Cortisol Can Disrupt Glucose Metabolism

---

When you're stressed, cortisol naturally stimulates both fat and carbohydrate metabolism, creating bursts of energy that were vital for our ancestors' survival. However, this same mechanism can work against us today. Elevated cortisol levels increase appetite and boost cravings for sweet, fatty, and salty foods, which explains why you might reach for comfort foods during stressful periods rather than chosing a nutritious meal.

Here's how it works: your body stores some excess energy as glycogen in the liver and muscles, but these stores are limited. Most excess energy gets converted into triglycerides and stored in adipose tissue. While fat storage was once advantageous for survival, today's reality of chronic stress can accelerate this process, particularly increasing visceral fat in the abdominal region. This is why managing stress effectively is so important for long-term weight control.

Understanding the relationship between stress, cortisol, and fat storage can empower you to take proactive steps toward better metabolic health. The encouraging news is that simple lifestyle changes can help manage cortisol levels and reduce stress-related fat accumulation. So, rather than allowing daily stressors to control your well-being, consider stress management strategies that help to naturally regulate cortisol production and release for a healthier well-being.

Can visceral fat deposits increase health risks?

Adipose tissue, commonly known as body fat, is a type of connective tissue where your body stores energy in specialized cells called adipocytes. This tissue appears in two main forms: subcutaneous fat, which sits just beneath your skin, and visceral fat, which wraps around your internal organs in the abdominal cavity. While visceral fat serves important functions like energy storage, hormone regulation, and organ protection, too much visceral fat can lead to serious health concerns.

Visceral vs Subcutaneous Fat: The difference in danger of health risks between visceral fat and subcutaneous fat stems primarily from metabolic activity as well as the substances released. Excess visceral fat is more metabolically active and can release free fatty acids and other fat metabolites directly into the liver’s portal system. This can impair hepatic function, lead to fatty liver disease, and cause poor regulation of glucose and insulin metabolism.

Unlike subcutaneous fat where you can pinch an inch, visceral fat lies deep within your abdomen and contributes to increased risks of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and certain cancers. When you experience chronic stress, your body releases cortisol to mobilize energy. Unfortunately, this process favors fat storage in the abdominal area, creating what's often called a "cortisol belly." Over time, excessive cortisol from chronic stress raises your risk of metabolic disturbances, such as abnormal cholesterol levels or outright insulin resistance.

Cortisol Influences Metabolic Processes

Cortisol is a critical steroid hormone produced by the adrenal glands that helps regulate essential bodily functions, including metabolism, immune response, and blood pressure. When your body experiences mental, emotional, or physical stress, cortisol levels increase as part of your natural stress response. However, in our modern world of chronic stress, prolonged or constantly elevated cortisol levels can have unintended consequences for your health and weight management.

• Increased Food Cravings – When stress triggers a cortisol surge, your body doesn’t just feel stressed. The steroid hormone creates intense cravings for calorie-packed, high-fat, and sugary foods to provide instant relief.
• Cortisol Production in Tissues – Unlike subcutaneous fat that sits just beneath your skin, visceral fat wraps around your internal organs deep within your abdomen and pose greater health risks.
• Excess Glucose Due to Insulin Resistance – When glucose cannot enter cells effectively, it causes blood sugar levels in the bloodstream to rise and remain elevated. This can create a cascade of metabolic health issues.
• Sleep and Hormonal Imbalances – Leptin is responsible for signaling when you're full, while ghrelin triggers feelings of hunger. When sleep is disrupted by elevated cortisol, these hormones can become imbalanced.
• Visceral Fat Accumulation – When cortisol steroid levels rise during stressful periods, it essentially tells your body to prioritize storing visceral fat in the midsection that can lead to belly fat.

Visceral fat is more metabolically active than subcutaneous fat, meaning it functions almost like an endocrine organ. When this type of fat accumulates beyond healthy levels, it releases inflammatory hormones that further disrupt your metabolism, creating a frustrating cycle where hormonal imbalance leads to weight gain, which then worsens the overall hormonal disruption. This creates a metabolic state where your body becomes more prone to storing fat while simultaneously reducing its capacity to build and maintain muscle.

Both Women and Men Handle Cortisol Differently

Although both men and women release cortisol during stressful situations, the way this hormone affects weight gain and fat distribution varies considerably between the sexes. Research from Harvard Health reveals that women are more likely to turn to comfort foods that are high in calories, sugar, and fat as a way to cope with stress. This behavior is directly linked to cortisol elevation and often leads to overeating and increased calorie intake. Men are also susceptible to appetite changes, but gravitate to coping mechanisms like smoking or drinking.

Women have a unique biological advantage when it comes to stress response. Unlike men, women release more oxytocin during stressful situations, which helps buffer cortisol's effects and promotes social bonding. This "bonding hormone" can reduce the negative impacts of cortisol and encourage support-seeking behavior. Men typically show a stronger cortisol response to psychological stress compared to women. While these general patterns exist, it's crucial to remember that individual responses to stress can vary significantly regardless of sex.

While cortisol's impact on weight gain is universal, the interplay between stress hormones, sex hormones like estrogen and testosterone, and individual biological factors creates distinctly different patterns in men and women. Recognizing these differences is essential for developing effective, personalized approaches to managing stress-related weight gain and improving overall metabolic health. So, understanding your unique stress response can help you develop proactive strategies for managing chronic stress and its effects on your body composition.

______________________

If you are looking for a weight management plan personalized for your body, your lifestyle and your goals, MRC Fort Collins is here to help. Metabolic Research Center has been helping people just like you to restore metabolic efficiency for decades. Take our 2-minute quiz to “Find Your Fit” and discover how our whole body wellness approach can put you on the right track. After all, we don’t believe in fad dieting and you’ll receive an instant download for our FREE Kickstart Guide that includes meal planning, recipes and much more.