You bet stress is a staller!
When you're stressed, your body releases certain "stress hormones" .. cortisol especially, along with adrenaline and others. Together they evoke the "fight or flight" reaction in response to a perceived danger or emergency.
Adrenaline raises blood pressure and heart rate, while cortisol triggers a rise in blood sugar (and consequently insulin) and triglycerides. These are
good things to have happen if you're running around in a loincloth in the jungle and you happen to come face to face with a ferocious tiger
You need the increased blood flow and increased fuel in order to high-tail it out of there pronto! Once you're safe however, you relax and go sleep under a tree. The stress hormone levels return to normal, and so do your body functions.
But, when stress is chronic and nagging with no real let up in sight, then cortisol and adrenaline levels stay elevated (although not quite as high as when you're facing a tiger
) So .. the extra sugar and triglyceride gets stored as fat, and the elevated blood pressure takes its toll on your arteries. etc etc. Cortisol also tends to make the kidneys retain sodium, which means increased fluid retention.
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From "The Cortisol Connection", by Shawn Talbott, PhD. ..
Quote:
Q. How is it that stress leads to obesity?
A. Stress increases our cortisol levels and elevated cortisol levels lead to obesity in several ways. First, cortisol is a potent signal to the brain to increase our appetites and cravings for certain foods – especially carbohydrates. Second, cortisol also acts as a signal to our fat cells to hold onto as much fat and release as little stored fat as they can. Next, cortisol blocks the effects of many hormones such as insulin (so blood sugar control suffers and carb-cravings go up), serotonin (so we get depressed and feel like eating more), and growth hormone (so we lose muscle and gain fat). All of these metabolic effects combine to cause our bodies to take in more calories (eat) and burn off fewer calories – so we gain weight – and we tend to gain it specifically around our bellies (which increases our risk for hypertension, diabetes and heart disease).
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Doreen
Stress? Does that make you stall?
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