Have you heard of a “cortisol cocktail”? Rather than something you might order at a bar, this drink is one of the latest wellness trends floating around social media.
Proponents claim the drink – which is made with ingredients including orange juice, coconut water and salt – can lower high cortisol levels and help with “adrenal fatigue ”. This, in turn, is supposed to lead to a range of benefits, from reduced stress to improved energy levels.
But can a cortisol cocktail really achieve these things? And do we actually need to lower our cortisol levels in the first place? Let’s see what the evidence says.
We often hear cortisol described as “the stress hormone”. But cortisol has many other important functions too – it increases glucose (sugar) in the blood to provide energy, regulates metabolism and reduces inflammation.
Our bodies constantly produce cortisol, but the level changes with the daily light-dark cycle. It increases just before we wake, is highest during the morning, drops off in the afternoon and is lowest overnight.
We want high cortisol in the morning to wake us up and release energy. We also want higher cortisol in stressful situations, for example, if we need to run for a train or be alert during an important discussion.
On the flip side, we want low cortisol overnight to help us sleep.
Many symptoms regularly blamed on high cortisol, such as weight gain and tiredness, are in fact linked to low cortisol. People with chronic fatigue syndrome frequently have low cortisol.
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