Is Stress Making You Fat?

You’ve tried everything. Dieting, starving, cardio and a million crunches and still, you have that extra around the middle that won’t go away. Yes, it’s fat. But that is just a symptom, not the cause. It’s trying to tell you something. You’re stressed and your hormones are out of balance.

We all have three primary hormones, adrenaline, insulin, and cortisol. They are essential to our survival and regulate all our autonomic functions. That’s all our automatic functions in the body, like our heartbeat, breathing and digestion. But today’s lifestyle of go, go, go is causing our system to perceive an emergency and release cortisol even when there isn’t one.

Cortisol sets off self-catabolism. Since a busy lifestyle often means skipping meals, drinking “energy” drinks, and sometimes eating junk we would otherwise never consider eating, it’s a safe bet to say if you’re one of these busy people, cortisol is chewing the muscle off and you are storing fat. At this point, most people start a new diet and workout program. Usually something dramatic. The thinking is “it’s time I get back into shape!” Unfortunately, if the tank is already empty, not filling it up and driving it further isn’t going to get you anywhere, except out of gas. You are officially using starvation to treat a malnourished and catabolic body. You may see some initial results followed by more weight gain, less energy and a feeling of hopelessness that you will never be able to solve the mystery in the mirror.

Let’s just take a look at some of the effects of cortisol as a short-term response to a stressor:

Elevates blood pressure, ensures a steady supply of blood sugar, increases serum glucose, suppresses the urge to urinate and suppresses your immune system. All these things make sense if we need to fight, flee or hide. However, when we have chronic stress, the danger is never over for our body. Working all day, taking care of the kids, managing the house, and whatever else gets packed into the day, then running to the gym to do the latest insane “fat-burning” workout puts us in a chronic stress state. The danger never ends.

Cortisol is elevated yes, but so is insulin. We are constantly in the perceived need for a steady supply of glucose which never gets used in the fight/flight/hide response. Our body manufactures insulin to lower elevated blood sugar and triglycerides. Chronic stress also elevates lipogenic and decreases lipolytic enzymes – less fat burning, more fat storing enzymes. The effect is worse in women. Our muscles become insulin resistant and belly fat accumulates. If your waist is bigger than your hips -or getting there- you are headed to or are already insulin resistant.

Eventually, if the situation isn’t addressed through proper nutrient selection, changing the way we exercise and getting rest and high-quality sleep the long-term health effects set in. So many of the health problems that are common today are simply chronic stress left unchecked. Fat is a symptom. The underlying causes must be addressed through balanced lifestyle modifications to reduce stress and lower cortisol.