Before you cleanse your liver, purge your gut, or declare war on “toxins,” let’s talk about what your body actually needs According to social media, if you're bloated, tired, constipated, gaining weight, struggling to lose weight, breaking out, craving sugar, retaining water, or simply not feeling quite right, there is a very good chance that someone on the internet would like to sell you a detox. Maybe it's a liver cleanse. Maybe it's a parasite cleanse. Maybe it's a

Melatonin. Magnesium. CBD. THC. Tryptophan. Sleep gummies. Mocktails. Mouth tape. Magnesium lotion. Weighted blankets. Red lights. Brown noise. White noise. Pink noise. And, naturally, TikTok would also like to inform you that your inability to sleep is probably caused by cortisol, estrogen, parasites, your Vagus nerve, a magnesium deficiency, your liver, the wrong bedtime snack—or possibly all of the above. Welcome to sleep advice on the internet. Some of it is useful.

If you’ve spent more than seven minutes on TikTok lately, you may have learned that cortisol is apparently responsible for your belly fat, puffy face, poor sleep, anxiety, fatigue, cravings, inability to lose weight, bad mood, bad workout, bad skin, and possibly your Wi-Fi being slow. And if you’re a woman over 40? Apparently, you should also stop doing HIIT immediately, because cortisol. We need to talk. Cortisol is real. It is important. Chronically disrupted cortisol