Some science and lots of baloney

Current scientific understanding of cortisol's role in stress, disease, weight gain and so on is useful general information, even if it doesn't tell specifically how to endure and surmount the stress of modern life. However, this information is conveyed much more effectively in other books such as Sapolsky's _Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers._

The distinctive feature of _The Cortisol Connection_ is that it tells you what to do about excessive cortisol secretion. Unfortunately, what it tells you do to is complete baloney. A few of the many nutritional supplements he recommends -- magnesium, for example, might be mildly helpful for a few people who have bad eating habits and don't take conventional vitamins and minerals.

All the other recommendations for nutritional supplements lack scientific foundation. Any author can just make this stuff up. Then another author cites the first author, a third author cites the second, and a fourth author cites the first, in a round robin of nonsense. Then other authors claim that these multiple citations prove that the value of such supplements is well-recognzied. This kind of pseudoscience stinks to high heaven, and it makes modern life more stressful than it must be.

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NOT HAPPY

I would love to give this a review, but since I can't seem to get you to send it to me I have no idea what this book is like. Needless to say, I'm disappointed with AMAZON.

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Good advice on controlling stress and cortisol

Don't automatically dismiss this book because Shawn Talbott, comaker of the Cortislim brand of supplements, is the author. He does not hawk his wares in this book. Instead, he talks about common-sense issues relating to chronic stress in modern society and the simple steps you can take to reduce that stress.

Most humorously he compares humans to Zebras and discusses that while the Zebra and the human both have the same fight-or-flight mechanism that releases the stress hormone cortisol during times of emergencies, at least the Zebra is responding to events in which he can quickly flee or actually fight. Humans in modern society have the fight-or-flight mechanism in response to situations in which they cannot quickly resolve the problem - credit card bills, layoffs, mortgage payments, even traffic jams. Since fighting or fleeing are not options, the hormone cortisol builds up in our systems on a semi-permanent basis eventually causing such problems as insulin resistence, autoimmune diseases, and even cardiovascular disease.

The author talks about simple steps you can take to reduce the effect of this inevitable stress on your health via the SENSE program which stands for stress management, exercise, nutrition, supplements, and evaluation. Again, most of his advice is good common sense, and he backs up what he says with chemical descriptions, in layman's terms, of what is going on in your body as you apply or fail to apply stress management techniques.

The section on supplements is general and all-in-all pretty good advice. The author suggests vitamins B and C as well as magnesium for targeting stress in general. The author suggests lesser known supplements such as magnolia bark, epimedium, and L-theanine for actual cortisol control. These just happen to be some of the ingredients in the author's Cortislim supplement, as well as other brands of cortisol control supplements, but since the author never mentions the product by name, he really isn't guilty of advertising.

I really have only two negative comments. First, the author is wrong to tell people to not have their cortisol tested scientifically by a lab, since these tests are quite reliable, and it will do you no good to apply the right solution to the wrong problem. The second negative comment is that some of the lesser known supplements can have negative side effects on susceptible individuals. For example, the author promotes the use of ginseng as an "adaptogen", or an agent that helps or adapts the body or protects it from stress. In fact, ginseng can cause dangerous blood pressure rises in susceptible individuals. If we are talking about someone who may already have elevated blood pressure due to stress, the combination could be lethal. Thus you should do some further investigation before ingesting the lesser known supplements suggested in the book.

On the whole, though, this is a helpful manual for dealing with chronic stress and you should see some improvement in your health and state of mind by following the author's advice. Just be careful when dealing with nutritional supplements. Just because something is all natural does not mean it is safe for everybody.

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