‘There is a lot of very confident nonsense about health on the internet right now,’ Dr Amir said
Fiona Callingham Lifestyle writer
03:15, 15 Mar 2026
A health expert has shared five “medical myths” he believes “need to be debunked”. Doctor Amir Khan explained more about what he claims is a lot of “nonsense” on the internet.
Speaking in a video uploaded to his Instagram account, Dr Amir – who is best known for his appearances on ITV, explained more about these dubious allegations. In the video’s caption, he said: “There is a lot of very confident nonsense about health on the internet right now.” These are:
- Cortisol face
- Parasite cleanses
- Detox teas
- “Hormone balancing” powders
- Seed cycling
Dr Amir said: “Most of these trends take very complex physiology and pretend it can be fixed with a simple hack. The reality is that your body already has extraordinarily sophisticated systems controlling hormones, detoxification, metabolism and immunity.
“When something claims to reset all of that with a tea, supplement or social media trends, it’s usually not medicine it’s marketing.” Speaking in the video, he said: “I can’t believe I’m having to say this, but here are five medical myths doing the rounds online that we need to debunk with actual medicine. “
Cortisol face
This is the concept that your puffy face is caused by a spike in cortisol, which is a hormone made by your adrenal glands. It is necessary for regulating how your body uses sugar for energy, decreasing inflammation, regulating blood pressure, and helping control your sleep-wake cycle.
Dr Amir said: “Number one, this idea of cortisol face – apparently if your face looks puffy the internet has decided, it might be cortisol.” While this can be the case in severe cases, it’s quite “rare”.
He said: “Now, true cortisol excess is called Cushing’s syndrome and it’s a rare endocrine disorder, where the body produces too much cortisol over a long period of time. It causes things like muscle wasting, fragile skin, high blood pressure, diabetes and distinctive kind of purple patches over your body.”
It is far more likely your puffy face is caused by other things. Dr Amir said: “A slightly puffy face after a poor night’s sleep is far more likely to be fluid retention, salt intake, alcohol, allergies, or simple fatigue – not a serious hormonal disease.”
Parasite cleanses
Dr Amir said this one is hard to believe. “People are actually selling parasite cleanses,” he said.
“Now, the internet loves the idea that we’re all secretly full of parasites.” But if you live in the UK, this is highly unlikely.
Dr Amir said: “In countries like the UK, parasitic infections are very uncommon unless you’ve travelled abroad or had specific exposure somewhere.” He warned: “Most parasite cleanses are just herbal laxatives.
“They irritate the bowels, speed up gut transit, and make you pass mucus or debris, which people then mistakenly believe are parasites, but they’re not removing parasites because they weren’t any there to begin with.”
Detox teas
“Most” of these are also just laxatives, according to Dr Amir. He said: “Your body already has a sophisticated detox system.
“It’s called your liver and your kidneys. Your liver uses enzymes to chemically modify toxins, so they can be excreted out, your kidneys then filter your blood continuously.
“Most detox teas simply contain Senna or caffeine, which just makes you go to the toilet more. They’re not detoxing anything.”
Balancing your hormones
Using supplements to try to “balance your hormones” is unlikely to do anything, the expert said. He explained: “Now, hormones are controlled by tightly regulated feedback loops between the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and endocrine organs like the thyroid, ovaries and adrenal glands.
“These systems operate through complex signalling pathways and receptor interactions. A generic supplement, bought online is extremely unlikely to override that regulatory network.
“If hormones are genuinely abnormal, the treatment is usually medical therapy targeting the underlying endocrine pathway, not a powder.”
Seed cycling
Lastly, he shared something you might not have heard of – “seed cycling”. “This idea suggests eating specific seeds during phases of your menstrual cycle will balance oestrogen and progesterone,” Dr Amir said.
“But hormone levels during the menstrual cycles, are all controlled by the hypothalamic pituitary ovarian axis, involving pulsatile release of things like GNRH, LH and FSH from the brain. Flax seeds and pumpkin seeds, I love them. I love them, eat them, get them in you, but they don’t influence that signalling system in any clinical meaningful way.”
Summarising, he added: “So, the internet is great, it’s great. But when something claims to fix complex physiology with a very simple trick, just question it.”
If you are experiencing any health issues, you should speak to your GP.