Let's talk about cortisol! I'm sure you have heard the term thrown around everywhere. But, do you really know what it is or what it does? Is it actually as bad as people say it is? Let's take a closer look.

What is it?

Cortisol is a hormone released by the adrenal glands that is best known for being one of the body's main stress (or fight-or-flight) hormones. It also has many other functions in the body though such as controlling our sleep/wake cycles, regulating blood sugar, and more. Cortisol receptors throughout the body will utilize cortisol in different ways. So, yes..cortisol is necessary and actually a GOOD thing for multiple reasons. I'll get into why it turns "bad" later in this article. 

We can think of cortisol and insulin as counterparts. Insulin tells our body that we have excess fuel available and that it needs to burn & store it. Cortisol on the other hand tells our body that we need more fuel and that 'things might be about to go bad'. 

How does it...