Most people admit that good eating habits are difficult to maintain when experiencing a stressful time. The fact is that eating to fill an emotional need or go to fast food because there is no time to prepare something when you are stressed is not a good diet to follow. Weight gain can also be caused by a hormonal imbalance in our body caused by stress and anxiety.
Cortisol is a hormone that regulates many actions in our body. Cortisol is secreted by the adrenal gland (in the kidneys) and its level of secretion in the blood depends on the time of day (cortisol levels are highest in the morning between 6:00 am and 8:00 am and at the lowest to midnight).
Cortisol is an element that helps regulate blood pressure and it is the chemical component that gives energy and muscle strength to our body. Finally, cortisol stimulates the production of insulin and maintains the increase of glucose in the blood. This results in an increase in our appetite and therefore our desire to eat.
Cortisol is referred to by specialists as the stress hormone because higher levels of cortisol are secreted in our body during physical or psychological stress. This above normal production of cortisol can not only cause weight gain but also change areas of your body or you will get fat.
For example, some research has shown that stress and cortisol can cause weight gain in the abdominal area rather than in the hips.
This deposit of fat can be toxic because too much fat in the abdomen often goes hand in hand with cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks or cerebral hemorrhages.
Stress is not the only reason that can cause high levels of cortisol: other diseases can also cause increases in blood cortisol. Cushing's syndrome is the term that doctors use to describe a medical condition in which high levels of cortisol are found, leading to changes in physical appearance such as obesity on the stomach and face.
Weight gain or loss depends on many factors such as metabolism, exercise level, and even the type of food consumed and the time of day at which meals are taken. Genetic factors can also influence our metabolism and may explain the tendency of some people to take or lose weight faster than others.
Nevertheless, it is difficult to say whether a particular level of cortisol in an individual will necessarily be at the origin of weight gain.
The level of cortisol that will be produced in response to stress can vary between people and some individuals are more sensitive to stress than others.
Research has shown that women who tend to respond to stress with higher levels of cortisol secretion also tend to eat more during times of stress than other women. Other studies have shown that women whose excess fat is stored in the abdominal area produced more cortisol and generally had a more stressful lifestyle than women with excess fat in their hips.
The dietary industry has been trying to promote diets that can be said to reduce cortisol levels and lose weight. No serious study could prove that these diets worked. In fact, exercising and exercising is the best way to reduce excessive levels of cortisol generated in response to stress and to burn off the extra calories to stimulate weight loss.
Comments
Post a Comment