Jaiwant Rangi, MD, FACEEndocrinologist | Founder, Lower The Dose® | Speaker

Optimizing Cortisol Testing and Health Markers

20 May 2026 · 1 min

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Dr. Jaiwant Rangi explains that a single morning cortisol test tells you almost nothing. Evening cortisol or three-point salivary samples work better. He also checks fasting glucose, insulin, and homocysteine to assess endocrine health, and watches for weight gain and rising blood pressure as signs of cortisol excess.

Chapters

Cortisol testing is important, but it matters when you test, how you test. Just a random morning cortisol does not help us much. If you have rise in the evening cortisol, or if you do the salivary cortisol that is done at 3 different times, that is helpful. I often check 24-hour urine cortisol, or sometimes I do other specific tests as well. There's simpler tests you can do— higher glucose, high insulin level can be easy tests that you could do. You could also check inflammation markers or homocysteine, or you may be gaining weight, or waistline may be up. The blood pressure may be going up.