ASK AN EXPERT: IS CORTISOL GIVING ME A PUFFY FACE AND BELLY FAT?

Cortisol is a hormone that helps regulate our response to stress. Produced by the adrenal gland on top of your kidneys and often referred to as the stress hormone, it plays a role in regulating various bodily functions like our metabolism, our blood pressure, and our sleep/wake cycle.

“We all need a certain amount of cortisol to keep us healthy,” says Professor Rod Mitchell, consultant paediatric endocrinologist at Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Children and Young People. “We need it to maintain our energy levels and we also require more cortisol for the body to cope at times of illness, high physical activity and stressful situations.”

As with all of our hormones, having the right level of cortisol is essential for our day-to-day function – and having levels that are too high, or too low, can have a direct impact on your health.

Across social media, there are claims that high levels of cortisol (as a result of stress) is the culprit behind a round, puffy face or excess weight around the abdomen, known as ‘cortisol face’ and ‘cortisol belly’. From this, some people conclude that cortisol is to blame for weight gain or difficulty losing weight.

But endocrinologists, who specialise in hormones, disagree.

‘It’s wishful thinking’

“It’s complete rubbish and wishful thinking,” says Stafford Lightman, endocrinologist and Professor of Medicine at the University of Bristol.

Dr Angela Taylor, technology lead: steroid metabolome analysis core, University of Birmingham says there is some truth to it. “It’s not really a myth. If you have very high levels of cortisol, you will have this cortisol face and you have central adiposity related to excess cortisol, but this is far in excess of what you see in the general population.

“It’s often due to some underlying condition called Cushing’s syndrome which affects about one in 500,000 adults, or overuse of steroid treatments.”

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Steroids are used to treat a wide range of conditions – they’re found in asthma inhalers, creams for eczema, and treatment for burns – because they dampen the immune system. But “you would need to be using them for a long time at quite high doses,” Dr Taylor says, for them to significantly affect your weight or appearance.

For the vast majority of people, “there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that normal people can manipulate or change their own cortisol status to [affect weight]. That’s complete rubbish,” Professor Lightman adds.

That’s not to say stress has no impact on weight.

“High cortisol levels can lead to an increase in appetite, and they can be raised in times of stress,” Dr Taylor concedes, “but it’s a tenuous link that’s over interpreted from a biological condition.”

Any changes in weight is multifactorial, and stress (with its attendant elevated cortisol levels) can be a factor. But it’s a mistake to lay the blame there.

“It’s really convenient for people to latch onto these ideas especially if they’re stressed,” Professor Lightman says. “Everybody likes an excuse where they can say, ‘It’s not my fault, it’s not what I’m eating – it’s my hormones’. But a lot of people, when they’re stressed, tend to eat more.”

If this has been a concern of yours, Professor Lightman encourages you to focus elsewhere. “If a patient were to come and tell me they are worried about their cortisol levels, unless there’s evidence of a disease caused by increased cortisol I’d just tell them not to worry about it.”

Instead of zeroing in on one hormone, the experts recommend a holistic approach to health.

“Whilst excessive levels of general stress and anxiety can result in prolonged periods of higher cortisol, treatment should focus on reducing the stress itself rather than medications to directly alter cortisol levels,” agrees Professor Mitchell.

Stress reduction is complex, but regular exercise, time with loved ones, meditation and mindfulness, and a diet rich in whole foods can all help you regain a sense of control. This, in turn, can help you manage habits that may be contributing to weight concerns by helping you stay more aware of what you eat.

As for quick fixes like supplements claiming to reduce cortisol? “When it comes to products claiming to balance your hormones, remember if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” says Dr Taylor.

2025-07-29T09:51:48Z