Cortisol detox: the overhyped trend you should be cautious about

The #cortisoldetox trend is gaining momentum online, but detoxing cortisol could do more harm than good by misrepresenting how this crucial hormone works.

Take a glance at social media and you’ll see a growing trend at large – #cortisoldetox.

When searching for this spectacle, you’ll see different approaches ranging from Moringa tea consumption, regulating sleep and generally feeling better, to self-ridicule like laughing at younger versions of ourselves with “cortisol face” or “cortisol belly.”

The misleading narrative of "cortisol belly" and "cortisol face"

What is striking is the “cortisol belly” and “cortisol face” jibes that are bandied around by influencers. They’re presented as if eating too much pizza and ice cream can be blamed on our hormones, bypassing their own poor lifestyle choices entirely.

Cortisol is crucial, as it actually protects us from danger, in effect mobilizing us by raising our blood sugar levels and monitoring our heart rate. In fact, raising cholesterol can help navigate stressful situations.

It’s likely that Tiktokkers have conflated cortisol and cholesterol as toxic items that we want to bin or detox. They are linked, but cholesterol is consumed daily in our diet, whereas cortisol is a hormone that should be approached delicately.

Trends like digital minimalism, ice bath plunges, manifestation journaling, neuroplasticity, and twerking for fitness may have their benefactors and detractors, but cortisol detox sounds as dangerous as doing with cortisol what you could with alcohol or heroin – wiping it out altogether.

Why cortisol detoxing is dangerous

Of course, this doesn’t mean that regulating cortisol is bad, provided you have the requisite knowledge. Books are available on the topic, and perhaps they’re even better than your average self-help guide.

From a gadget perspective, fitness devices such as watches, rings, and the like measure parameters like heart rate and calories burned. There is no correlation here whatsoever to cortisol levels.

In fact, cortisol levels are best measured through blood, saliva and urine testing, hence best discussed with a medical professional.

The flaws in influencer health advice

Browsing Tiktokker Mikaela Wilson’s feed, it seems that she has all the answers and encourages her clan to live like automatons. Tips like eating fat and protein-heavy breakfasts directly go against other influencers who claim that their puppy fat is indeed “cortisol face.” It beggars belief.

The "TikTok Health clinic" is open for business 24/7 and this abundant stream certainly seems to have been made conventional in the pandemic. This was precisely the time when we were speculating whether ingesting bleach was a good idea.

Of course, it would be equally absurd to write off TikTok entirely. If, for example, one were to deep-dive into their gut health and do further research, then kudos for instigating that.

The platform can be a great entry-level for some wannabe health aficionados, like many newbies who binge on Dr. Huberman on Instagram.

Dr. Huberman's reports and videos contain lots of nuance, unlike the influencers of TikTok. Besides that, each subscriber has a different lifestyle and medical background, so going in blind on Mikaela might be best avoided.

What’s more, cortisol comes in waves. We are simply not supposed to regulate it. By probing into our complex web of hormones, we’re effectively causing ourselves a greater stress load. Does a surfer take measuring tape to the waves? They might want to enjoy the ride first.

Getting swept up in a false narrative isn’t the best approach. It’s cool to check out health trends on social media, but detoxing cortisol can indeed glamourize eradication, and here, it’s simply not necessary.

It doesn’t pay to go out on the offensive with these influencers. By offering already-known advice like getting enough sleep, having a healthy diet, and meditating, it might be more beneficial to not load everything into such a precarious hashtag as #cortisoldetox – it is in fact reckless.