Cortisol has been thrown around left, right, and centre over the last few years. You’ve probably heard it blamed for everything from belly fat to bad sleep, but do you actually know what it is, and what it’s doing in your body?

What is Cortisol, Really?

Cortisol is a steroid hormone made by your adrenal glands, two little glands that sit on top of your kidneys like tiny plump grapes. It’s often called the stress hormone because it’s released when your body thinks it’s in danger (real or imagined). It’s also part of your circadian rhythm, rising naturally in the morning to wake you up and slowly dropping throughout the day so you can rest at night.

Something we always have to remember is that cortisol is essential to life, you literally need it to survive. In short bursts, it’s amazing, as it mobilises energy, sharpens your brain, helps you respond to stress, and even dampens down inflammation. But the issue is overproduction, which is common nowadays as modern life has us pumping it out far more than nature ever intended.

Here are some of life’s essentials for cortisol:

• Metabolism: helps your body use fats, carbs, and protein for energy.
• Blood sugar: raises glucose when you need quick fuel.
• Immune system: reduces inflammation during healing.
• Sleep wake cycle: rises in the morning to wake you up, drops at night to help you rest.

When cortisol is balanced, you feel focused, calm, and energised. But if it stays too high for too long, it can start to work against you, leaving you tired but wired, prone to belly fat, breaking out, sleeping badly, and craving sugar like your life depends on it.

But, the key takeaway is that cortisol isn’t the bad guy. The focus should be on balance, not wiping it out entirely.

Cortisol Belly, is it a Thing?

You may have seen cortisol belly all over social media. While it’s not an official medical term, there’s truth behind it. Chronically high cortisol can shift where your body stores fat, favouring the belly area.

Interestingly, your abdominal area actually has more receptors for cortisol than anywhere else in the body, so when stress is constant, that’s where your body chooses to store extra fat. And it’s not about your body being spiteful, it’s a survival tactic! Cortisol works closely with insulin here too, because both hormones are heavily involved in blood sugar control.

Here’s the chain reaction:

• Chronic stress keeps cortisol high.
• Cortisol raises blood sugar to give you quick fuel.
• Insulin steps in to store that sugar, mostly as fat around your belly.
• Belly fat itself contains an enzyme called 11β-HSD1 that reactivates cortisol.
• More cortisol → more belly fat → more cortisol.

When your brain thinks you’re in danger (and it can’t always tell the difference between a looming work deadline and being chased by a tiger), it wants quick, easy to access energy, and belly fat is the perfect store. And yes, fat cells can reactivate cortisol through that 11β-HSD1 enzyme, which is how this cycle keeps going.

And this isn’t just surface level fat. Cortisol belly is made up of visceral fat, the type that sits deep around your organs. It’s more metabolically active than other fat, which means it contributes to inflammation, can mess with hormones, and may raise the risk for blood sugar issues. Plus, it’s stubborn, and it doesn’t shift easily with typical diet and exercise advice.

Throw in poor sleep, blood sugar crashes from skipped meals, over exercising, and you’ve got a perfect storm for keeping cortisol high and belly fat stubborn. So, if you’ve been eating well and moving daily but still struggling with a little extra gained weight, it’s worth looking at stress and cortisol, not just calories.

How Cortisol Shows Up in Your Skin

Here’s something we don’t talk about enough, cortisol doesn’t just live in your bloodstream, it can be stored in your skin. In fact, your skin has its own stress response system, and high or imbalanced cortisol can:

• Increase oil production → more breakouts.
• Slow wound healing → spots hang around longer.
• Weaken your barrier → more irritation and redness.

This is why periods of high stress so often show up as flare ups, whether that’s acne, eczema, or rosacea. Your skin is literally wearing your stress.

Long term high cortisol is also linked with increased AGEs (advanced glycation end products), these can damage collagen and elastin, speeding up visible ageing.

A quick explainer on AGEs - sugar in your bloodstream can stick to proteins like collagen and elastin (the fibres that keep skin plump and springy). This creates AGEs which are stiff, damaged proteins that make skin less bouncy and more prone to lines. High cortisol makes this worse by raising blood sugar and increasing inflammation, which means AGEs form faster.

So when you’re under constant stress, it’s not just that you ‘look tired’, the skin’s structure itself is being affected, making fine lines and sagging show up sooner.

Your skin can physically hold on to stress, so caring for your nervous system is just as important as your skincare routine.

1. Vitamin C in the Morning:
   
   
   Your adrenal glands are the only glands in the body that store vitamin C, and they burn through it like nobody’s business when you’re stressed. A great way to support your adrenals at the start of the day is to wake up with a big glass of water, the juice of half a lemon, and a pinch of quality electrolytes like Celtic sea salt or Viridian Electrolytes.
   
   It’s a simple way to hydrate, replenish minerals, and feed your adrenals. Plus, studies show vitamin C can help regulate cortisol after stress, making it a simple but effective for daily adrenal balance.
   
   
2. Taka Hibiscus, Cinnamon & Turmeric Tea:
   
   In Ayurvedic medicine, hibiscus is considered “cooling”, which helps calm the body’s heat and intensity, which makes it perfect for stress related imbalances. This Taka tea blends hibiscus with cinnamon (to help with blood sugar stability) and turmeric (to support inflammation and liver health).
   
   Altogether, they create a gorgeous, soothing, balancing tea that’s perfect mid afternoon when your stress and sweet cravings, tend to spike.
   
   Hibiscus tea has also been shown to help lower blood pressure and support antioxidant activity, both useful when you’re under chronic stress. Plus, it’s delicious so we think that’s enough reason to give this one a go!
   
   
3. Protein at Breakfast:
   
   Cortisol naturally peaks in the morning, so starting with a protein rich breakfast can prevent mid morning crashes and sugar cravings.
   
   Quick ideas:
   
   - Eggs with greens and avocado.
   - Natural yoghurt with berries, nuts/seeds, and a drizzle of nut butter.
   - Overnight oats with chia, yoghurt, and hemp seeds.
   
   Also, for some, skipping breakfast or going carb heavy can raise cortisol further, as your body will often break down muscle tissue to create glucose. Not ideal when you’re already running on high cortisol.
   
   
4. Rethink Your Morning Coffee:
   
   Coffee first thing in the morning works great for some, and not so much for others.
   
   Here’s why: since cortisol is already peaking first thing, adding caffeine can work with the body when it’s naturally alert, rather than creating an artificial spike later in the day. But if you’re already stressed, sleeping badly, or dealing with burnout, adding caffeine on top can push cortisol even higher. That’s when you might get the jitters, feel anxious, or crash later.
   
   If you’re someone who feels shaky or wired after coffee, pair it with food. And if you’re one of those people who can drink coffee and take on the world, go for it.
   
   If you fast but really want the coffee, yet know your body doesn’t love it on an empty stomach, the middle ground is to add MCT oil, butter, or collagen. This slows absorption and softens the impact on your nervous system.
   
   So, remember, your coffee timing can either work with your natural cortisol rhythm, or nudge it out of balance.
   
   
5. Morning Sunlight:
   
   Within an hour of waking, get outside for at least 5–10 minutes. Morning light hits special receptors in your eyes (the suprachiasmatic nucleus, if you wanted to know) which sends a signal to your brain like ‘hello, it’s daytime, set the clock’. This resets your circadian rhythm, helping cortisol peak at the right time to wake you up, and melatonin to rise at night for better sleep.
   
   Morning light exposure has been shown to lift mood, improve sleep quality, and strengthen your cortisol awakening response, even in people with insomnia or seasonal mood dips. So it doesn’t just support a healthy cortisol rhythm, it improves sleep quality at night and lifts mood in the day.

Our Top 3 Supplements for Cortisol Support

1. Smooth synergy:
   
   We don’t always shout about this one, but it’s actually been one of our bestsellers, quietly putting nervous systems back together for years.
   
   It’s a gorgeous, synergistic blend of adaptogens, vitamins, and minerals like rhodiola, ashwagandha, magnesium, green oat seed, B5, vitamin C, and more. It’s the kind of blend you reach for when you’re in the thick of it, like studying for big exams, going through personal loss, or recovering from something that’s really knocked you off balance. We’ve had feedback from doctors, psychiatrists, and all kinds of professionals saying how much it’s helped them.
   
   So it’s no surprise that it’s at the top of the list for anything cortisol/stress related.
   
   On the note of adaptogens:
   
   We wanted to talk about something that we get asked about a lot in the shop, and that’s ashwagandha. Now, ashwagandha has been used for centuries in Ayurvedic medicine. Some even call it ‘the women’s herb’ for its ability to strengthen resilience and support hormonal balance, and there’s plenty of anecdotal evidence to back it up. But not everyone gets along with it. For some, it’s calming and restorative, and for others, it can be a bit too stimulating, so instead of winding down, you end up feeling wired.
   
   That’s the beauty of adaptogens, they adapt to your needs. If you’re completely burnt out, they might give you a lift. But if you take it late in the evening, that same lift might be the last thing you want.
   
   This brings us to rhodiola, a beautiful herb that’s often gentler than aswagandha, but for many, just as effective. Traditionally used in cold, mountainous regions like Siberia and Scandinavia, rhodiola is known for enhancing mental stamina, lifting mood, and fighting fatigue without overstimulation. It works particularly well for those dealing with brain fog or mental exhaustion, and we’ve seen many customers prefer it over ashwagandha when they need more help with mood and reducing anxiety.
   
   So if you’ve had a bad experience with ashwagandha, don’t give up on adaptogens altogether. There are plenty of others that might suit your body better, rhodiola being a great place to start. And if you’re unsure, we can always help you choose.
   
   
2. Reishi Mushroom:
   
   Mushrooms are still dominating the nutrition world, and we’re happily aboard that train too! We love them, and have done for years.
   
   They might feel trendy or novel to some, but they’ve been used for centuries, and reishi in particular has earned its reputation. Known as the ‘mushroom of immortality’ in traditional Chinese medicine, it’s famous for its immune benefits, but when it comes to cortisol, reishi is the king.
   
   It supports adrenal balance, the nervous system, and recovery after high periods of stress. It’s deeply calming and works on the HPA axis (hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis), which governs cortisol release.
   
   Modern research has shown reishi can help flatten excessive cortisol spikes and restore balance, which is a huge help if your stress response is stuck in high alert mode.
   
   It’s multifunctional too. You might take it for immunity and notice your stress easing, or take it for stress and find your overall health improves. It’s one of those supplements that just works its magic in the background.
   
   
3. Magnesium:
   
   It would be rude to talk about stress, cortisol, and adrenals without mentioning one of our true loves, magnesium.
   
   As many of you know, magnesium is involved in a lot of processes in the body, over 300 enzymatic reactions, to be exact. One of those is keeping your nervous system calm.
   
   Low magnesium is linked with higher stress reactivity, poorer sleep, and greater difficulty bringing cortisol back down after a spike. It’s one of those vicious loops: stress burns through magnesium, low magnesium worsens stress, and so on. Somewhere along the line, you need to break the cycle and top up your stores.
   
   There are many types of magnesium, but for nervous system support and cortisol balance, glycinate takes the win for us. It’s bound with the amino acid glycine, which on its own is great for calming the nervous system. Combined, the benefits are noticeable, especially around sleep, reduced tension, a calmer mood, and feeling more resilient to stress.

That’s our little nugget on cortisol. We could honestly talk for hours about it, it really is fascinating. The most important thing to remember is that cortisol is essential to life and by no means the bad guy. We need it! The goal is simply to keep it in balance, preventing it from tipping too far and bringing along its less desirable side effects.

So if you’re stressed, not sleeping well, gaining weight around the middle, or just have a gut feeling that your cortisol is out of balance, then have a look at these suggestions.

These are our top supplements, but everyone is different and needs a personalised approach for the best results. One way to truly understand your cortisol pattern is through testing, which we do offer (we even wrote about it recently, if you fancy a read).

In the meantime, give our suggestions a go, and pass this on to friends, family, or anyone who could do with a little guidance.