The Refined Fit

craving sugar by 3 p.m., and somehow more anxious than you've ever been - cortisol might be part of what's going on. Cortisol gets a bad reputation, but it's not actually the enemy. Your body needs it.

If you feel like your body suddenly reacts differently to stress, you’re not imagining it. I’ve talked to so many women who say the same thing - situations that used to roll off their backs now leave them exhausted, anxious, or wide awake at 3 a.m. There’s a real reason for that, and it has a lot to do with cortisol. During perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause, shifting hormone levels change how your body produces and responds to cortisol - your primary stress hormone.