The Most Controversial Drinks in the Wellness World

Wellness culture has never been shy about turning a kitchen staple into a viral cure. Right now, a couple of drinks are generating genuine disagreement between the people making them at home and the doctors watching the trend unfold.

Neither drink is dangerous in the way something like a street drug would be. The controversy is more about the claims attached to them than the actual ingredients inside the glass.

None of it has stopped either trend from spreading fast. Here are the wellness drinks generating the most genuine pushback right now, and what doctors actually say about them.

The Cortisol Cocktail Doctors Keep Debunking

The cortisol cocktail, also called an adrenal cocktail, typically blends orange juice, coconut water and a pinch of sea salt, sometimes with magnesium or collagen powder added in. It has spread rapidly across social media with claims that it can lower stress, boost energy and even support weight loss.

Endocrinologist Dr. Pratibha Rao of the Cleveland Clinic has pushed back directly on the core premise behind the drink, according to Cleveland Clinic. “There is no evidence that adrenal fatigue exists,” she has said, the very condition the cocktail claims to treat.

The Adrenal Fatigue Myth Behind It

The entire premise behind the drink rests on the idea that chronic stress can burn out the adrenal glands, leading to fatigue and hormone imbalance. The Endocrine Society has stated there is no scientific evidence to support adrenal fatigue as an actual medical condition, according to a breakdown from BodySpec.

A separate gastroenterologist reached the same conclusion when asked directly whether the drink affects cortisol levels. Dr. Omar Khokhar told OSF HealthCare it simply does not, pointing instead to sleep, diet and mindfulness as the more effective ways to manage stress and fatigue.

Fringe Milks Are Having Their Own Moment

Bovine colostrum, the nutrient dense substance cows produce in the days right after giving birth, has become another genuinely divisive wellness drink. Celebrities and influencers have promoted it as a booster for immunity and gut health, pushing it into the same conversation as raw milk as one of the defining fringe dairy trends of the past couple years.

Experts agree colostrum is nutrient rich, but caution that supplements remain unregulated in the United States, meaning one product’s contents cannot be guaranteed to match another’s, according to AOL, citing reporting from The Guardian. There is also no established guidance on how much a person would actually need to see any real benefit.

Neither of these drinks is likely to cause real harm for most healthy people who try them. The controversy lives entirely in the gap between what gets promised on social media and what doctors can actually back up with evidence.