Newsletter 2

Why Is Stress Making Us Fat and Killing Us?
Cortisol Arch Villain or Necessary Evil?

By Wendy Bodnar, BPE

In times of stress your body goes through many chemical and physiological changes that were designed to protect you. The coined ‘fight or flight’ stress response is innate and goes back to our ancestor the caveman. These natural occurring changes made sense when we were deciding to fight or flee from the saber toothed tiger outside our cave.

But now our stressors have changed, a public speech, road rage, too much work, not enough pay, children’s schedules and what are you going to cook for supper?

When you are under stress not only does your heart feel like it will beat out of your chest, your palms are sweating profusely, the butterflies are churning in your stomach and the lump of peanut butter is building in your throat; but you are also releasing a stream of stress related hormones, adrenaline, epinephrine, norepinephrine and cortisol.

Following a stressful event the other “stress hormones” levels are back to normal quite quickly, but the research is revealing that cortisol, a steroid hormone released from the adrenal gland, is wreaking havoc on our bodies when we are under chronic daily stress.

Elevated levels of cortisol in the blood stream can lead to:

Decrease in muscle mass
Loss of bone
Loss of memory
Increase of “toxic fat” around the abdomen
Depression
Reduced immune system functioning

So, what can you do to stave off the negative effects of chronically elevated levels of cortisol in your system? The answer is to manage your stress in a positive way every day. Stress is always here, but how you decide to react to it is entirely your decision:

Exercise: According to a recent CTV study exercise is the number 1 stress reliever in Canada. It releases dopamine, increases the levels of serotonin in the blood stream and produces endorphins that are natural opposites to the damaging coritsol
Relax and Get Rest: People who get a good night sleep can automatically control the cortisol levels in their bodies. Go to bed when you are tired.
Don’t Feed Your Stress: Choose healthy foods, take a multi-vitamin daily and choose fruits, veggies, complex carbohydrates and quality protein.

For more information on cortisol and the effects on the body click here for the full article….Cortisol Arch Villian #1

Question: Why is it that after I get stressed out I reach for fat or sugar filled foods?

Answer: When your body experiences a stressor it reverts to your innate ‘fight or flight’ response which prepares our body to fight the enemy or run away from it. That means metabolizing glucose (sugar) into energy to move and fat stores to mobilize for the long haul. It makes sense then that after a stressor our brain signals our body to equalize and replenish both our fat and sugar stores. More on this in our next e-zine!