Mayo Clinic: Adrenal fatigue, what causes it?

Clinical resourceProfessional clinical guidance

Source type: Clinical resource
Access type: Publisher
Publisher: Mayo Clinic
Added: 2026-07-01

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VV Source Trust Matrix v1.0

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Professional clinical guidance

Publisher type: Professional guidance
Bias profile: Moderate

This source is strongest for safety and consumer context and weaker for mechanism and trial discovery.

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Regulatory status: 63/100; Context Source
Clinical outcomes: 78/100; Strong Support
Mechanism: 63/100; Context Source
Safety: 86/100; Strong Support
Consumer context: 82/100; Strong Support
Trial discovery: 63/100; Context Source

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Used in Viral Vitalism

Supporting evidencesignal5 references

Cortisol Is Real. The Internet Turned It Into a Boogeyman.

Roles: Supporting evidence

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Supporting evidencestudy1 reference

Roles: Supporting evidence

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Mayo Clinic: Adrenal fatigue, what causes it?

Claim ledger

Claims supported

Reviewed claim cards that cite this source in the evidence graph.

supported91/100

cortisol: Adrenal fatigue is not a recognized medical diagnosis, and

Adrenal fatigue is not a recognized medical diagnosis, and no scientifically supported test can diagnose it.

Strong human evidence8 sources

partly supported87/100

cortisol: Puffy face or facial changes should not be self-diagnosed

Puffy face or facial changes should not be self-diagnosed as cortisol face from social media; true cortisol excess is a clinical condition requiring medical evaluation.

Expert context8 sources

partly supported87/100

cortisol: Adrenal support supplements are not automatically safe; some products

Adrenal support supplements are not automatically safe; some products marketed for adrenal support have been found to contain thyroid or steroid hormones.

Early human evidence8 sources

partly supported86/100

cortisol: Routine cortisol testing for vague wellness symptoms is often

Routine cortisol testing for vague wellness symptoms is often misleading; cortisol varies by timing and context and is most useful when a clinician suspects endocrine disease.

Expert context8 sources

partly supported80/100

cortisol: Coffee does not destroy adrenal glands; caffeine can affect

Coffee does not destroy adrenal glands; caffeine can affect alertness and stress physiology, but adrenal destruction is not the mechanism behind normal caffeine use.

Expert context8 sources

partly supported79/100

cortisol: Cortisol can relate to appetite, glucose, stress physiology, and

Cortisol can relate to appetite, glucose, stress physiology, and fat distribution, but cortisol belly is an over-simple explanation for body-fat changes.

Observational signal8 sources