive hormone production, and immune defense.
In short: cortisol helps us power through a crisis. But when stress becomes chronic, elevated cortisol can start doing more harm than good, contributing to a wide range of health concerns by keeping the body in a constant “fight or flight” state.
The Problem with Testing
So why not just test your cortisol levels? Here's the issue: cortisol testing offers a snapshot—a single reading at one moment in time. It doesn’t show your full daily rhythm, long-term trends, or how your body is actually responding to stress and cortisol over time.
Yes, cortisol tests can be helpful in diagnosing extreme conditions like Addison’s disease (too little cortisol) or Cushing’s disease (too much cortisol). But outside of those rare cases, the information you get from testing is limited and doesn’t usually translate into actionable strategies for managing everyday stress.
What to Do Instead
Instead of relying on a test result, let’s look at the bigger picture. Consider:
Your symptoms
Your nervous system baseline
The stressors you're juggling
Your support system
Sleep quality
Your capacity for recovery and resilience
These tell us far more about how cortisol is affecting you. By understanding your lived experience, we can offer more personalized, practical support—whether that’s through lifestyle changes, nervous system regulation, or targeted stress management strategies.
Bottom line?
Cortisol is important, but testing it isn’t usually the most helpful step. Understanding how stress shows up in your body is the real key to supporting your health.
want to go deeper?
I offer personalized evaluations that go beyond lab results to understand the whole picture. Reach out to schedule a consult, your hormones (and your peace of mind) are worth it.
Hi, I’m Dr. Janine, ND
I’m a Naturopathic Doctor currently practicing in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
I truly believe that our enjoyment of life is closely tied to how we feel physically. When we’re healthy, we can take on anything. But when we feel off, even the simplest tasks become overwhelming. I’ve been through hormonal shifts, sleepless nights as a parent, and the stress of balancing everything. But I also know that with the right strategy, we can go from surviving to thriving—and create a healthy, thriving family in the process.
I look forward to meeting you soon.
- Dr. Janine, ND
Follow me on social media, @dr.janine.nd