How Cortisol Is Related To Weight Gain?

Before you jump to any conclusion, it is better to understand what cortisol is and how it is related to our weight gain process? Cortisol is a hormone that works in our body, and it works as a messenger of chemicals. 

Cortisol does many important functions in our body. But it is also referred to as the stress hormone because cortisol has a role related to the stress response. 

But there are many people who are not sure how cortisol is related to their body weight. Today we will discuss this topic on how cortisol affects weight gain? Or cortisol really affects your weight gain or not, and this will give you a clear picture.

What cortisol is? How cortisol affect your weight and body?

1. Cortisol belongs to glucocorticoids hormones family, and it is known to be an important steroid hormone. 
2. Cortisol hormone is produced in the adrenal glands, these glands are above your kidneys. 
3. Cortisol also works to aid your body stress response, and this role includes the following work like: 

• Reducing inflammation. 
• Aiding in nutrient metabolism. 
• Increase in the blood sugar level. 
• Suppressing the immune system. 

If you walk for at least 30 to 40 minutes, your body releases cortisol, and therefore your body and cortisol are closely related to each other. This level comes down throughout the day. 

The production of cortisol happens in your brain, and it is regulated by the hypothalamus and pituitary gland. When you are stressed a lot, your brain releases adrenaline and cortisol from the adrenal glands. 

When this happens, your body prepares to protect you from harmful situations like an increase in the energy levels and an increase in the heart rate. However, this response is normal. But the increased production of cortisol may lead to some side-effects as well.

Cortisol is known to be an important hormone to regulate some important functions in your body like suppressing the immune system, increase in blood sugar level, aiding the nutrient metabolism, suppressing the immune system, and reducing inflammation.

Is it true that cortisol affects your weight? 

1. There are many factors that can affect your body weight, and hormonal regulation is one of the important factors. 
2. There are some situations in which the cortisol level increases or becomes low, besides that fact that cortisol type of hormones is kept within a tight range.
3. If your cortisol level increases, this may lead to overeating. 
4. If the cortisol level rises but in small ratio, then this will not cause any side-effects.
5. However, in some instances the cortisol level becomes high (chronically).
6. The factors that lead to the rise in the blood level of cortisol are usually stress or crushing’s syndrome.

Here are side-effects of elevated cortisol: 

1. Fatigue. 
2. Flushed face. 
3. Insulin resistance. 
4. Irritability. 
5. Weight gain. 
6. Mood changes. 
7. Thinning skin. 
8. High blood pressure. 
9. Difficulty in concentrating. 

The chances of overeating increase when the person is going through chronic stress. It becomes difficult to maintain a healthy diet. 

As per studies, females with elevated cortisol level had more appetite, even they were healthy. This leads to weight gain because of overeating. Also, some studies say women and men with elevated cortisol level may lead to a high ratio of fat in their belly area.

What happens if the cortisol level is low?

If the cortisol level is low, then this may lead to weight loss, and if the cortisol level is high, this leads to weight gain. 

Symptoms related to low cortisol are: 

1. Fatigue.
2. Nausea, abdominal pain and vomiting. 
3. Low blood sugar level. 
4. Salt craving.
5. Low appetite and weight loss.
6. Dizziness. 
7. Bone and muscle pain.

Follow these steps to prevent weight gain due to cortisol levels: 

• Try to be active:  One of the best ways to feel active, and alert is to involve in physical activities like playing any sports, dancing, swimming things that make you feel active and happy. Such activities also help to get rid of stress, and this further leads to achieving overall fitness. 

People who are stressed seem to be less engaged in regular physical activities compared to others who do more physical activity. When you exercise this release endorphins, and it is a happy hormone or good hormone that makes you feel happy and to manage stress level. 

• Avoid overeating and fix your meal timing: People who are stressed are more likely to eat unhealthily and overeating. It is important to fix these issues and stop overeating and having more mindful eating. You can fix your meals timings and try to have your meals on time to avoid such problems.

 Do not use your phone, watch television, just sit with your foods and try to focus and enjoy your meal this what mindful eating means to be completely present while having your meal.  As per studies, people who eat without any distractions are on the side of lower body weight. 

• Take help of a nutritionist or dietitian: This can be really beneficial for you to take advice or help from a nutritionist or dietitian to understand what you need to eat and in how much quantity. Dieting does not mean to eat less it simply means to have a balanced nutrition based diet and having a relevant amount of food in your plate, nor too much or too less. 

Also, dietitian and nutritionist can help you be more informed and aware of the foods that are not good for your body type and foods that you should consume more. When you eat healthy and insufficient amount this help to be more healthy both mentally and physically. 

• Sleep enough: It is important to sleep enough to feel rejuvenated and energetic when you wake up. You must have noticed that on days when you do not sleep properly you feel exhausted, less energetic and sometimes stressed and irritation. 

Taking good enough sleep is linked to your weight gain. Not taking enough sleep can result to increase in cortisol levels. When this happens, your metabolism gets affected negatively, this further leads to weight gain due to hormonal appetite and hunger. Try to sleep enough so you can prevent such problems. Meditation can be helpful: Try to meditate every day this can help you manage the cortisol level in your body. When you meditate, this helps you redirect your thoughts and bring focus to your mind. Some of the common meditations that you can practise are movement, mindful, focused, transcendental and mantra. No matter what type of meditation you do, this seems to works amazingly to reduce the alleviated cortisol level in your body. Meditation also helps to improve your sleep quality. If you take quality sleep, you will feel rejuvenated and fresh in a few hours. You do not have to sleep for many hours to feel the same way you can do it in fewer hours as well.