Are you eating well, exercising, yet cannot get rid of that stubborn lower belly fat? It may not be your eating habits or your exercise regimen. It could be cortisol belly fat.
Social media and wellness clinics are currently buzzing over a very particular term, that is, cortisol belly. Researchers in endocrinology and functional medicine are witnessing an astronomical surge in the number of patients with normal body weights but who carry an excessive amount of fat around the waist.
There is unique clinical evidence that this particular form of deep belly fat is directly linked to long-term psychological stress. Women are particularly affected by cortisol belly fat during perimenopause and menopause.
That is why lots of women are surprised by the sudden appearance of belly fat in their 40s and 50s despite dietary and physical activity changes.
What Is Cortisol Hormone?
Cortisol is a hormone produced by the two small glands that are placed on top of your kidneys. Your body makes cortisol as part of your stress response.
Cortisol helps in getting your body ready to deal with an emergency. This comes in handy when the threat is real and temporary. You are in danger, your body reacts, the threat is over, and cortisol comes back to normal
The problem occurs when cortisol stays elevated, and your body never gets a chance to return to normal. And when cortisol remains high at all times, it does a lot of bad things to your body.
How Cortisol and Belly Fat Are Connected
Cortisol has a direct influence on the location of your body fat. When cortisol is high, it is its mandate to ensure that your body has sufficient quick energy to fight or run away.
In order to do this, it sends out a direct signal to your body to store fat. But it does not accumulate fat all over your body. It actually instructs your body to retain fat in your abdomen.
This fat accumulation is referred to as visceral fat. It chooses the belly because it is the one that is placed directly beside your liver. During an emergency, cortisol would prefer the energy source to be as close to the liver as possible in order to be converted into sugar to generate energy quickly. Therefore, when you have high cortisol, your belly fat cells will get the strongest signal to store fat.
The body is literally telling your fat to build up around your middle section, and that is literally what cortisol is telling you to do.
This is the main reason why stressed persons tend to develop belly fat despite not being overweight in other areas. Your hips and thighs may remain the same, but your belly is bigger.
That is how the cortisol hormone works.
Why Cortisol Makes You Store Belly Fat?
There are several ways in which cortisol stimulates the accumulation of cortisol belly fat, and they all act simultaneously.
It increases your hunger. When the level of cortisol is high, your brain starts demanding high sugar and high-fat foods. They give you temporary relief from stress because they increase the production of serotonin. The biological processes stimulate you to eat food that makes you happier in the moment.
It decreases your fat-burning capacity. High cortisol levels affect your metabolism. They slow down calorie expenditure. In addition, cortisol inhibits the functions of your thyroid gland, which is responsible for the speed of metabolism. Consequently, even if you consume the same number of calories and engage in the same physical activity, your metabolism will be slower.
It increases insulin resistance. Cortisol affects the sensitivity of your cells to insulin. Normally, insulin promotes glucose absorption by cells. However, with insulin resistance, glucose remains in the bloodstream for longer periods. To get rid of it, the body starts producing more insulin. High insulin levels activate fat synthesis processes.
It influences your hunger hormones. The stress hormone cortisol inhibits your satiety hormone called leptin and raises the hormone called ghrelin that stimulates hunger. Thus, you have an increased appetite, and you become less satisfied when eating.
How to lower my cortisol levels
Supplements may be helpful, but they are only effective if you make some lifestyle adjustments first. Here are a couple of the most important things to do.
1. Don’t Starve Yourself
If you don’t eat during the day, especially at breakfast, your blood sugar levels will fall. This means your brain will perceive the situation as life-threatening and release cortisol to metabolize your muscles into glucose.
To maintain your blood sugar at a normal level, eat a protein-rich breakfast shortly after you wake up.
2. Start Exercising Differently
Many people think that if they spend long hours running on a treadmill and doing other intense workouts, they will manage to eliminate their belly fat.
What they don’t realize is that intensive exercises are a form of physical stress, which causes cortisol production to rise. It’s time to switch to 30–45 minute walks or light weights. This way, you build muscle without creating a major physical stress reaction.
3. Get Adequate Sleep
This is by far the most potent method for decreasing cortisol. If you burn the midnight oil staring into your phone screen, then your body feels as if there’s an emergency situation.
So, in order to keep you awake, it will maintain high cortisol levels. Try to sleep seven to eight hours a day in a totally darkened room. This is the only moment when your body can detoxify cortisol properly.
4. Do breathwork and meditation
Slow breathing turns on your parasympathetic nervous system, which means that your nervous system is signaled that you are not under threat, and your cortisol levels drop. Even ten minutes a day of slow and deep breathing makes a big difference.
5. Manage your schedule
Overscheduling all the time results in constant high cortisol levels. You need to learn to refuse more often and let some of the things go undone.
6. Avoid caffeine
Caffeine stimulates your cortisol production. If you have high cortisol levels, avoiding or abstaining from caffeine intake will yield remarkable results in two to three weeks.
The Bottom Line
There is a direct relationship between cortisol and belly fat, which is supported by scientific evidence and biological reasoning. But you need to understand that it is definitely something that you cannot stay stuck with. Once you have managed your cortisol levels, you will eventually get rid of the excess cortisol belly fat.
You just need to start eating proper food, make sure your sleeping pattern is healthy, and take certain supplements to keep your cortisol levels low and eliminate the extra fat from your belly area.
At Kairos Health and Wellness in Texas, Lola, one of our functional nurse practitioners, focuses on uncovering the underlying causes of belly fat and create a tailored, evidence-based recovery program for you.
If you live in Houston or throughout Texas or experiencing stubborn belly fat, book an appointment with us today.