Cortisol Hormones, Stress and Diet
Diseases of Aging, Hormone Diets, Hormones
Cortisol hormone, stress, menopause weight gain and loss, are all directly related to how successful you are at losing the belly fat that comes with menopause and pre-menopause. Until you deal with the balance of all the hormones in your body and the stress in your life, it will be very difficult, and in fact – next to impossible – to lose the weight you have gained and feel good at this new stage in your life. Cortisol and stress affect both men and women and have the same results. Weight gain around the belly in the shape of love handles and belly fat.
Men and women lead very stressful lives these days because of the demand of work and family life. There is scarce leisure in life today, very little free time to unwind and just enjoy your life. This is even truer for women because, even today, women are still managing most of the housework, child care and working full time at demanding careers. Towards the ages of 40 – 50 years old, they may also have to care for aging parents.
One of the commonly known facts is that Stress Kills. If stress levels are not managed and controlled, serious health problems can emerge as early as your 50s. Now is the time to manage stress so you can lower your cortisol, lose menopause or andropause weight. Before stress kills you with such diseases as diabetes, heart disease and/or cancers, you must control your stress levels.
If one or more of your hormones is depleted or exists in excess, it will cause your whole system to be out of balance. This will make it difficult for you to lose any weight whatsoever. One of the things you need to do is to balance your hormones and one of the safest ways to do this today is by bioidentical hormones. However, you might still have trouble with weight loss because your doctor only tested your FSH, your estrogen, progesterone, thyroid and testosterone levels. One test that may be missing is a test for your cortisol levels.
A blood test will show that cortisol naturally starts out at a high level in the morning, but in the late afternoon, a second blood test will show that your cortisol levels have dropped. Problems begin when you have a blood test that shows high cortisol levels in the morning and that level stays the same – at a high level in the afternoon blood test. This will show that you have problems and raised cortisol levels. No doubt, you are also experiencing problems with weight and achieving weight loss.
When you experience stress, an increased amount of cortisol released by the adrenal glands into the body as the body tries to adapt to the stress. Eventually, high cortisol will lead to insulin resistance. When you have insulin resistance, you crave sugar and carbohydrates and this will lead to weight gain, especially around the belly. After meals you will feel tired because the sugar and high carbs cause an excess amount of insulin to be secreted. Your cells will no longer respond to insulin and the end result is that your body immediately turns the carbs into fat. This is the reason you feel tired after eating a meal of carbs and sugar. The process of the body turning carbohydrates into fat takes a lot of energy, leaving you feeling tired and drained. High cortisol can also come from chronic inflammation and chronic pain.
The problem with high cortisol which can cause menopause weight gain is that it is usually accompanied by symptoms of hypothyroidism (low thyroid) and this disease also contributes to weight gain around the belly, as well as constipation, hair loss, dry skin, brittle nails and the feeling of being cold all the time. Another problem with high cortisol is that it leads to sleep difficulties. You may find it difficult to fall asleep or you may find yourself waking up between the hours of 2:00 to 4:00 a.m. and not be able to fall back to sleep. This is directly related to a surge of cortisol and insulin which robs you of sleep. Loss or lack of sleep will lead to weight gain as well. It also contributes to high blood pressure, loss of bone density, high cholesterol and a loss of libido. All this will eventually lead to a heart attack. Excess cortisol also decreases your serotonin (the feel good hormone) which leads to depression and then more cravings for carbohydrates and sugar. The blood sugar imbalance caused by cortisol leads to fatigue, headaches, shakiness, irritability, hypoglycemia. It is a vicious circle and a struggle for many people.
For women, high cholesterol causes the loss of hormone estrogen in the system and the presence of frequent hot flashes. Cells become less sensitive to estrogen.
How to Deal with High Cortisol?
Just exactly how do you deal with high Cortisol hormone?. Excess production of the cortisol hormone must be managed if you want to diet and lose weight. It is a known fact that if even one of your hormones is out of sync – it will be next to impossible to lose menopause weight. This is also true for men and much of this issue applies equally to men as they grow older and enter into andropause.
How to cure high cortisol and lose weight? The best thing you can do is to start managing your stress. Managing your stress can be as easy as getting regular massages, meditation, yoga classes, having sex and then having “alone time” where you think about your personal goals, where you want to be and how you will get there. Time for self reflection is a good thing.
Secondly, you must eat a healthy diet that is glycemically balanced. All of the hormone diets mentioned on this site are glycemically balanced and will help you achieve weight loss and optimum health benefits that are also anti aging. All of these diets are free from trans fats, bad carbohydrates, and high sugar content. It’s up to you to choose the diet you want to achieve your goals of menopause weight loss and getting rid of the fat that is accumulating around your waist line. There are also a number of health supplements that you can purchase at your local health store that will help deal with high cortisol and high insulin.
Natural health supplements to take for high cortisol include Vitamin B Complex, Vitamin C, Adrenal Cortex abstract, licorice root. A naturopath or your doctor will be able to assist you in what dosage you need to take and if you need any other supplements. Always remember to check with your doctor before embarking on any diet or exercise plan and also for the correct dosage for natural supplements you need to take.
Some simple hormone diet rules to follow include avoiding sugar – which is one of your worst enemies because it leads to blood sugar imbalance. Also, avoid caffeine because this will also raises your blood sugar which causes insulin and cortisol problems. Don’t skip your breakfast and when you do eat breakfast, remember to eat a low glycemic breakfast. Remember to exercise, but do easy exercise such as yoga, walking, bike riding, weight lifting or calisthenics on a regular basis. Also, get your hormones tested. Balancing your hormones is going to help strengthen your adrenals and assist with your cortisol problems. You may also find that once your hormones are balanced with bioidentical hormones, you will find yourself losing weight. Get your DHEA levels checked as well. DHEA is the natural antidote to high cortisol and will act against the negative effects of cortisol in the body.
As you can see, stress is a major factor in weight gain. Cortisol is a hormone that, once it is in excess in the body will cause menopause weight gain, especially contributing to belly fat. Manage your stress levels, start a hormone balancing diet and you will be on your way to greater health and losing that weight.
admin @ December 12, 2009