You might have heard of ‘cortisol belly’, one of the latest viral health issues circulating on social media. Those extra pounds around your midline – they’re due to chronic stress, at least according to many wellness content creators.
The culprit, they claim, is cortisol, your body’s main stress hormone. And it’s a big issue, say health influencers. So much so that they often encourage measuring your cortisol levels to see how stressed you are, recommending saliva or urine test kits that can be bought online.
There are hundreds of posts suggesting quick fixes to lower cortisol levels and, in turn, improve your metabolism and make you less prone to gaining weight.
Some have even promoted downing a ‘cortisol cocktail’, a drink containing mostly orange juice, coconut water and sea salt, herbs such as ashwagandha – which is used in traditional Indian medicine for stress relief – or other supplements.
So are the influencers onto something, or is it all a ploy to get you to buy their expensive pills and tests?
