OnFitness Magazine - September/October 2017 - 54

W W W. O N F I T N E S S M A G . C O M | V O L 1 8 N O 2 | 2 0 1 7 5 0

There is a lot of misunderstanding
about stress and cortisol. It is commonly
assumed that people who store fat at the
belly simply produce excess cortisol, and
that's what causes the problem. However,
obese individuals do not have higher
systemic (circulating) levels of cortisol
than thin people.
A 1996 study in the May issue of
Obesity Research showed obese individuals
have lower, not higher, resting cortisol
levels in the morning. Another study
published in the February 2000 issue of
the Journal of Internal Medicine pointed out
that obese women have lower, not higher,
systemic levels of cortisol. This is often an
issue of confusion among people who
point to cortisol as being the major cause
of belly fat.
This is where an understanding of
relative cortisol comes in. If cortisol is
presented in higher quantities than HGH
and testosterone, whether or not the cortisol
level is considered absolutely (i.e., in totality)
high or not, it will cause problems. Savvy
personal trainers and fitness enthusiasts
should know the difference. Despite what
the infomercials say, it is not cortisol alone
causing belly fat. The most important thing
to remember when it comes to hormones is
that they never act alone. Hormones are like
people and will behave differently
depending on the other hormones they are
" socializing " with.
When you add cortisol and insulin into
the mix, what you will see is a whole host
of changes that explain exactly what is
happening and why stress makes us fat.
The modern-day diet, lifestyle and exercise
habits make us all have relatively higher
levels of cortisol compared to other
hormones. Whether we actually get fat or
not depends on how much insulin we have
as well.
Here is how it works. Remember how
the HPA axis regulates stress function and,
when you are under stress, causes the
release of the stress hormones, which then
release blood sugar? If that blood sugar is
not used through activity, the body will
then secrete insulin to lower the blood
sugar. You can think of cortisol and insulin
as the opposite ends of a seesaw.
In early stress the 2 will work back and
forth, raising and then lowering blood
sugar to help you cope with stress.
However, over time, with continuous
stimulation, the body will require more and
more of each hormone to deliver the same
response. In time you end up with relatively
higher insulin and cortisol levels beyond the
ability of other fat-burning hormones to oppose
them.
Remember that cortisol is a fat burner
as well as a muscle burner, but when
insulin is around with it, the body will
burn muscle, not fat, since insulin puts a
lockdown on fat release. This causes leaner
arms and legs and fat storage around the

Metabolism (vol. 85, no. 2), show that not
only do HGH and testosterone block the
fat-storing effects of stress-induced insulin
and cortisol, but they actually alter the
effect to be 1 of muscle building and fatburning instead. Based on these effects,
stress can either make you fat or get you
lean. It really all depends on your choice to
move or sit.

Emotional eating, depression, lack of
motivation or spontaneous movement
and a desire for high-calorie foods are
on the weight gain menu.
middle. The fat storage around the middle
is caused by cortisol, but not without the
help of insulin and lower levels of HGH
and testosterone. Insulin and cortisol
together alter lipoprotein lipase, the keyregulating enzyme that leads to fat storage
rather than fat breakdown, and this action
is directed right at the belly.
Putting the brakes on belly fat:
HGH and testosterone
As if the effects of insulin and cortisol were
not bad enough, they're made worse by the
decreased secretion of testosterone and
HGH. Sufficient sleep, intense exercise and
adequate protein intake are the only known
stimuli to reliably increase testosterone and
HGH in men and women. We have become
a society that brags about not getting
enough sleep and focuses on low-intensity
and aerobic-centered exercise. These
behaviors don't help the situation.
HGH and testosterone counter the
effect of insulin and cortisol by " wrestling "
cortisol away from the negative influences
of insulin. When adequate HGH and
testosterone are present with cortisol, the
fat-storing effects at the belly are blocked.
An August 2008 study in the American
Journal of Physiology, Endocrinology and
Metabolism showed that a high cortisol to
HGH ratio led to abdominal obesity in
women. Two other studies, 1 in the
October 1997 issue of Human Reproduction
and the other in the 2000 issue of the
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and

What can you do?
Once you understand the admittedly
complex mechanisms involved in stress
and fat, you are ready to attack stress headon. Here are 6 ways to beat the fat-storing
effects of stress.
By eating breakfast you will
immediately blunt the rising cortisol levels
that normally occur in the morning. This
meal should focus on protein and not the
standard American diet of cereal, toast,
juice and coffee, which to your body
registers as sugar, sugar, sugar and stress,
and increases insulin and cortisol above
and beyond healthy levels.
Exercise intensely and exercise with
weights. To counter the negative effects of
stress, you must produce an adequate
release of HGH and testosterone.
If you don't sleep adequately, you have
already created an unfavorable stress
response and circumvented your natural
release of the anti-stress hormone HGH.
Rather than going for sugar, increase
your protein intake. This will block the
muscle-wasting effects of cortisol by
making amino acids available without the
need to tear down muscle. Protein will also
release another hormone that counters the
effect of insulin.
Use cocoa. We are not talking about
chocolate with sugar, but the addition of
100 percent unsweetened cocoa powder to
the diet increases the levels of PEA
(phenylethylamine), which is a dopamine
(brain neurotransmitter) mimicker and will
decrease the pleasure-seeking behaviors that
stress induces. This will decrease cravings
and the excess intake of fat and sugar.
Eat 4-6 times per day instead of 1-3. By
eating smaller meals more often, you will
reduce the " fasting effect. " Research shows
that animals that are hungry or fasted eat
larger meals and produce more insulin and
cortisol in response to those meals.
One last word for personal trainers
and serious exercise enthusiasts: exercise
can be a stress factor too. Long workouts
that are heavy on cardiovascular training
and light on resistance training skew your
adrenal stress mechanisms further toward
excess cortisol and low HGH. If you or a
client of yours is having trouble burning
fat, especially at the belly, you may want to
consider harder workouts that are shorter.
A 20-minute workout that brings the body
to full fatigue will be a much better option
to remove belly fat than a 2-hour jog in the
park. See you at the gym. Z
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OnFitness Magazine - September/October 2017

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