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The Power of your Metabolism

STRESS MAKES YOU GAIN WEIGHT

Everyone talks about stress.  But, what is stress? Stress is a reaction.  It is the reaction that our mind and body have when our survival is threatened. 

Any threat, real or imaginary, unexpected noise or movement, accident, fall, blow, sudden change in temperature, worry about present or the future, possible loss of something or of a loved one, obstacle or unexpected problem, danger to one’s security, a health problem or a sickness will all cause a stress reaction.  Stress is an instantaneous reaction that can become so violent that it causes a heart attack.

Generally stress doesn’t get to the point of causing a heart attack, but it does create a state of GENERAL ALARM so extreme that our entire hormonal and nervous system is affected.  Each cell in our body is affected by the reaction we call stress.  It is an effect that is definitely cumulative.  You only need to notice how worn out and tired a person looks who has recently lost a loved one in order to see how stress affects the entire body in a thousand and one ways.

On the other hand, after having experienced a state of severe stress, the body and mind take some time to go back to being calm and regaining the inner peace.  Stress is a factor of mental instability that causes a state of DISORDER throughout the entire body.

Some people live in a state of stress that is so continuous that they can’t distinguish whether they feel stress or not.  When someone is stressed out on a routine basis they find it difficult to be fully aware of the fact that they are living a stress filled life.  For example, a person who finds himself or herself forced to work in a job in which he or she is mistreated will feel continuously stressed while at their job.  The same thing happens when a person experiences problems with their family or with a romantic partner and they have to live with it day after day. When stress becomes part of our daily life we grow accustomed to it and sometimes accept it as “normal”. 

Besides the observable damage that stress can cause to your body and health, there is a factor that is measurable.  It is a hormonal factor.  When you are stressed your body produces an excess of the hormone cortisol . This hormone, cortisol, is called the “stress hormone” because your body produces it when you experience a stressful situation.

The cortisolhormone is produced in the adrenal glands that are found above each of our two kidneys.

STRESS PROVOKES THE PRODUCTION OF CORTISOL

The cortisol hormone is a vital part of our internal ALARM system.  Our body produces this hormone with the purpose of using it to handle any emergency that is detected in our environment.  It is a hormone that prepares the body for “fight or flight”.  It was designed by nature to allow us to overcome a dangerous situation using our best physical and mental resources.  That is why when we produce the hormone cortisol in response to a stressful situation our body responds to this hormone by producing some internal changes that help us better survive the supposed danger or threat.  These are internal changes like raising the blood pressure and greatly increasing the level of glucose (blood sugar, the body’s fuel) to higher levels.  The glucose level is increased so that the cells have enough energy available to fight or flee.

If the source of stress were a tiger that was chasing us down to tear us to shreds, all of this excess glucose that the cortisol put in our blood stream would be consumed by our efforts in running to get away from the tiger and there wouldn’t be a surplus of glucose after the period of stress.  The problem is that when the source of the stress is for a short period of time, say some bad news, the glucose levels increase due to the cortisol, but the excess glucose that is not taken in by the cells is turned into fat to be stored.  Glucose is the principal source of energy of all of the cells in our body, but when it isn’t used and there is an excess, the body turns it into fat to store it, as a source of energy for future use.  Thus, stress produces an excess of glucose in the blood through the action of cortisol and this excess of glucose ends up being converted to fat that is then stored into our waistline, hips and abdomen.  Yes, stress definitely makes us gain weight.

It must be said that the source of stress could be external or internal.  With this I want to say that it really is true that bad news (something external to the body) causes stress that produces large amounts of cortisol.  It is also true that an internal infection or sickness in our bodies produces large amounts of cortisol because our body perceives the situation as dangerous and reacts to it with an increase in its production of cortisol.  Example:  people that have internal bacterial, viral, fungal (yeasts) or parasitic infections in their body will see that many times they gain weight without having eaten more than usual mostly due to the increase of cortisol in their body.  Any stress, external or internal, will make your body produce more cortisol, lower your metabolism and make you gain weight. Even having the wrong marital partner can force your body to produce excessive cortisol and that will make it difficult if not impossible for you to lose weight.

The cortisolproduced by stress, has other negative effects like causing memory or concentration loss.  That’s why when we are stressed out we can’t think clearly.  Cortisol also weakens the immune system, which is our internal defense system.  People under stress become sick much easier and more frequently.  Cortisol also affects our digestive system and can produce an over acidic state in our stomach, as well as cause stomach ulcers.  Stress produces cortisol, and an excess of cortisol has the ability of weakening all of our organs and cells.  In addition, it has been seen that stress increases the internal acidity of the body and lowers the oxygen levels, which aggravates the functioning of the metabolism even more.

People that live in conditions of stress from work or family gain weight much easier because their levels of cortisol tend to be excessively high.  Cortisol increases the glucose in your blood by giving orders to the liver to use its glucose reserves and to deposit it into the blood to handle the emergency of the ALARM state.  When a stressful situation occurs and the cortisol successfully uses our liver glucose reserve we automatically feel hungry, especially for sweet foods and those that are a source of glucose like carbohydrates: bread, flour, chocolate, pasta, etc.  So, it’s not just that stress makes you gain weight, it makes you feel hungry.  That’s why a person that feels depressed by a personal or family problem many times seeks solace in the refrigerator.

There are natural strategies available to use to control the harmful effects of stress.  There are also natural supplements that can control the excessive production of the cortisol hormone to prevent the stress that makes us gain weight and makes us hungry.  When you cleanse your body of the yeasts and parasites you also lower your internal stress levels and lower your cortisollevels.  This is how many people have lost weight; after having done a cleansing program of yeasts and parasites using natural supplements.  Anything that reduces stress increases our metabolism and helps us in losing weight.  A better job, a good partner, an entertaining hobby and enjoyable vacations are all successful and positive influences to increasing your metabolism and reducing stress.

Stress produces cortisol and it was also discovered that cortisol interferes with the thyroid gland, which lowers the metabolism.  So, this is another way in which stress lowers the metabolism, because it interferes with our thyroid.

The best way to find out if stress is affecting you too much and to see if it is one of the reasons that you are experiencing a slow metabolism is to take note of your quality of sleep.  Since the cortisol hormone is an ALARM hormone it creates a strong state of ALERT in the body that doesn’t allow us to sleep peacefully. To the body’s cells cortisol is like an urgent warning of impending danger. Cortisol excites the cells and puts them in a state of ALERT, thus you won’t sleep well when under stress.  

When there is too much cortisol in our blood it makes it difficult for us to get sleep.  On the other hand, the excess cortisol makes us get a different kind of sleep; a sleep quality that is called “light sleep” and we wake up feeling tired in the morning. Sleep has different stages, which determine its quality and restfulness. The cortisol produced while under stress keeps the cells in a constant state of ALARM and impedes what is called the “deep sleep” stage, which is the most restful and invigorating sleep for the body. It is the state of ALARM created by cortisol that steals our quality of sleep. Who can sleep peacefully when feeling in danger?

Throughout the years I have learned never to ask people if they are under a lot of stress that doesn’t allow them to lose weight.  I realized that some people live under such a constant state of stress that they can’t distinguish if they are stressed out or not anymore.  Because they are always under stress they consider it a “normal” state.  That is why the only question I ask a person, in order to find out if they have too much cortisol in their body, as a result of stress, is: how well do you sleep?  The answer to this question tells me what I want to know in relation to the level of stress that the person is experiencing.Something additional that we know about cortisol and about stress is that when we experience a condition of stress our levels of cortisol dramatically increase and remain in our body for more than 8 hours after the incident before going back to normal levels.  So, the effects of high levels of cortisol are long lasting.  However, when we do moderate exercise (walking, swimming) for 30 to 45 minutes our body eliminates huge amounts of cortisol through the liver and this also makes the state of ALARM produced by cortisol to go away much earlier. That’s why many people find that if they have had a very stressful day, they will have a very difficult time sleeping unless they do a bit of exercise before going to bed.  Exercise helps us get good sleep because it lowers the level of cortisol that is in our bloodstream.

Your metabolism will be affected greatly by the cortisolhormone that it generates during stressful moments.  All of this is enough to help you realize that your lifestyle is very much related to the condition of your metabolism and to the general state of your health.