Table 3.

Repeated-measure ANOVA for change in cortisol parameters after high-calorie and fasting protocol by sex

High Calorie
	Pre	Post	P Value for Sex Interaction	P Value for Change
Free cortisol, nmol/L	14.90 [8.83, 21.24]	21.24 [17.93, 32.83]	0.096	0.005
Total cortisol, nmol/L	253.83 [185.40, 354.53]	415.23 [325.01, 455.24]	0.189	<0.001
Free cortisol-to-free cortisone ratio	1.33 [0.97, 1.71]	1.79 [1.39, 2.46]	0.204	0.038
Free cortisol-to-total cortisol ratio	0.06 [0.05, 0.08]	0.06 [0.05, 0.07]	0.989	0.273

Fasting
	Pre	Post	P Value for Sex Interaction	P Value for Change
Free cortisol, nmol/L	16.00 [12.14, 16.00]	28.42 [9.93, 40.83]	0.014	<0.001
Total cortisol, nmol/L	344.88 [260.45, 385.71]	389.02 [292.45, 543.52]	0.340	0.018
Free cortisol-to-free cortisone ratio	1.54 [1.15, 1.93]	2.10 [1.65, 3.64]	0.054	<0.001
Free cortisol-to-total cortisol ratio	0.05 [0.04, 0.07]	0.07 [0.06, 0.08]	0.004	<0.001

Free cortisol and free cortisol-to-total cortisol ratio change varied by sex after fasting. Cortisol variables shown as median with interquartile range. Bold indicates P < 0.05.