Stress, Cortisol & Fat Gain

[VeggieLifterChick]

The connection between stress, cortisol levels, and fat gain has been touched upon before in previous threads, but I have yet to read anything confirming it. Has anyone got information on this?

 

[Artemis]

There could be many more interrelated bits to the stress-cortisol story than meets the eye. The amounts of binding protein for cortisol can be altered along with the amounts of blood binding proteins for sex hormones. Expect alterations in either one or the other to have some cross-talk with each other and the rest of the system. Consider anorexia: we might find that very low E can lead to less of both binding proteins for both E and C. So the 'total' cortisol is low, while the 'free' cortisol is surprisingly high. It isn't so clear what net effect this has at the time, nor if/when the person starts to re-feed. And the low binding protein levels for E result in some other subtle mess-ups that tend to drive the endocrinologists crazy with a bit of a chicken-or-the-egg situation. It is difficult to sort out cause versus effect. But in such cases the hypothalamus often sorts itself out and symptoms go away after a few days/months of rest, recuperation, and possibly a winning lottery ticket. Either way though, the body is then stuck with some extra fat cells that grew/divided during the dysfuntional time-period, yet don't go away afterwards. Nasty.

On a more practical level: How many have noticed that students enter college healthy and lithe, go through several years of wasted artificial stress, all-nighters etc. and then graduate with assorted bumps, bulges and lovehandles etc.? This effect seems to happen even if the kid stays at home and eats the same stuff that has been apparently okay so far. The stressed-out body seems to handle food and partition it quite differently than a calm well-rested body. Could wacked-out cortisol levels (among other things) be a contributor here?

 

[circusgirl]

I always thought the "freshman 15" was caused by BEER. Not stress......
circusgirl

 

[VeggieLifterChick]

I remember gaining 5 pounds first semester freshman year from ordering pizza too much, then I got a handle on that. Then I gained 10 lbs from 2 weeks of finals. And I didn't change my eating habits.

 

[Gladiola]

I've ALWAYS eaten when stressed & I eat when I study too.

I think it's the bit of boredom & restlessness caused by spending hours on end with books & notes that makes me want to eat. I always used to rationalize that if it helped me focus & study - better to satisfy a craving & just eat - it was worth it. So I would. I lived in my sorority house which was STOCKED with all kinds of crap- from tortilla chips to pop tarts.

Now that I'm studying for my ACE exam this Sat, I've been snacking, but fortunately the worst I can eat at home is low fat wheat thin crackers, cashews, & diet soda.

 

[VeggieLifterChick]

K this may be a little off-topic, but its just a thought. If stress causes all kinds of bad things, and smoking pot gets rid of stress, would smoking pot then help keep fat off? Of course, there is the munchies to consider.

 

[Gladiola]

smoking pot gets rid of stress

yeah, it also gets rid of motivation.

For some reason at my university in general, & in my sorority in particular, all the people who smoked pot did so habituatlly (you did it reguarlly or you didn't do it). & they were all such fucking losers, totally flunking out, never going to classes, & here there parents were paying an insane amount in tuition. Pissed me off.

Leaning on drugs to relive stress isn't healthy. Try some yoga, go for a hike in the woods, have sex, hell, get a nice flogging that always unwinds me (yeah, I'm a freak), but don't use drugs for stress relief.

 

[superscrawn]

Hey I heard that the high cortisol levels in women make us gain fat in the lower abdomen often when gaining weight for other reasons (too much food, too little exercize) causes us to just put it on in the regular areas.

Anyone else heard this and know if it is true? Im pretty much always stressed as hell, but burn mad calories playing soccor and running so I dont ever get above like 12-13% bf. Im wondering if when I am not burning so many calories finally (which is soon) am I going to blow up bigtime. I want to gain some fat and fill out, but dont want to gain a bunch in the lower abdomen.

 

[VeggieLifterChick]

Whoa! That's really crazy! I have been gaining it all in the lower abdomen and not in my thighs/hips. I attributed that to being on adipokinetix since it has yohimbine in it. But sounds like I can now most definitely attribute my fat gain to stress and cortisol.

 

[liltyson19]

I was just about to post something about being stressed. I have been training and dieting harder and I feel like I am fatter...my asshole boyfriend who I put up with stresses my out big time. I know when I spend a night crying I hold water and this is obviously not helping me get ready for my show...So would it be impossible to prepare for a show when you are completly stressed out???? I guess these posts answered my question about kicking the boy to the curb and lessening the drama in my life....