Top Hormone Expert Reveals a Science-Backed Yet Simple Cortisol Detox Virtually Any Woman Can Use to Lose “Stress” Weight (Especially Belly Fat)

6 min read 2025 Feb 13
Written by Bioma Team

“Whenever someone asks me if the ‘cortisol belly’ is a real thing, I present them with these facts.

Weight loss research has literally exploded over the last decade.

There are now more diet plans and exercise programs than ever before.

And yet, the number of overweight and obese Americans continues to soar,” said Dr. Esther Levine.1

This increase actually mirrors stress levels in the U.S., which consistently get worse.2

And it’s not a coincidence because scientists now link the so-called stress hormone to weight gain, especially around the stomach.3

“Now, the problem with cortisol is that it gets easily triggered by everyday factors, not just stress.

For example, sleep deprivation, poor diet, hormonal fluctuations, and even menstruation.4,5

Even worse, cortisol levels also gradually increase with age.6

That’s why I want to explain how virtually any woman can lower this hormone and lose ‘stress’ weight.”

But first, it’s important to understand how high cortisol forces a woman’s body to accumulate and retain fat

Dr. Levine clarified that the primary role of cortisol is to prepare the body for perceived danger and threats.

And it does that by raising sugar levels in the blood.7

Short term, this increase provides a rapid energy source for the brain and muscles.

Which is essential for surviving “fight-or-flight” situations.

Long-term, however, high blood sugar causes serious problems that the expert explained next.

“These blood sugar spikes wouldn’t be an issue if you had to ‘fight-or-flight’ during them.

But remember, cortisol gets triggered by factors that don’t require such a response.

So instead of being used for energy, excess blood sugar gets stored as fat.

Of course, your body secretes insulin to prevent that.

But its frequent release causes insulin resistance, where cells can no longer take up energy efficiently.

And this makes losing weight and keeping it off even more difficult.

Because your body perceives a lack of energy and triggers hunger while storing excess blood sugar as fat at the same time.”

Even though women suffer from high cortisol the most, they are rarely screened for this hormone

What’s really peculiar is that scientists found women to have significantly higher cortisol than men.8

Which means they are much more likely to struggle with “stress” weight.

Yet, after a dozen check-ups, women are told that everything is fine or that they don’t try hard enough.

That’s because cortisol isn’t part of a standard hormone panel and most doctors don’t test for it.

But there are several warning signs when it’s way too high.

“The first one is obviously unexplained weight gain and fat distribution that noticeably changes. 

Because it settles around the belly, upper back, and face.

Digestive issues like bloating, constipation, and diarrhea are also very common.

Then there’s poor sleep followed by brain fog and mood swings.

And of course, irresistible cravings and crushing fatigue, which I already mentioned.”

Women who experience these signs may attempt to lower cortisol with general advice, but it’s not that simple

Dr. Levine clarified that the only way to lose “stress” weight is by significantly lowering cortisol.

And here’s how the expert has suggested doing that until now:

  • Eating a healthy and well-balanced diet
  • Getting adequate and quality sleep
  • Exercising regularly and staying active

“Now, these are good guidelines, and some of my patients have followed them in the past.

But they had to deal with high cortisol symptoms at the same time.

Including severe cravings, chronic fatigue, and the inability to get a full night’s sleep.

Which made these guidelines nearly impossible to follow for long enough.

And that explains why my patients couldn’t lose ‘stress’ weight and keep it off back then.”

Fortunately, scientists have figured out how to lower cortisol by 39 percent without any of that

Recognizing the limitations of these guidelines, Dr. Levine realized there had to be a better way to bring cortisol down.

And when she found a study from the University of Oxford, she knew this could be it.9

Because subjects who took prebiotics reduced their cortisol by 30 percent in just 3 weeks.

But the expert decided to dig deeper and discovered something even more impressive.

Dr. Levine came across a 2019 clinical trial published in the Journal of Functional Foods next.

Which concluded that prebiotics AND probiotics reduced cortisol levels by 39 percent.10

But out of all probiotic strains tested, only Bifidobacterium showed this effect.11

“So, I had two ingredients clinically studied to lower cortisol nearly in half and couldn’t wait to put them to the test.

In fact, they both could be found in fermented foods, onions, garlic, and grains.

But it required consuming pounds of these foods daily to experience at least some effects.

Which was inconvenient, time-consuming, and extremely expensive.

And quite the opposite to a science-backed yet simple way to lower cortisol I discovered recently.”

Dr. Levine now suggests this cortisol detox to her patients, and some report already losing 40+ pounds of “stress” weight

“When I hit a wall with all this research, I asked some of the sharpest medical experts I know for help.

I told them about these two ingredients clinically studied to lower cortisol.

And explained that I needed an effective yet convenient way to get them.

Which wouldn’t cost my patients a fortune as well.

And those who now take their suggested supplement report finally losing ‘stress’ weight.”

According to Dr. Levine, they also experience other benefits of a significantly lower cortisol.

But before sharing them, the expert wanted to explain why Bioma works so well.

First, it contains prebiotic xylooligosaccharides that were found to lower cortisol by 30 percent.9

Second, it has three Bifidobacterium strains, which when combined with prebiotics, reduce cortisol by another 9 percent.10

Third, there’s also postbiotic Tributyrin that creates a favorable gut environment for their maximum effect.12

And fourth, Bioma uses targeted-release capsules to deliver these ingredients to the gut intact.

Which is very important because most similar supplements fail to do that.13

“That’s why my patients who take Bioma can experience the benefits of having their cortisol under control.

Including soaring energy levels, fewer cravings, comfortable digestion, and restful sleep.

And, of course, losing 10, 20, 30, and even 40+ pounds of stress weight, which was creeping up around their belly, upper back, and face with no sign of stopping,” concluded Dr. Levine.

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Sources:

  1. Projected U.S. State-Level Prevalence of Adult Obesity and Severe Obesity

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa1909301

  1. Americans Sleeping Less, More Stressed

https://news.gallup.com/poll/642704/americans-sleeping-less-stressed.aspx

  1. Hair cortisol levels are associated with overweight and obesity in the ELSA-Brasil cohort

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/endocrinology/articles/10.3389/fendo.2024.1361715/full

  1. Acute sleep deprivation disrupts emotion, cognition, inflammation, and cortisol in young healthy adults

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/behavioral-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2022.945661/full

  1. Interactions between sleep, stress, and metabolism: From physiological to pathological conditions

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4688585/

  1. Longitudinal Change in Cortisol Levels Across the Adult Life Span

https://academic.oup.com/biomedgerontology/article/75/2/394/5623032

  1. The Role of Cortisol in Chronic Stress, Neurodegenerative Diseases, and Psychological Disorders

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10706127/

  1. Salivary cortisol differs with age and sex and shows inverse associations with WHR in Swedish women: a cross-sectional study

https://bmcendocrdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1472-6823-9-16

  1. Prebiotic intake reduces the waking cortisol response and alters emotional bias in healthy volunteers

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4410136/

  1. Effect of prebiotic and probiotic supplementation on circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines and urinary cortisol levels in patients with major depressive disorder: A double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1756464618306170

  1. Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus Counts in the Gut Microbiota of Patients With Bipolar Disorder and Healthy Controls

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00730/full

  1. Tributyrin alleviates gut microbiota dysbiosis to repair intestinal damage in antibiotic-treated mice

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37523400/

  1. In vitro test to evaluate survival in the gastrointestinal tract of commercial probiotics

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8165489/

DISCLAIMER

“This is an advertisement. The information provided is based on scientific research. Any reference to a professional in this article is illustrative and does not represent an actual endorsement.”

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