Cortisol is a hormone in a group of steroids commonly referred to as glucocorticoids. Cortisol is a hormone produced by the adrenal gland as a part of your daily hormonal cycle. However, it is also a key hormone involved in the body’s response to stress, both physical and emotional.  Cortisol increases blood sugar levels, increases blood pressure, and suppresses the immune system, which is part of the body’s fight-or-flight response that is essential for survival. Your hypothalamus, via the pituitary gland, directs the adrenal glands to secrete both cortisol and adrenaline.

Does stress affect eating, weight, and where fat is distributed on the body? This is a question that has begged an answer from experts for many years. The body makes cortisol to help us handle stress. When stress goes up, cortisol levels go up. And it's often repeated that obese people have higher cortisol levels than lean people.

Cortisol has widespread actions which help restore homeostasis after stress, including increasing production of glucose from protein to quickly increase the body’s energy during stressful times.

However, cortisol has a two-fold effect on fat. When the stress first occurs, fat is broken down to supply the body with a rapid source of energy. When we experience something stressful, our brains release a substance known as corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), which puts the body on alert and sends it into "fight or flight" mode. As the body gears up for battle, the pupils dilate, thinking improves, and the lungs take in more oxygen. But something else happens as well: Our appetite is suppressed, and the digestive system shuts off temporarily. CRH also triggers the release of the hormones adrenaline and cortisol, which help mobilize carbohydrate and fat for quick energy. When the immediate stress is over, the adrenaline dissipates, but the cortisol lingers to help bring the body back into balance. And one of the ways it gets things back to normal is to increase our appetites so we can replace the carbohydrate and fat we should have burned while fleeing or fighting.

Your body assumes you have just physically exerted yourself, for example running from a lion, and need to restock your reserves by eating a lot of carbohydrates or fatty food that can easily be stored as fat. In reality, you are probably still sitting in your car or at your desk, still fuming and stressed out.

This is where the potential second effect of cortisol comes into play.  Experts now believe that the problem for many of us is being in a constant state of stress. Exposure to cortisol over the long term can lead to weight gain, as your appetite and insulin levels are continuously increased.

It is generally suggested that stress-induced cortisol weight is usually gained around the waistline, because fat cells in that area are more sensitive to cortisol. The fat cells in your abdomen are richer in stress hormone receptors, are particularly sensitive to high insulin, and are very effective at storing energy – more so than fat cells you would find in other areas of the body. This is the most dangerous place to gain weight, as it can lead to metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and heart disease.

If we do accept that chronic stress and elevated cortisol may be factors in weight problems, what can you do if you want to reduce cortisol?

First, focus on becoming stress resistant. One of the best things to reduce stress and improve insulin sensitivity, for example, is getting regular exercise. Exercise not only helps promote weight loss by burning calories, but is also beneficial because it helps neutralize stress and its effects, which in turn helps you keep weight off.

Second, practice stress reduction techniques such as meditation, yoga, and breathing exercises. Improving time management can also be essential to reducing stress in one’s hectic lifestyle.

Third, how a person perceives stressful situations is also important. n. Hence, stress makes life difficult, but our reaction to it is important as well.

References

1. Talbot S, Kramer W. The Cortisol Connection. 1st ed. Berkeley, CA: Publishers Group West, 2002.
2. Epel ES, McEwen B, Seeman T, Matthews K, Castellazzo G, Brownell KD, Bell J, Ickovics JR. Stress and body shape: stress-induced cortisol secretion is consistently greater among women with central fat. Psychosom Med. 2000 Sep-Oct;62(5):623-32.
3. Smart JL, Tolle V, Low MJ. Glucocorticoids exacerbate obesity and insulin resistance in neuron-specific proopiomelanocortin-deficient mice. J Clin Invest.2006 Feb;116(2):495-505. Epub 2006 Jan 26. Erratum in: J Clin Invest. 2006 Mar;116(3):842.
4. Salehi M, Ferenczi A, Zmoff B. Obesity and Cortisol Status. Horm Metab Res 2005;37:193-197.
5. Prezio JA, Carreon G, Clerkin E, Meloni CR, Kyle LH, Canary JJ. Influence of Body Composition on Adrenal Function in Obesity. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1964;24:481-485.
6. Streeten DH, Stevenson CT, Dalakos TG, Nicholas JJ, Dennick LG, Fellerman H. The diagnosis of hypercortisolism. Biochemical criteria differentiating patients from lean and obese normal subjects and from female on oral contraceptives. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1969;29:1191-211.
7. Jessop DS, Dallman MF, Flaming D, Lightman SL. Resistance to glucocorticoid feedback in obesity. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2001;86:4109-4114.
8. Hellman L, Nakada F, Curti J Et al. Cortisol is secreted episodically by normal man. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1970;30:411-422.
9. Chalew SA, Nagel H, Burt D, Edwards CR. The integrated concentration of cortisone is reduced in obese children. J Pediatr Endocrinal Metab 1997; 10: 287-290.
10. Chalew SA, Lozano RA, Armour KM, Zadik Z, Kowarski AA. Reduction of plasma cortisol levels in childhood obesity. J Pediatr 1991; 119: 778-780.
11. Strain GW, Zumoff B, Kream J, Strain JJ, Levin J, Fukushia D. Sex difference in the influence of obesity on the 24 hr mean plasma concentration of cortisol. Metabolism 1982: 31: 209-212.

Estrogen dominance generally occurs when a body has too much estrogen in relation to progesterone. It can cause a host of problems and health conditions such as:

• Allergy symptoms
• Breast cancer
• Breast tenderness
• Cold hands and feet
• Decreased sex drive
• Mood swings
• Dry eyes
• Depression, anxiety, irritability
• Fatigue
• Fibrocystic breasts
• Increase risk of strokes
• Irregular menstrual periods
• Headaches
• Hypoglycemia
• Insomnia
• Slow metabolism
• Infertility
• PMS
• Zinc deficiency
• Osteoporosis
• Uterine fibroids
• Uterine cancer
• Water retention, bloating
• Weight gain
• Hair loss
• Acceleration of the aging process
• Fat gain around hips and thighs
• Polycystic ovaries
• Endometrial cancer
• Memory loss, foggy thinking
• Thyroid dysfunction
• Magnesium deficiency
• Gallbladder disease
• Unstable blood sugar
• Cervical dysplasia
• Ovarian cancer

Many women in their twenties, mid-thirties through forties, and even women who are menopausal can be overloaded with estrogen. At the same time they may be suffering from a deficiency of progesterone due to a severe drop in the body’s production, which leads to insufficient progesterone to counteract the amount of estrogen in the body. It is most noticeable among peri-menopausal women who do not ovulate, which is quite common.  You may have a fairly normal cycle, but no egg is released and very little progesterone is produced.

Estrogen dominance can be caused by more than the body’s production of hormones. For example, hormone replacement therapy (HRT), birth control pills, environmental estrogens, plant estrogens, stress, obesity, poor liver function, peri-menopause, and glandular dysfunction.

We are constantly assaulted by estrogens in our environment from the food we eat and the chemicals we use.  Estrogen mimickers in the form of food/plants (phytoestrogens) and chemicals (xenoestrogens), can mimic the action of estrogen produced in cells and can alter hormonal activity. Exposure to xenoestrogens is a concern for everyone, and those with an estrogen dominance condition should be particularly concerned about avoiding xenoestrogens.

Phytoestrogens are naturally occurring estrogenic compounds that are found in a variety of foods, herbs, spices.  Their chemical structure resembles estrogen. These compounds are generally weak estrogens, in comparison to real estrogen and xenoestrogens, but in a body that is already experiencing too much estrogen, adding more may contribute to the problem.

Some of the strongest phytoestrogen containing substances are soy, the lignans found in flax seed products, red clover, black cohosh, chasteberry, and dong quai. Soy includes soybeans, soy milk, tofu, tempeh, textured vegetable protein, roasted soybeans, soy granules, miso, and edamames.

Key points to reducing estrogen dominance:

• Avoid chemical sources of estrogen (xenoestrogen)
• Avoid food sources of estrogen (phytoestrogens)
• Cleanse the liver
• Exercise
• Reduce stress
• Balance hormones
• Metabolize excess estrogen (DIM, Calcium D-Glucarate)
• Do not heat food in plastic
• Drink out of glass containers, not plastic or Styrofoam

Hormones are the most powerful molecules in our bodies, controlling the function, growth reproduction, metabolism, and repair of every cell. Our bodies require optimal hormone levels, just as they require optimal levels of essential vital nutrients: vitamins, fats, amino acids, and minerals.

Hormone levels are generally optimal in our early twenties but begin to decline at a rate of 2% per year after the age of 30. Hormone levels decline because our glands and the parts of our brain that control our glands deteriorate with age. This age-related hormone loss is natural, but it is not adaptive; it is destructive. It is one of the mechanisms of aging.  It is Mother Nature’s way of canceling us out by deterioration and death.

Hormone loss has been shown to contribute to many of the disorders and diseases that we suffer as we age – diabetes, atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, fatigue, loss of muscle strength, osteoporosis, autoimmune diseases, cognitive decline, increased cholesterol levels, loss of libido, depression, and some cancers. Many have additional non-age-related hormone insufficiencies or imbalances due to hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction, endocrine gland failure, hormone resistance, and metabolic disorders.

Women are more so affected by hormonal disorders because their complex hormonal system is adapted to produce and feed babies; not to optimize their vitality as it is in men. Women lose vital sex hormones in perimenopause and menopause, and they have a much higher incidence of thyroid insufficiency and cortisol insufficiency (fatigue, aches, anxiety, depression, allergies, and autoimmune diseases).

Progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone are three sex hormones whose names are known by women and are extremely important when considering hormone optimization.  There are also further hormone optimization considerations. 

Each day nearly 200 hormones and hormone-like substances course silently through your body, acting as chemical messengers secreted by nine major endocrine glands (adrenals, thyroid, parathyroid, ovaries, hypothalamus, pancreas, thymus, pituitary, pineal) and other organs.  These hormones affect every cell in your body, helping to determine whether you’re hot or cold, hungry or full, calm or stressed, alert or sleepy, and naughty or nice.  Whether you’re asleep or awake, hormones also build bone, regulate your menstrual cycles, and direct myriad other essential functions. 

So keeping your hormones in balance, in an optimized state, is vital for day-to-day good health.