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The Stress-Fat Connection: Cortisol and Weight Gain
"Reduce stubborn belly fat!" These commercials imply that you can lose all your excess weight by taking a pill to control the stress hormone cortisol. Is it true? Let's find out.
Cortisol is a hormone that is produced by your adrenal glands. Throughout the day, it is released in a predictable cycle, peaking in the morning and dropping during the afternoon and into the evening. This is natural and healthy, and appropriate for most people's sleep/wake cycles. Cortisol has many functions, but we will focus on its role in handling stress.
You may have heard of the "fight or flight" response. If you are confronted with stress (such as a dangerous situation) the adrenal glands release a high level of hormones, including cortisol. This helps prepare you for fight or flight - your heart rate increases, blood pressure goes up, muscles tense, energy stores are released for use, and other body functions, such as digestion, are slowed. Cortisol takes stored fat, glucose, and blood to the brain, heart, lungs, and muscles for immediate energy. After the stress has passed, cortisol levels remain high for a while longer to stimulate appetite so you can replace the energy stores you used in response to the stress.
The problem is that most of our daily stressors in today's world last more than a few minutes. We have stress that we are exposed to constantly, whether it is work, family, lack of sleep, or poor nutrition. None of these stressors require an immediate physical response, such as running away, and the stress continues over a long period of time.
Remember that one role of cortisol is to stimulate your appetite so that you will eat and replenish the fuel you used during the fight or flight response. In chronic stress, you continue to feel hungry because of the elevated cortisol, which leads to overeating. In addition, fat cells in the abdominal area are very receptive to cortisol and are very willing to fill up from all the overeating. This is because fat stored in the abdominal area is more accessible to the body when it needs fast fuel. However, with chronic exposure to stress, combined with increased insulin release, the fat cells do not want to release abdominal fat easily. This is how cortisol causes abdominal fat to increase and hang on.
If you think you can go on a diet to counteract the weight gain, think again. Dieting can actually make you gain weight, something you may have experienced yourself. Here's one reason: levels of cortisol in your body actually increase as the amount of calories you eat decreases. The higher the cortisol levels, the more your appetite will be stimulated. Low carbohydrate diets are just as guilty of increasing cortisol, as they are very stressful on the body.
So, do the miracle pills work? Stay tuned...
In Health,
Bonnie
Cortisol is a hormone that is produced by your adrenal glands. Throughout the day, it is released in a predictable cycle, peaking in the morning and dropping during the afternoon and into the evening. This is natural and healthy, and appropriate for most people's sleep/wake cycles. Cortisol has many functions, but we will focus on its role in handling stress.
You may have heard of the "fight or flight" response. If you are confronted with stress (such as a dangerous situation) the adrenal glands release a high level of hormones, including cortisol. This helps prepare you for fight or flight - your heart rate increases, blood pressure goes up, muscles tense, energy stores are released for use, and other body functions, such as digestion, are slowed. Cortisol takes stored fat, glucose, and blood to the brain, heart, lungs, and muscles for immediate energy. After the stress has passed, cortisol levels remain high for a while longer to stimulate appetite so you can replace the energy stores you used in response to the stress.
The problem is that most of our daily stressors in today's world last more than a few minutes. We have stress that we are exposed to constantly, whether it is work, family, lack of sleep, or poor nutrition. None of these stressors require an immediate physical response, such as running away, and the stress continues over a long period of time.
Remember that one role of cortisol is to stimulate your appetite so that you will eat and replenish the fuel you used during the fight or flight response. In chronic stress, you continue to feel hungry because of the elevated cortisol, which leads to overeating. In addition, fat cells in the abdominal area are very receptive to cortisol and are very willing to fill up from all the overeating. This is because fat stored in the abdominal area is more accessible to the body when it needs fast fuel. However, with chronic exposure to stress, combined with increased insulin release, the fat cells do not want to release abdominal fat easily. This is how cortisol causes abdominal fat to increase and hang on.
If you think you can go on a diet to counteract the weight gain, think again. Dieting can actually make you gain weight, something you may have experienced yourself. Here's one reason: levels of cortisol in your body actually increase as the amount of calories you eat decreases. The higher the cortisol levels, the more your appetite will be stimulated. Low carbohydrate diets are just as guilty of increasing cortisol, as they are very stressful on the body.
So, do the miracle pills work? Stay tuned...
In Health,
Bonnie
