Cortisol has become the internet’s favourite villain — but the science tells a more useful story. Cortisol is essential, acute stress is adaptive, and it’s chronic stress that carries the real brain cost. Here’s what prolonged stress does, how worried to actually be, why “cortisol detox” is a trap, and what genuinely helps.
Ashwagandha is one of the few trendy supplements whose headline claim survives the evidence: it genuinely reduces stress and cortisol. But the full picture is more nuanced — modest sleep and cognition effects, a lot of industry-funded research, and a real safety wrinkle most write-ups skip: rare reports of liver injury. Here’s the honest guide, with doses, forms and cautions.
HRV responds to stress, alcohol, breathing and exercise. Here is what the research shows it can tell you, and why it is not a score for how well you will think.
