High Cortisol Can Impact Your Waistline

---

While cortisol hormone is essential for human’s “flight or fight” response mechanism as it plays a key role in determining how and where the body stores fat for long-term energy reserves. Although essential for survival in ancient times, elevated cortisol levels due to chronic stress today can result in negative consequences for long-term weight control. After all, when you consume more energy than you burn, you body has to store the excess somewhere.

While small amounts get stored as glycogen in your liver and muscles, these stores are limited. Most excess energy gets converted into triglycerides and stored in fat cells beneath your skin, known as subcutaneous fat. Under normal circumstances, this works efficiently. However, when cortisol levels remain elevated due to chronic stress, it can disrupt the body's natural fat storage patterns, as cortisol favors the accumulation of visceral fat.

Incorporating stress-reduction techniques into your daily routine can naturally lower cortisol levels. So, consider adding meditation, deep breathing exercises, or other relaxation practices to your daily routine to help manage your stress levels. Combined with a balanced diet rich in nutrient-dense foods and regular physical activity, your efforts will support healthy metabolism and keep visceral fat accumulation in check to support long-term weight control.

What are the health risks of unintended fat gain?

Fat cells, known as adipocytes, primarily function as energy storage units. When these cells reach their capacity, your body creates new fat cells through a process called hyperplasia. However, when fat storage exceeds normal limits, excess fat begins accumulating around organs and within muscle tissue, forming more problematic fat deposits. Visceral fat is the type of fat tissue that surrounds your internal organs. Unlike subcutaneous fat that sits just beneath your skin, visceral fat can wrap around your liver, pancreas, and intestines.

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.

While this deep belly fat serves important functions, including energy storage, hormone regulation, and organ protection, excessive accumulation of visceral fat can pose serious health risks. That’s because visceral fat, unlike its subcutaneous partner, is metabolically active and releases inflammatory substance into the bloodstream. But, chronic stress doesn’t just affect storage, it also influences appetite and can trigger cravings for high-calorie comfort foods that are rich in fats, sugars, sodium, and carbohydrates

Stress Hormones Increase Cravings

Ever wondered why stress seems to go hand-in-hand with unsightly fat gain? The answer lies in a powerful steroid hormone called cortisol and its complex relationship with storage of visceral fat deposits. Unlike subcutaneous fat, which allows you to pinch an inch, visceral fat is hidden deeper within the body and tends to accumulate around internal organs in the body’s midsection. So, if the body stays in a constant state of “fight or flight,” the chronic stress can disrupt normal metabolism, the body will tend to store fat rather than burn it.

• Increased Food Cravings – High cortisol levels, often a result of chronic stress, can significantly influence eating habits. It's not just a matter of willpower; there's a biological reason you crave certain foods.
• Cortisol Production in Tissues – Cortisol hormone acts like a metabolic switch for the body. It influences the key enzymes involved in how the body breaks down fat for energy and stores excess in adipose tissues.
• Excess Glucose Due to Insulin Resistance – As cortisol levels remain elevated, your cells develop insulin resistance, meaning they essentially stop listening to insulin's signals to take up glucose.
• Sleep and Hormonal Imbalances – When chronic stress triggers cortisol spikes, it creates a domino effect that disrupts your entire sleep-wake cycle and rewires your body’s natural hunger and satiety signals.
• Visceral Fat Accumulation – The type of fat the accumulates around internal organs is called visceral fat, which might be contributing to belly fat, as it contains a higher concentration of cortisol receptors.

The connection is clear, as chronic stress leads to increased cortisol levels, which can cause weight gain due to stored fat, especially in the abdominal region surrounding internal organs. By understanding how cortisol affects your body, you can adopt healthier habits to protect your long-term metabolic health and overall well-being. But, unlike the subcutaneous fat under your skin, excess visceral fat is considered "toxic" and is strongly associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and other metabolic health problems.

How Women and Men Handle Cortisol Differently

Stress affects everyone, but did you know that men and women store fat differently when cortisol levels rise? While both sexes release this stress hormone during challenging times, the way it impacts coping behavior varies significantly between the genders. Plus, research from Harvard Health reveals differences, as women are more likely to turn to comfort foods for temporary relief that cause weight gain. Men, while also experiencing appetite changes during stress, often gravitate toward other coping mechanisms like smoking or drinking alcohol.

Perhaps the most visible difference between men and women lies in fat distribution patterns. When cortisol levels remain elevated, men typically accumulate visceral fat around their midsection, creating the classic "apple shape" or "beer belly" appearance. Women, on the other hand, generally store fat subcutaneously in their hips, thighs, and buttocks, creating a "pear shape." This distribution pattern is believed to support women's evolutionary role in childbearing by maintaining energy reserves needed for pregnancy and lactation.

Women have a unique advantage in their natural stress response system. Along with cortisol, women release more oxytocin, which is often called the "bonding hormone" that helps buffer cortisol's negative effects and promotes social connection. So, they are more likely to exhibit support-seeking behavior. But, men typically exhibit a stronger cortisol response to psychological stressors compared to women. This hormonal difference does suggest women may be better equipped to mitigate cortisol’s harmful effects through relationship building.

______________________

If you are looking for a weight management plan personalized for your body, your lifestyle and your goals, MRC Palm Coast 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.