What’s the cortisol cocktail theory?
Picture it: your shoulders are brushing your earlobes, that jaw is gripping for all it’s worth and you have the heart rate of someone on the wrong side of their optimum caffeine dose.
You’re stressed.
While the strain makes itself known in your tensed muscles, it’s also having a less obvious impact on your body. It causes our adrenal glands to pump out cortisol – also known as the ‘stress hormone’.
Just like stress itself, cortisol isn’t all bad – it’s actually essential for our wellbeing. But having too much (or too little, for that matter) isn’t great for our health.
So how could a drink help keep your cortisol levels healthy?
The cortisol cocktail is made primarily from orange juice, coconut water and a little sea salt – although over time people have added other ingredients, like magnesium.
Some people think the vitamin c in the orange juice, potassium in the coconut water and sodium in the sea salt, help to ‘revive’ the adrenal glands – which are responsible for making cortisol. Their theory is that, when we’re stressed, the glands become fatigued from producing so much of this hormone.
People claim this cocktail will help control your blood pressure, make you less likely to gain weight and help improve your metabolism.