- A Tribe Called Quest
I was sitting on my laptop, stressing out trying to decide what my first blog post would be about. In fact, I was so stressed out that I wrote about another a completely different topic (see below). Anyway, this stress was getting to me, - my heart began to beat quickly, my cortisol levels were rising….and then it hit me, my first blog was going to be about stress…cortisol…and fat!
If I had a dime for every time I heard somebody say they’re fat because their adrenals are burnt out and their cortisol levels are elevated, well you know the rest. This statement just does not make any sense…and it is my obligation to tell you why!
The adrenal glands are a pair of triangular shaped glands that sit on top of the kidneys.In response to stress, the adrenal glands produce cortisol. Cortisol is an anti-inflammatory compound and it elevates your blood sugar levels. If you’re adrenals were burnt out, then they couldn’t produce cortisol, now could they?
If your cortisol levels are elevated, then your adrenal glands are actually during their job. I know I just reiterated the last statement, but I did so for a reason. Your adrenal glands produce cortisol in response to stress (physical, emotional, mental)…which is good. If your cortisol levels are elevated, it’s a sign, however, that something needs to change. Instead of taking adrenal extracts, adaptogens, various supplements, and creams to regulate the cortisol, try eliminating the stressor first. Now, some stressors can’t be removed, such as family and job demands, but many of them can be, such as overtraining, poor diet, lack of sleep, alcohol, and excess worrying.
Know Thy Enemy
Cortisol is not some super-villainous chemical that magically makes you chubby. It indirectly increases body fat by increasing insulin resistance and causing muscle breakdown, but much of the weight gain caused by cortisol is water weight, due to salt retention.
When our ancestors released cortisol, it was usually due to a physical stressor. Cortisol increases appetite once the stressor is removed. Now, this is a good thing if you’re burning calories running from that lion. But what happens if that stressor is not physical? The stress reaction is indiscriminate – it’s exactly the same regardless of what type of stress one’s facing. If you don’t have an outlet to get rid of the excess calories, cortisol will still increase your appetite.
This leads me to insulin resistance. Wow, this article is stressing me out!
Cortisol production and release increases blood sugar levels by increasing the production of blood glucose in the liver, and decreasing the use of glucose in the muscle cells.
For you nerds, cortisol contributes to hyperglycemia by stimulating of hepatic gluconeogenesis and inhibiting of the peripheral utilization of glucose via the decreased translocation of glucose transporters to the cell membrane.
By increasing blood glucose levels, more insulin is produced, leading to potential insulin resistance. Furthermore, when less glucose is made available, your body breaks down muscle and fat for fuel. This not only results in less metabolically active muscle tissue, but results in the production of acidic ketone bodies.
Continual stress leads to a constant state of excess cortisol production, which stimulates glucose production. This excess glucose then typically is converted into fat, ending up as stored fat
Conclusion
Finally, and most importantly, if somebody tells you that the cause of your health problems or your muffin top, and weak triceps are due to elevated cortisol or a hormone imbalance, ask them where they studied endocrinology. For that matter, if they don’t know how to use the word endocrinology in a sentence, take their advice, with a grain of salt. But not too much salt, because that might increase your cortisol levels.
Until then, train hard….and relax.
