Spend enough time on the wellness side of TikTok, and odds are you’re going to hear about cortisol. Specifically, the idea that your body should have a lot less of it.
Cortisol is known as the “stress hormone” because one of its biggest responsibilities is helping your body react to stressful situations. According to plenty of wellness influencers, you can blame “high” cortisol levels for a slew of vague health issues, including trouble sleeping, muscle stiffness, bloating, face puffiness, brain fog, the list goes on.
Enter: “cortisol-lowering” supplements, recent-ish additions to the wellness industrial complex that often claim to “balance” your body’s cortisol levels to reduce the physical and mental effects of persistent stress. They’re typically made of a combination of different herbs, vitamins, and minerals—and you can find them everywhere, from the TikTok Shop to the shelves of your local health food store. The basic idea: You’ll feel calmer, happier, and healthier when you take one of these pills, powders, or tinctures on the regular.
In a time when the world feels especially chaotic, the appeal of a quick fix to combat stress—and the potential issues it might trigger—explains itself. But is it even possible to meaningfully change your cortisol levels with a supplement? We tapped experts and dove into the science to find the truth behind this trend.
How does cortisol affect your body, and should you even worry about having high levels?
Cortisol’s rep as the stress hormone makes it seem like the bad guy. In reality, “cortisol is essential for life,” Rekha B. Kumar, MD, an endocrinologist and associate professor of clinical medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, tells SELF. Your adrenal glands (which sit on top of each of your kidneys) produce the multitasking hormone, and its functions include supporting healthy blood sugar levels, metabolism, blood pressure, sleep, and more.
Most famously, cortisol is a key player in your body when things start to go awry emotionally or physically. “Say you had to run from a bear,” Dr. Kumar says. “You see the bear, your cortisol goes up and tells your brain, ‘Hey! Make this person react, move, go!’” In response to this alert, cortisol and other hormones take action by raising your heart rate and increasing your blood sugar (to supply your muscles with oxygen and energy) while temporarily tamping down your body’s “nonessential” functions like digestion—all of which should help you either fight off or escape a threat.
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