Of all the hormones produced by the body, cortisol is the most misunderstood. It’s essential to any number of biological processes, and yet commonly typecast as “the one to do with stress” – an evolutionary adaptation for different times, wildly unsuited to modern living, something to reduce with meditation, reset with ice baths or regulate with red-light therapy.
Personal trainers will tell you to avoid long runs in case they result in “cortisol belly”, while influencers diagnose “cortisol face” as a sign of too much pressure in the office. To top it all, social media has recently seen the rise of the “cortisol cocktail” – a combination of coconut water, orange juice, salt, and lemon that TikTokers claim can reduce stress and help with weight loss.
