Agree. The study asked for 2 things from one group and 1 thing from another group and is trying to suggest that we should ignore the first ask.
The authors are also abusing cortisol measurements to imply cortisol is something specific for bad stress when it’s not really that. Cortisol isn’t really a “bad” hormone like a lot of people believe. If you have too little cortisol you’ll feel terrible. Even fun activities will raise cortisol levels. Taking synthetic cortisol analogs often makes people feel good (for a very short while, chronic use will quickly downregulate this effect and requires slow tapering, don’t do it unless medically necessary).
The authors are also abusing cortisol measurements to imply cortisol is something specific for bad stress when it’s not really that. Cortisol isn’t really a “bad” hormone like a lot of people believe. If you have too little cortisol you’ll feel terrible. Even fun activities will raise cortisol levels. Taking synthetic cortisol analogs often makes people feel good (for a very short while, chronic use will quickly downregulate this effect and requires slow tapering, don’t do it unless medically necessary).
This study seems like junk science.