Advice on handling your stress levels
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What is a “cortisol belly” and does it really exist?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk. With Aviva Insurance.
Do you know how to handle your stress levels or is it something you struggle with? Well, here to help is pharmacist at Bellally Pharmacy in South Dublin, Tom McKenna. Tom, good to see you again.
Thank you very much for having me. We
wanted to talk to you about something that we see a lot of online, cortisol belly. This is the belly that you allegedly get from having high stress levels. Is that true? Is it real?
No. Well, I suppose it's important to say that a cortisol belly isn't a diagnosis necessarily. You know, but, you know, abdominal weight gain in midlife, that's very real. Stress is real. Sleep disturbances are real. But, you know, to kind of just to look at somebody's belly and say, you've got cortisol belly, that's not medicine.
How does cortisol function in the body and why is it essential?
So cortisol is important for people to understand. It's not a negative thing. Cortisol is essential. It's a steroid hormone. It's produced by your adrenal gland in your body. And it's so important for regulating so many functions in the body. It regulates blood pressure. It's part of regulating your metabolism. It's important for controlling blood sugar, reducing inflammation, and even part of regulating your sleep cycle. So it's absolutely essential. You can't function without it. And it's not a negative thing per se. So I suppose the issue we have is that perhaps on social media, we are seeing it being villainized and we're seeing the word cortisol being used interchangeably with stress and they're not synonymous.
And, you know, and we're seeing cortisol presented kind of like as if it's a toxic hormone as a bad thing and that it's synonymous with belly fat.
And all sorts of other problems.
Why is cortisol often mis‑labelled as a “stress hormone” online?
If it is sustained and at a high level, you're going to have problems with all sorts of things. Now, is there any truth in that?
There is, but the devil is in the detail. And again, online, the risk is being overstated. So abnormally high or excessive cortisol levels is a pathological hormone disorder, but it's extremely rare. And that's a very important thing to say at the start. And it's known as Cushing syndrome. And one of the most interesting things about Cushing syndrome is it's most frequently caused by a prescription medication over use or over long term use as a side effect. It's related to the use of corticosteroids, which elevate the cortisol levels. And that can lead to increased blood pressure, muscle pains and some weight gain. However, Cushing syndrome is not caused by stress. And that's where there's a need to kind of dislocate those two words a little bit, because I feel that the terminology used of stress hormone as another name for cortisol is probably unhelpful in terms of understanding what its role is in the body.
In general, though, it is going to be beneficial to try and manage your stress levels, isn't
it? Oh, for sure. But stress isn't cortisol.
What are the real health risks of chronically high cortisol levels?
Yeah, managing your stress levels is very, very important. Nutrition, hydration and restorative sleep. They are the three pillars of wellness and they are things that people are empowered to improve on and manage themselves to feel better. Cortisol itself is part of our natural biorhythms. OK, when we're active in the morning time, when we get up, our cortisol levels are naturally higher. That's appropriate to what we're doing. And that's fine. Yeah, absolutely. And late at night when we're not busy, we're tired, we've... our day is done, well then we're more at ease and our cortisol levels are naturally lower. So the thing that is kind of, that is a medical issue, a clinical issue, is where if you have abnormally high cortisol levels, cortisol excess,
persistently over the long run, well, then that's important and that needs to be reviewed and investigated. If it's way too high, you could have Cushing syndrome. If it's way too low, maybe you have Addison's disease. Addison's disease is known, it's a form of adrenal insufficiency where you haven't got enough hormone. You can have low blood pressure.
How can you tell if you have a serious cortisol disorder like Cushing’s or Addison’s?
You can have problems with pains and you can have weight loss.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is a “cortisol belly” and does it really exist?
0:01–0:51
2
How does cortisol function in the body and why is it essential?
0:51–1:50
3
Why is cortisol often mis‑labelled as a “stress hormone” online?
1:50–3:10
4
What are the real health risks of chronically high cortisol levels?
3:10–4:21
5
How can you tell if you have a serious cortisol disorder like Cushing’s or Addison’s?
4:21–5:50
6
What practical steps can you take to manage stress without chasing “cortisol‑fix” products?
5:50–7:10
7
How should you evaluate online health claims such as “leaky gut” or “cortisol belly”?
7:10–8:30