Understand cortisol. Respect the limits.
Cortisol is a useful hormone with a daily rhythm—not a toxin to eliminate. Wearables can reveal patterns in sleep, heart rate variability, resting heart rate and activity that add context, but they cannot directly measure cortisol or diagnose a health condition.
We focus on a healthy rhythm, not “low cortisol”
Cortisol normally rises around waking, helps support alertness and adaptation, and trends lower toward night. Exercise, focused work and meaningful challenge can produce useful activation. CortiLoop’s wellness goal is appropriate activation followed by effective recovery—not permanent calm or the lowest possible cortisol level.
We never present an estimate as a measurement
Consumer watches and rings measure optical, motion and related sensor signals. Platforms may derive sleep stages, HRV, heart rate or other metrics from those signals. CortiLoop uses selected outputs to discuss estimated physiological rhythm, load and recovery—not blood or saliva cortisol values.
We compare you primarily with yourself
HRV and other recovery-related signals vary substantially between people and across measurement conditions. CortiLoop waits for a usable personal baseline and focuses on changes from your recent, comparable pattern rather than treating a population average as your target.
We show evidence and uncertainty
Measured data, reported context and inferred explanations remain distinct. A conclusion should show the signals behind it, its confidence and reasonable alternatives. When the data cannot support a conclusion, the honest answer is that CortiLoop is still learning or does not know.
We model a cortisol-related rhythm—not cortisol itself
Sleep, HRV, resting heart rate, activity and reported context can help describe activation and recovery across the day. CortiLoop may use those inputs to estimate a cortisol-related rhythm, but it labels the result as inference, shows confidence and never converts wearable data into a fake hormone concentration.
We choose conservative actions
Automated suggestions stay within low-risk general wellness activities and respect user constraints. CortiLoop does not recommend medication changes, supplements, fasting, extreme cold or breath holds.
Product boundary: CortiLoop is a general wellness product. It does not diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease, and its output is not medical advice. Seek qualified professional or emergency help for concerning symptoms.
Privacy is part of validity
Collecting less data reduces both privacy risk and the temptation to make claims unsupported by the product’s purpose. CortiLoop is designed to process core health data locally, request permissions only when needed and never sell health data or use it for advertising.