High cortisol supposedly blocks T4-to-T3 conversion, spikes insulin, and locks the metabolism into "survival mode" — light exposure, selenium/zinc, smarter fasting, and a tongue technique would restart fat loss.

noli's read

The core mechanism cited is real and documented in endocrinology: a recent review (Endokrynologia Polska, 2026) confirms chronic cortisol suppresses TSH, reduces D1/D2 deiodinase activity (less active T3), and increases D3 (more reverse T3) — a pattern called "low T3 syndrome" or non-thyroidal illness syndrome (NTIS), known since the 1970s-80s (Heyma & Larkins, 1982). The problem is context: NTIS is described in severely ill or starving patients, not people who "eat clean and walk daily." Applying this mechanism to someone stuck on a weight-loss plateau is an extrapolation well beyond the population it was studied in. Selenium and zinc are genuinely recognized cofactors for thyroid metabolism (solid ground), but the "tongue technique" has no identifiable source. Verdict: mixed — the cited cortisol-thyroid mechanism is real and well-sourced, its application to an ordinary weight plateau is not.

the sources

No named source held this one up — that absence is part of the verdict.