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SO WHAT AFFECT DOES PROLONGED SECRETION OF CORTISOL HAVE ON YOUR HEALTH AND DIET?
* Cortisol stimulates appetite: Not bad when you've just been attacked and used a lot of energy to escape. Not good if you have not used up energy. The excess food will now be stored as fat, adding to fat you've already stored. Worrying about bills or getting chewed out by the boss does not burn much energy, but it can generate a lot of cortisol and help you store some more fat.
* Cortisol stops energy storage: Cortisol in affect countermands the purpose of insulin – storage of fat in cells. If this occurs on a regular basis, insulin resistance may occur, and this may predispose you to diabetes.
* Cortisol causes the body to crave more food (especially carbohydrates) and stress itself causes a reduction in the secretion of other key hormones. These hormones, such as DHEA and Growth Hormone, for example, normally help the body maintain muscle and bone mass, keys to weight loss or at least weight management. Under prolonged stress, the production of cortisol combined with decreases in other beneficial hormones will cause you to gain weight as your body stores fat, loses muscle, your metabolic rate slows, and your appetite increases!
LONG TERM AFFECTS OF CORTISOL
Our caveancer ancestor only had to escape the bear and in a few hours, cortisol levels would return to normal. It may take a little longer if caveason was attacked by a bear in the morning and a lion in the afternoon.
For you, the car would not start this morning, you were late for work, you were going to ask the boss for some overtime to cover some bills, but now you need the money for the car repairs, but the boss will not give you overtime if you can not get to work on time … and you did not win the lottery … again! (Okay, skip that last one.)
Any way, you get the point. Our modern stresses may be less lethal at the moment, but there's more of them, and they do not seem to stop … that can be lethal!
REMINDER: EVEN THE THOUGHT OF DIETING AND WORRYING ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE EATING CAN CAUSE STRESS!
Many diets will tell you to pick a target weight. That gives you something else to worry about, and since diets do not work anyway (read this), you will probably experience more stress, cortisol, and depression by having a specific target that you probably will not hit. Most people pick somebody else's weight as a target, anyway (yes, the person you were at 18 is somebody else), or pick a weight from a chart … which is the average of a bunch of other people.
Why do not you just concentrate on being healthy and happy and let your body figure out what weight should be?
SOLUTIONS
EXERCISE / ACTIVITY: Exercise or pleasurable activity can relieve stress and reduce the production of cortisol, build or rebuild muscle mass, burn excess calories, raise your metabolic rate … all while strengthening heart, lungs, muscles, joints, and making life more enjoyable. Exercise can be incorporated into your lifestyle with purchasing expensive equipment or participating in professionally guided bouts of exercise. In other words, take a walk, garden, play badminton, or do whatever you like that makes you sweat.
PLANNED WEIGHT LOSS PROGRRAMS: Programs such as NutriSystem, Jenny Craig, or Weight Watchers are very helpful in a couple of ways. You get support from other members in the program as well as counselors with the programs. Usually, no one is standing over your shoulder. Meals are prepackaged and prepared so you can actually enjoy what you eat. Weight loss is more of a result of healthy lifestyle and nutrition (particularly since these programs encourage exercise).
MEDITATION: This is a proven stress buster! But do not get stressed over learning it! There are lots of ways to meditate or activities which produce essentially the same affects. For example, a brisk 20 minute walk will produce about the same affects as meditation, plus you get the benefit of the exercise!
SLEEP: Meditation and other relaxation practices can improve sleep, as can regular exercise. Some supplements can help too. Everything you do to decrease stress and increase the quality of your sleep is a step that brings you closer to existing the hamster wheel of stress – loss of sleep – stress – loss of sleep. By the way, good nutrition can help as well.
AVOID WEIGHT LOSS SUPPLEMENTS: There are many products you can buy which can be made a part of your weight loss program. For example, you could drink a SlimFast instead of having a burger and fries for lunch. This is probably a good choice on your part. However, if the product claims that IT will cause you to lose weight (especially if it claims to cause you to lose weight fast), it probably contains ingredients which will cause an increase in cortisol production, interfere with sleep, interfere with take of proper nutrients, strain physical systems … you get the point! Also, if you read the labels of almost ANY weight loss product, including valid meal replacements or the products of planned programs such as NutriSystem, Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, or SlimFast, you will see them almost all have statements to the effect that this product, program, system, method, pill, juice should be combined with an exercise program.
Studies have shown again and again, by the way, that the single most effective weight loss strategy is exercise.
VITAMINS AND SUPPLEMENTS: This is such a broad area that I will just provide a list of some items you might be interested in, and some links to possible references.
Daily multivitamins for sure. Astragalus, suma, ginseng, ashwagandha, schisandra, rhodiola, magnolia bark, theanine, epimedium, phytosterols, phosphatidylserine, tyrosine. Nature's Sunshine has a product specifically designed for the cortisol problem called Nature's Cortisol Formula. You can check the Nature's Sunshine site by CLICKING HERE.
REMEMBER: STRESS AND CORTISOL IS A DAILY PART OF MODERN LIFE. IF YOU WANT TO BE THE ONE IN CONTROL, YOU WILL HAVE TO BE PREPARED TO USE YOUR WEAPONS DAILY TO DECREASE STRESS AND IMPROVE HEALTH – – OKAY, ALMOST DAILY – WE DO NOT WANT YOU TO GET STRESSED ABOUT IT, DO WE?
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Source by Donovan Baldwin
