GLOSSARY

Cortisol Secretion is cortisol release under axis and temporal regulation.

Cortisol supports fuel regulation, stress responses and other functions rather than simply destroying muscle. Secretion has rhythms and pulses; awakening, clock time, illness and exercise affect measurement. A temporary exercise rise is not equivalent to chronic hypercortisolism. The testosterone-to-cortisol ratio is not a standalone overtraining diagnosis either; symptoms, performance trends and standardized sampling conditions must accompany it rather than treating a transient value as proof of harmful catabolism.

Hormonal axes use feedback and often pulsatile and time-dependent patterns. A rise can be compensatory and a decline temporarily adaptive, neither diagnosing disease without context. Hormone ratios depend on numerator, denominator, timing and units. Sports nutrition does not aim to maximize every hormone; the practical goal is adequate supply and appropriate physiological responses, evaluated with health and performance rather than an isolated ratio or peak.

Synthesis, storage, secretion, transport and clearance are distinct processes. Blood concentration reflects entry and removal rather than directly measuring secretion; exercise-related plasma-volume changes can also affect it. Half-life depends on hormone form and method and is not identical to the duration of all effects. Comparisons therefore need sampling time, previous food and recent activity standardized or recorded rather than interpreting isolated concentration differences without context.