In this video we are going to discuss cortisol and belly fat and answer the question as to
whether or not, stress makes you fat.
Hello, I’m Dr. Zyrowski from NuVisionExcel.com.
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In this video we are talking about cortisol and belly fat.
Many people are trying to lose weight, get those extra inches off the belly, and also
put on a little bit of muscle so they can look tone and trim.
But there is a hormone that is totally messing this process up and stopping you from achieving
your goals, this hormone is known as cortisol.
What cortisol is is a stress related hormone that is produced in the adrenal cortex.
This hormone has gotten a bad rap in modern society because of the way we live our lives.
But truthfully, this hormone serves as a survival mechanism so that we can survive if there
is actually a physical threat that comes at us.
You know, back in paleolithic times or the times of our ancestors, when a tiger came
into the camp, we had to flee.
So it activated this fight or flight sympathetic response and then we would have the energy
to clump the tiger on the head.
Cortisol would be activated during that time in a high level but then the stress would
be gone, the threat would be gone, and cortisol would go back to its normal level.
As I mentioned already, due to modern society and the way people are living, this hormone
is becoming chronically elevated and causing a lot of health concerns for us.
So what we’re going to do in this video is talk about about the normal response, the
abnormal cortisol response and then how we can actually alleviate this problem.
So let’s go ahead and talk about the normal response first.
The normal response is we have an increase in stress.
This activates the sympathetic nervous system, which is the fight or flight survival mechanism.
It also increases cortisol levels.
As a result of that, we have an increase in blood glucose.
This blood glucose can even come from muscle tissue breakdown if necessary because what
the body needs is a massive spike in energy to run from the tiger and save ourselves.
So we have this increase in energy, but here’s the deal, in a normal response it stops right
here, there is a beginning and there is an end.
But in today’s society, in the abnormal response, that’s not the case.
So once again, we have an increase in stress.
We’re talking about physical stress but we are also talking about emotional stress,
stress from work, stress from financial, stress from social media, stress from marriage, you
know so many different stressors out there.
There is the increase in stress, increase in cortisol, increase in sympathetics, increase
in blood sugar.
Then as a result of that increase in blood sugar, you have an increase of insulin.
Now if you haven’t seen my video where I talk about what happens in the body when insulin
levels are chronically raised, go ahead and check that out.
So the insulin is risen and then this problem is chronic.
It’s a negative feedback cycle.
More stress, more blood sugar, more insulin, then this is when you start to become fat.
You start to put that fat right around the belly.
Now as a result of this, being chronic, many other things happen.
Cortisol depresses the immune system.
Cortisol causes insulin resistance which is a really big problem.
We see this with stress but we also even see this in different health conditions.
There’s a health condition called Cushing Syndrome.
Cushing Syndrome is when our cortisol is chronically elevated.
As a result of that, people get weight gain.
Now there’s also an alternative which is called Addison’s Disease and as a result
of that, cortisol is decreased and people lose weight.
That’s where we see that we can actually lose and gain weight according to what cortisol
is doing in the body.
There’s many other studies out there on different prescription drugs that raise cortisol
levels which cause people to gain weight.
But in this case, today, we are talking more about stress.
We want to decrease stress if we want to bring down those cortisol levels and we want to
maintain good quality health.
Now let’s go ahead and talk about all the things you can in order to decrease cortisol
in your body.
Now remember, decreasing cortisol is about decreasing stress and decreasing the activation
of the sympathetic nervous system.
Here’s what we can do: first of all mindful meditation is very powerful and is scientifically
proven to help us decrease stress.
If you’re not familiar with it, I’ll put a link in the description below as to how
you do it.
Also keeping a gratitude journal is very powerful.
When we are grateful for our life and grateful for the things we do have instead of focusing
on what we don’t have, once again it decreases our stress levels and gives us peace of mind.
The other thing we can do is exercise and do exercise even in the form of yoga which
is very powerful in helping us decrease stress.
The last thing you can do is take some herbal supplementation as there are many different
herbs and vitamins that are scientifically proven to help decrease cortisol in our body.
Once again, I’ll put a link in the description below to a herbal supplement that helps decrease
cortisol.
Other than that, be sure to like my video, share it with your friends, and then subscribe
to my channel here.
I greatly appreciate it.
Check out my other videos that I’ve done on weight loss as they’re going to help
you really get the body of your dreams.
Be sure to implement these strategies and I’ll see you in the next video.