Chronic Anxiety Can Elevate Cortisol

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The “fight or flight” response was essential for our ancestors to improve their chances of survival during dangerous situations and periodic food shortages. However, in our modern world, chronic stress often leads to problematic changes in how our bodies process and store energy. In addition, the cortisol response doesn’t just affect energy production; this steroid hormone increase appetite and triggers intense cravings for sweet, fatty, and salty foods.

While the mechanism to escape predators made sense when humans needed the extra energy, chronic stress is common culprit that often leads to overeating of calorie-dense comfort foods but without the physical demands that would easily burn off the excess fuel. Initially, your body stores fat as subcutaneous fat just under the skin. However, when this storage capacity is exceeded, fat begins accumulating around organs in your midsection as visceral fat.

Higher cortisol levels also signal your body to produce less testosterone, which can decrease muscle mass and slow your metabolic rate. This creates a challenging cycle where your body burns fewer calories while simultaneously increasing cravings for high-calorie foods. The good news is that simple lifestyle changes can help you better manage chronic stress and reduce cortisol spikes. Incorporating relaxation techniques such as meditation and deep breathing exercises into your daily routine can help limit metabolic dysfunction.

What causes excessive visceral fat deposits?

Ever wondered why lots of stress seems to go hand-in-hand with unsightly fat gain around the midsection? The answer could lie with a powerful steroid hormone called cortisol. When you experience chronic stress, your body produces elevated levels of cortisol, creating a harmful cycle that keeps your system in "fight or flight" mode, which provided a constant state of alert for ancient humans. But today, this stress mechanism most often leads to fat storage rather than instantly burning of fat for fuel.

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.

Although visceral fat storage does affect your waistline, over time it can disrupt glucose regulation causing the body to become insulin resistant with abnormal cholesterol levels that can lead to cardiovascular disorders, type 2 diabetes, and even certain types of cancer. That’s because chronic stress doesn’t just impact fat metabolism and storage. Excessive amounts of cortisol also influence appetite and trigger intense food cravings for high-calorie comfort foods that are rich in fats, sugars, and carbohydrates.

Cortisol’s Impact on Unintended Weight Gain

Cortisol's relationship with fat metabolism is complex and nuanced. When insulin levels are low, cortisol can actually activate processes that break down stored fat and release fatty acids into the bloodstream. However, when cortisol remains chronically elevated due to persistent stress, this balance shifts toward increased fat storage rather than fat breakdown. Elevated cortisol releases an enzyme that encourages fat storage, particularly in the abdominal region and even when your overall weight remains somewhat stable.

• Increased Food Cravings – Increased food cravings create a perfect storm, as there is the constant urge to eat calorie-dense foods that can easily lead to overeating, unsightly fat deposits, and unintended weight gain.
• Cortisol Production in Tissues – Cortisol hormone acts like a metabolic master switch in your body, directly influencing whether your body burns excess fat for energy or stores it in select adipose tissues.
• Excess Glucose Due to Insulin Resistance – Excess glucose in the bloodstream is often due to insulin resistance. Rather than unlocking cells to allow them to absorb glucose for energy, the cells ignore insulin’s signals.
• Sleep and Hormonal Imbalances – The connection between chronic stress, excess cortisol, and hormonal imbalances creates a perfect storm for continued interference of normal sleep patterns.
• Visceral Fat Accumulation – While your body can store some excess energy as glycogen in the liver, these storage sites are limited. The majority of surplus energy gets converted and stored as visceral fat accumulations.

Visceral fat functions almost like an endocrine organ. Unlike subcutaneous fat, which sits just beneath your skin and can be pinched, visceral fat wraps around vital organs and is particularly concerning because it's not just passive storage. Visceral fat tissue actively releases inflammatory substances throughout your body, significantly increasing your risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers. This creates a vicious cycle where hormonal imbalances lead to fat gain, which worsens the disruptions and makes weight control more difficult.

Do Women and Men Handle Cortisol Differently?

When chronic stress hits, men and women tend to reach for different solutions. Men typically gravitate toward physically-active coping mechanisms when stressed. Rather than reaching for food, they're more likely to turn to smoking, drinking, or physical activities. While these behaviors carry their own health risks, they don't directly contribute to excess caloric intake like emotional eating does. According to research from Harvard Health, women tend to prefer coping strategies that involve consuming high-calorie comfort foods.

The way men and women metabolize cortisol also varies significantly due to hormonal differences. Studies suggest that men often exhibit a stronger initial cortisol response to psychological stressors compared to women. However, women have a unique advantage in their stress response system. Women produce more oxytocin, known as the "bonding hormone," which helps buffer cortisol's negative effects and encourages social support-seeking behaviors. These hormonal differences suggest women may be better equipped to seek support.

While these patterns represent general trends, individual responses to stress can vary significantly regardless of sex. For example, obesity adds another layer of complexity, as it can alter how cortisol is processed in the body, potentially creating cycles of stress, unhealthy eating, and further weight gain. The key is recognizing that while cortisol's impact on weight gain is universal, understanding these and the sex-specific differences can be crucial for developing effective strategies for managing stress and its impact on storage of visceral fat.

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