FIGHTING THE OBESITY EPIDEMIC, LEPTIN , GHRELIN, CORTISOL,
BEING SLIM IS NOT ALL ABOUT INTAKE CALORIES BEING LESS THAN BURNT OUT CALORIES , AS SOME DIMWITS THINK !
I AM A BIT BUSY -
MEANWHILE ENJOY THESE PICTURES -- THIS COULD BE YOU ONE DAY !
Above: Hey sexy lady -- men with huge balls sling it over their shoulders for fear of stepping on it -- just a tip !
Or you could put a helmet with rear view mirrors and walk backwards. ( insensitive ?--so be it !-- the idea is to give a JHATKA !!)
Above: Peeping Toms -- excuze pleeaaje ! This is subcutaneous fat ( which can be grabbed by fingers ) .
See the video below in HD
If you have seen the video ( above ) of the FATTY LIVER dissected out of the cadaver — then you must know what causes it .
Punch into Google search-
HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, FATTY LIVER DISEASE VADAKAYIL
Below : Mama mia ! This is visceral fat ( which cannot be grabbed by fingers ) . .
Below video : Obviously fat women cannot make SHAGGY sing !
THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF SITES ON THE INTERNET ABOUT FAT LOSS , WRITTEN BY PEOPLE WITHOUT PERCEPTION --
SOME ARE PEA-BRAINED NUTRITIONISTS AND SPORTS COACHES , WHO HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT .
Below : Liposuction to remove subcutaneous fat --prevention is better than cure , for this removed fat comes right back , soon.
There are two types of fat stored in the body. The first is “essential” fat . This is fat that is stored in the heart, lungs, liver, spleen, kidneys, intestines, muscles, central nervous system, and bone marrow. This fat is “essential” for the organs to function properly.
The second type of fat is “stored” fat. This includes the visceral fat that is surrounding the internal organs of the body (for protection from trauma) and fat that is subcutaneous (stored just beneath the skin’s surface).
Above: The boy has grabbed subcutaneous fat ( external ) of the Sumo wrestler-- Sumo wrestlers frequently have excess subcutaneous fat, but little or no visceral fat.
Below: This pot belly contains visceral fat ( internal ) and this cannot be grabbed by the boy's fingers.
The human body is designed to store excess fat as an energy reserve. If you consume more calories than is needed, the excess calories are stored as subcutaneous fat.
Fat that is located just under your skin is subcutaneous. Subcutaneous fat can be frustratingly difficult to budge . Belly fat that hangs ( till the floor TEE HEEEE ) and which can be grasped by fingers is subcutaneous.
While the inner fat inside the stomach which cannot be held by hand and which makes the stomach stand like a pot is visceral. So belly fat can be both subcutaneous as well as visceral ..
Men tend to accumulate fat in the belly women, accumulate it in their thighs and ass—OOPS-- buttocks.
Below: Cellulite is dimpled .
Cellulite is fat deposits just below the skin, usually in the abdomen , ass—nay—buttocks and thighs .Skin brushing can specifically target areas of cellulite. In Ayurveda we do nava dhanya abrasive broken grain massage –with each type grain having different hardness and size.
Using a skin brush in small circular movements over cellulite areas every 4 days will help to break down the fatty deposits that cause the dimpled appearance.
Usually fat will be removed ( diet / exercise ) in the same order that it was laid down . This pattern is set by the body and cannot be influenced through specific training, as some dumbo sports/ gym coaches think . .
Below: DUH ? DUH !!!
One of the best fat burning exercises is brisk walking. If exercise is at a higher intensity, the fuel that is needed to maintain a higher level of intensity is pulled from a different source.
Brisk walking is effective in reducing excess subcutaneous body fat as you do not feed you face mindlessly with junk food at the same time. Plastic surgery such as liposuction of the video above can remove subcutaneous fat but NEVER visceral fat.
Usually after liposuction, the human body will usually compensate with an increase in subcutaneous fat unless you have a diet and exercise regimen going. Many slothful film stars have found this out the hard way .
Subcutaneous fat located at the waist — the finger pinchable fat — can be frustratingly difficult to budge, but in normal-weight people, it’s generally not considered as much of a health threat as visceral fat is. You should be more worried about your health that your looks .
Subcutaneous abdominal fat is hard to burn through diet and exercise and is called “stubborn” abdominal fat.
The subcutaneous abdominal fat at the belly is stubborn because the network of blood vessels is not as dense in the area where this type of fat occurs, as it is with visceral fat.
It is further away from the portal vein than visceral fat, and it has to travel a longer distance to reach the main “highway” that will take it to other tissues (e.g., muscle) for use as energy.
Subcutaneous fat is resistant to elimination through “burning” ( thermogenesis or lipolysis ). Lipolysis involves hydrolysis of triglycerides into glycerol and free fatty acids involving hormones like ghrelin, cortisol etc. I will talk about such hormones later .
Beta adrenoreceptors, are responsive to dieting -- subcutaneous fat cells are primarily studded with alpha-2 adrenoreceptors. They are far more resistant to shrinkage through ordinary dieting-induced lipolysis. Subcutaneous lower belly fat has a decreased blood supply and is less sensitive to the catecholamines.
You cannot choose the location from which stored fat is metabolized . Fat is stored in a unique and systematic pattern for each individual mostly based on genetics.
Excess energy that is stored as fat will be laid down in a specific pattern for each individual. Some people will store fat beginning in the abdomen and then progressing to the upper extremities, face and neck, and then lower extremities. Others will store fat beginning in the hips and thighs, abdomen, and then upper extremities, face and neck.
Subcutaneous (lower belly fat) is more sensitive to insulin compared to visceral fat, so it is more difficult to burn. Insulin works on fat cells by increasing fat storage and decreasing fat release. A fat cell that is more insulin sensitive only requires small amounts of insulin to shut down its release of fat. An insulin sensitive fat cell is a maha stingy fat cell that does not want to release its fat.
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Low carb diets reduce the activity of the alpha adrenergic receptors and may speed subcutaneous fat loss. Exercising in a hot environment MAY increase blood flow to subcutaneous fat tissue and increase fat release. Avoid cool cozy AC gyms OR put on a track suit.
Subcutaneous stored fat can be reversed and utilized as an energy source when blood sugar is low. Subcutaneous fat is reduced when the body needs fuel to keep the body moving. As muscles are exercised and blood flow is increased to and from the muscles, the body is better able to mobilize from the fat stored within the body and metabolize that fat into energy.
Subcutaneous fat has more alpha adrenergic receptors (block fat release), while visceral fat has more beta adrenergic receptors (enhance fat release).
Hanging lower belly fat (subcutaneous) is more of an indication of leptin resistance while visceral fat is more an indication of insulin resistance.
Diet and exercise will reduce visceral fat. Diet is more important to reduce subcutaneous fat. Obese men tend to lose more visceral (internal) fat while obese women lose more subcutaneous fat.
Fat that is deeply embedded in your abdominal region is visceral. You cannot grasp visceral fat with your hand. It is out of reach and inside your body. It lies deeply inside your abdomen, filling the spaces between your organs.
Visceral fat wraps around organs such as your liver and spleen. This kind of fat can interrupt the regular function of your organs and produce harmful substances. Visceral fat is associated with heart disease, metabolic disturbances and sleep apnea.
Insulin resistance and glucose intolerance, which can lead to Type 2 diabetes, are also associated with visceral fat. However the good news is that visceral fat yields fairly easily to exercise and diet.
Poor diet and lack of exercise leads to weight gain in the form of visceral fat, which is especially a danger as you age because of its associated health risks.
Visceral fat wraps around the inner organs . While abdominal exercises strengthen the underlying muscles, they do not specifically reduce the overlying fat.
Below: DUH ? DUH !!
You can see thin people with excess visceral fat. Excess visceral fat causes you to die early.
Visceral fat has been linked to a long list of adverse health conditions, including:--
High blood pressure, stroke, and heart disease
High cholesterol
Diabetes
Breast cancer
Dementia
One of the main reasons visceral fat is so deadly is because of its role in inflammation, a natural immune response that has lately been tied to almost every chronic disease there is.
Substances released by visceral fat, includes free fatty acids, which enter the portal vein and travel to the liver, where they can influence the production of blood lipids. Visceral fat is directly linked with higher total cholesterol and LDL (bad) cholesterol, lower HDL (good) cholesterol, and insulin resistance.
Visceral fat responds well to dieting and exercise, for instance, while subcutaneous fat does not.Visceral fat cells are predominantly studded with structures known as beta adrenoreceptors, which, when triggered by certain signals (prompted by reduced calorie intake, for example), stimulate the cells to undergo lipolysis.
During lipolysis, the lipids (fats in the form of triglycerides), which make up the bulk of the fat cell, are converted to free fatty acids, which are then oxidized as “fuel” to decrease fat stores.
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In essence, lipolysis and fatty acid oxidation comprise the process commonly referred to as “fat burning.” As these lipids are metabolized to release energy, fat stores are depleted, and adipose cells shrink. .
In essence, lipolysis and fatty acid oxidation comprise the process commonly referred to as “fat burning.” As these lipids are metabolized to release energy, fat stores are depleted, and adipose cells shrink. .
Visceral belly fat has a greater blood flow and is more responsive to catecholamines, your fat burning hormonal gas peddles. It is stored close to the liver and drains right into the portal vein giving the liver quick access to fuel in times of famine.
Visceral fat is like a parasite doing damage to its host with increased cortisol levels while perpetuating its survival.
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Deep belly fat has 400% more cortisol receptors compared to subcutaneous fat. This enzyme is called 11 beta HSD, and it is stimulated by insulin.
Deep belly fat has 400% more cortisol receptors compared to subcutaneous fat. This enzyme is called 11 beta HSD, and it is stimulated by insulin.
In India we never had all these problems when we used fresh turmeric in our curry. Curcumin, from turmeric, is a belly fat reducing aid since it blocks the enzyme fatty acid synthase (FAS), the nuclear receptor PPAR gamma, reduces leptin, and reduces the release of inflammatory cytokines.
It also blocks 11 beta HSD, an enzyme that increases cortisol levels in deep belly fat perpetuating its growth. Decreased fat storage, decrease fat cell maturation, decreased leptin resistance, and decreased visceral belly fat cycle.
In comparison to visceral cells, subcutaneous cells are greater in number . But the visceral cells are actually larger in size per cell. And they get to be so big that they atrophy themselves—at which point they continuously inflammatory cytokines.
They promote atherosclerosis, tumor growth, aging, oxidation, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. Reducing visceral belly fat takes a combination approach of a low-calorie diet that is high in fiber and low in carbohydrates and sugar along with cardiovascular and weight training .
Visceral fat is just NOT an inert lump of lard, cushioning your internal organs ( pana kumbha – rich man’s tummy ) but it constantly pumps poisons into your bloodstream. Visceral fat is known to cause inflammation in the colon and the artery walls, and is a major cause of heart disease, diabetes and some types of cancer.
Visceral fat increases production of the stress hormone, cortisol, and reduces levels of feel-good endorphins. So, along with killing you, visceral fat, makes you feel like an as$hole—nay-- CHOOT .
The police DGP must read this post. Army jawans eat much more rich and high calorie food , yet they do NOT have ugly tonds ( pot bellies ).
Some of the chemicals secreted from belly visceral fat cause inflammation, which cause causes depression--and reduces morale .
Overall, abdominal visceral fat seems to be the main culprit behind many of the health problems traditionally pinned on obesity.
Beer contains rapidly digested carbs that shut down fat burning. That’s why beer is sometimes referred to as “liquid bread” which causes “beer belly.”
Accumulation of visceral fat correlates with insulin resistance, whereas subcutaneous fat deposition correlates with circulating leptin levels .
So, what is Leptin and what is Ghrelin? Kaun sa khet ka beetroot hai, yeh ?
Leptin tells your body it's full and ghrelin stimulates appetite.
When you don't sleep, they get all out of whack—this makes your leptin levels decrease and your ghrelin levels increase. This is why fatsos must have good sleep.
The result?
The fatso eats unconsciously – he loves to raid the fridge even when his stomach is busting full . Ghrelin and leptin act on the brain via the hypothalamus .
Leptin is secreted primarily in fat cells, as well as the stomach, heart, placenta, and skeletal muscle. Leptin decreases hunger. Leptin tells the hypothalamus that we have enough fat in the kitty , so we can eat less or stop eating.
For weight loss — the more leptin the better.
You’d think, then, that fatter folks would somehow magically stop eating or start losing weight once their leptin levels were high enough.
Alas !
The fatso can become leptin resistant . His brain aint listening . There is no drop in appetite nor there is increased metabolism.
His brain might even think he is starving, because as far as it’s concerned, there’s not enough leptin. So it makes him even hungrier. It’s a vicious cycle. Eat more, gain body fat. More body fat means more leptin in fat cells. Too much fat means that proper leptin signalling is disrupted.
The brain thinks he is starving, which makes him wanna eat more. He gets fatter. And hungrier.
He eateth more. Gaineth more fat. And so on and so forth .
Leptin is known as the fat hormone; it is made in your white adipose tissue or stored fat. Following a meal, leptin is released from your fat, enters your blood, and travels up to your brain where it delivers a message that you are full and also lets your subconscious brain know how much fuel you have on hand –almost like the fuel meter in your car.
One of the simple-case leptin problems encountered by people who are overweight is that their leptin “gas gauge” is sticky, or in more advanced cases, broken. This is called leptin resistance because leptin is either not getting into your brain correctly or not registering properly in your hypothalamus gland once it does enter your brain.
Leptin resistance is similar to insulin resistance ( they share common signalling pathways). Insulin resistance occurs when there’s lots of insulin being produced (for example, with a diet high in sugar and simple carbohydrate), but the body and brain have stopped “listening” to insulin’s effects.
Another leptin resistance fun fact is that fructose induces leptin resistance . So avoid all those HFCS loaded soft drinks. Fructose has no effect on ghrelin and interferes with your brain's communication with leptin, resulting in overeating.
Over time, consuming too many calories from fat and simple sugars damages the nerves that conduct signals through the hypothalamus, affecting the function of leptin and ghrelin, and thus the body’s ability to regulate weight and metabolism.
Because of this damage, the signals don’t get through about how much fat is stored. Fat hormone leptin are often the primary cause of many of the hypothyroid symptoms in overweight individuals.
Morbidly obese individuals generally exhibit an unusually high circulating concentration of leptin. These people are said to be resistant to the effects of leptin, in much the same way that people with type 2 diabetes are resistant to the effects of insulin.
MSG (monosodium glutamate/ ajinomoto ) makes your appetite spiral out of control. Your body loses its ability to tell that it’s full because MSG suppresses leptin. You end up eating more than you normally would and get hungrier sooner. MSG is loaded in ALL fast food and most processed food.
Leptin ( satisfaction hormone ) works with sensors in your brain to signal when you’ve had enough to eat. Leptin made by fat cells, thus decreases your appetite.
In other words, your brain has gone haywire and you can no longer trust the messages it’s sending you about appetite, hunger, and fullness. It’s like your gas gauge points to empty all the time, whether or not the tank is full.
Along with being overweight comes insulin and leptin resistance,
The Leptin Diet helps optimize leptin function in your body and unlock easier weight loss.
1: Never eat after dinner—no raiding the fridge .
2: Eat three meals a day ( do not snack ).
3: Do not eat large meals, that your stomach stretches .
4: Eat a breakfast containing protein.-i will tell why later
5: Reduce the amount of sugar and carbohydrates eaten.
One function of leptin is to set the long term energy spending policy of your body based on available food supply. Your subconscious brain interprets leptin resistance to mean a famine is going on, even though you are often eating too much on a regular basis. This is a faulty perception of starvation.
In this tricky situation, leptin tells the TRH (thyroid releasing hormone) department in your hypothalamus gland to set thyroid hormone to a low level so that energy is conserved, otherwise your body may perish from starvation.
Your hypothalamus then has a major influence over how much TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) your pituitary will produce. Your subconscious brain intentionally turns down the volume on your metabolism so that you can survive a hibernation period , which does not exist.
Too much stress, too much inflammation, poor physical fitness, a chronic health condition, overeating, and snacking between meals are key factors that confuse leptin and make its job much more difficult.
Thus, when you crave for one more chocolate too often, it means that leptin is not getting into your brain correctly and your thyroid system is not functioning up to par.
It is subcutaneous fat that is a stronger determinant than visceral fat of circulating levels of leptin, the key hunger-regulating hormone. Leptin influences you and you cheat on your diet program.
Leptin resistance, is almost similar to insulin resistance, in which the cells no longer respond normally to a hormone messenger. This is due, in part, to the fact that in obese people, leptin interacts with inflammation-related proteins, such as C-reactive protein.
This interaction blocks leptin’s ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, preventing leptin from transmitting its satiety signals.
Leptin resistance is both a cause and a consequence of obesity. Once leptin resistance takes hold, it aggravates diet-induced obesity and the leptin resistance and obesity compound one another, promoting a vicious cycle of escalating weight gain. Leptin resistance specifically causes your body to produce and accumulate visceral fat around your midline.
Excessive amounts of body fat secrete more leptin than the body can handle, the leptin receptors become resistant to the effect of leptin, the “I’m full” message cannot be received, and hunger grows unabated. Thus, morbid obesity often perpetuates itself by blunting the appetite-suppressing effect of leptin.
Ghrelin is the hormone which makes you hungry. Ghrelin was discovered 7 years after leptin.
Ghrelin is secreted primarily in the lining of the stomach.
Your stomach makes ghrelin when it’s empty. Just like leptin, ghrelin goes into the blood, crosses the blood-brain barrier, and ends up at your hypothalamus, where it tells you you’re hungry.
Ghrelin is high before you eat and low after you eat.
Leptin is a hormone that is a result of a buildup of fat, so it’s a long term regulator of body weight. But ghrelin is the short term. If you want to lose weight you want less ghrelin, so you don’t get hungry.
Lowering levels of ghrelin leads to decreased body fat.
Fructose prevents leptin and insulin from elevating to normal levels after a meal, while increasing ghrelin and triglycerides. The soft drinks like Coke and Pepsi are packed with HFCS. This can lead to a dramatic increase in calorie consumption. Fructose ends up circumventing the normal appetite signaling system, so appetite-regulating hormones aren't triggered--and you're left feeling unsatisfied
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Ghrelin levels remain high until food stretches the wall of your stomach, making you feel full. High volume, low calorie, nutrient dense foods reduce ghrelin and increase leptin levels long before you have overeaten. Even drinking water stretches your stomach.
Less than 7 hours of sleep has been associated with higher ghrelin levels, decreased leptin, increased hunger, and higher body weight in . You will find so many fatsos sleeping less.
Stress is associated with higher body weight and ghrelin production.
Ghrelin is a fast-acting hormone, playing a role in meal initiation. Ghrelin levels increase before meals and decrease after meals. The more you have in your system, the hungrier you are and the more fat your body stores. Lack of sleep increases ghrelin levels, and these people raid the fridge ..
Ghrelin is so efficient at stimulating your hunger centers, that elevated levels of ghrelin will make you feel the same way as if your were in full starvation mode – desperately craving the richest, highest calorie and sweetest foods. Ghrelin cycles in 4 hour increments, so typically you would be hungriest 4 hours after your last meal.
8 hours of sleep per night is the ideal. Know this very well - sleep deprivation causes your ghrelin levels to increase.
Next time you see a nutritionist or a sports coach ask whim what is Ghrelin— kaun sa khet ka mooli hai ?.
Protein intake also staves off the release of elevated ghrelin levels, so make sure that each meal starts off with high quality protein sources, especially the first one.
6000 year old Ayurveda suggests you include all tastes — sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent — in at least one meal each day, to help balance unnatural cravings /midnight fridge raids .
Above / Below: A perfect 6 pack has INTERLOCKED muscles -- they are never like chocolate bars.
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Cortisol is produced as a response to stress ,and we are all stresses nowadays . Even people who go on holidays are overly stressed , and they find out the hard way, that home is a less stressing place.
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Stress increases your cravings for sweets and carbohydrates, it increases muscle breakdown for energy production, it increases the percentage of fat that is stored in your abdominal area, and it increases your levels of depression and anxiety – which make you eat more, which further increases your cortisol levels, creating a vicious cycle, resulting in you feeling tired and burnt out all of the time.
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Cortisol is a stress hormone. Your adrenal glands produce cortisol in response to stress, physical, mental or emotional.
This hormone is released within the body to increase blood sugar and regulate metabolism. Fluctuations of the cortisol levels within the body can affect mental well-being.
Cortisol signals fat cells to hold on to their fat stores— so stress can actually reduce the ability of the body to release fat from its fat stores to use for energy
Stress makes a person fat primarily because of an excessive secretion of the key stress hormone, cortisol, along with a reduced secretion of key anabolic hormones, such as DHEA, testosterone, and growth hormone.
This combination of highly catabolic cortisol and reduced anabolic hormones causes the body to store fat, lose muscle, slow metabolic rate, and increase appetite—all of which have the ultimate effect of making a person fatter.
Overall, stress makes you burn fewer calories and consume more food (especially carbohydrates), which increases your stress levels even more!
Cortisol works in tandem with the master of your metabolism, your thyroid. If you’re cranking out cortisol , you’ll start getting resistance from hormone receptors so it will require more hormones to create the same effect , creating a viscous stress cycle.
Our adrenal glands govern our stress response, by secreting hormones relative to our stress levels. When the adrenal glands are overworked, the body prepares for disaster, by storing fat and calories. We crave foods, we lose precious energy, and we gain weight., with increased levels of cortisol, our body also does not respond as well to leptin, the hormone that makes us feel full, so we eat more.
Normally when we feel begin to feel hungry, our blood sugar drops and the brain sends a message to the adrenal glands to release cortisol. Cortisol activates glucose, fats, and amino acids to keep our body fueled with energy until we eat. Cortisol maintains blood sugar levels, and insulin helps our cells absorb glucose.
When we have long term stress, both insulin and cortisol remain elevated in the blood, and the extra glucose is stored as fat–mostly in the abdomen.
Fat cells have special receptors for the stress hormone cortisol, and there are more of these receptors in our abdominal fat cells than anywhere else in our bodies!
Eat well for healthy adrenal glands. Since cortisol helps regulate blood sugar, keeping glucose levels balanced will take some of the stress off the adrenal glands. Three nutritious meals will keep our adrenal glands steady.
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Restricting your carbohydrate intake too drastically can lead to:--
decreased thyroid output
increased cortisol output
decreased testosterone
muscle catabolism
Our hypothalamus and pituitary glands, inside the brain, are sensitive to things like energy availability and stress. A flabby stomach can be a sign of over-production of the stress hormone cortisol.
Cortisol increases levels of fat and sugar in the bloodstream to prepare you for fight or flight. But unless you do something physical - as your body is expecting you to - all that extra energy, in the form of fat and glucose, has nowhere to go. So, it must be re-deposited as fat.
That's why people under constant stress quite often feel hungry all the time. Abdominal fat has more cortisol receptors than fat elsewhere in your body.
Don’t talk business over meals . Concentrating on food without distractions is linked to reduced cortisol levels and a decrease in belly fat.
Cortisol can cause cravings for junk foods – simultaneously shutting off the goal oriented centers of the brain and ramping up the reward centers of the brain.
Hormones act as cellular messengers. They deliver information about what's happening outside the body to cells inside the body. Cortisol plays both a protective role and adaptation role. It works against inflammation and also releases the body's sugar and fat stores to meet the demands of stress. Anything that poses a potential threat to the body will result in cortisol being requisitioned for help.
Cortisol works as good guy and bad guy . It is required for optimal health and actually burns fat, under the right circumstances. However it can become destructive in certain situations, like when it's chronically elevated or continuously suppressed. When cortisol is too high or too low, it aint no good.
Hormones are like people – they behave differently depending on the environment they find themselves in and the people they're surrounded by. For example, high cortisol in a low-calorie state will produce a different outcome compared to high cortisol in a high-calorie state. Same thing with exercise – you want cortisol high while you're exercising; you want it low when you're not.
During exercise, cortisol works with your other fat burning hormones, the catecholamines (adrenaline and noradrenaline) and growth hormone, to increase fat release.
When cortisol is "socializing" with insulin instead, it has the exact opposite effect. Cortisol is actually NOT a fat-storing belly-fat hormone. Insulin and cortisol together, with a high-calorie diet, are the real cause of belly fat.
Another dual action of cortisol is how it interacts with the body's main metabolic fat burning engine, the thyroid gland. Cortisol and the catecholamines sensitize thyroid receptors. So low cortisol can also lead to low thyroid activity. High cortisol blocks the normal conversion of inactive thyroid (T4) into active thyroid (T3). You need cortisol just right –neither too low, nor too high..
The command and control center of your metabolism is the hypothalamus. This is the center of your metabolic sensor/thermostat. This area needs to "hear" the signals being sent by peripheral hormones like leptin and insulin, both of which shut down hunger in normal circumstances.
Chronically elevated cortisol levels cause irritation in the hypothalamus leading to down regulation of hormone receptors inducing hormone resistance.
Imagine walking into a room with a strong hydrogen sulphide odor and covering your nose and mouth, only to realize later you can no longer smell the odor. This is what cortisol does to the brain. It muffles its satiety sensing mechanism.
Cortisol is also involved in cravings. Cortisol along with other stress hormones (i.e. the catecholamines), increases desire for more palatable, calorie dense foods. It does this while simultaneously shutting off the goal oriented centers of the brain and ramping up the reward centers of the brain.
Cortisol is made in the adrenal glands mostly, but it can be made in the belly visceral fat too.. which contains an enzyme called 11-beta hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11-HSD). This is an enzyme that converts inactive cortisone into active cortisol. This means belly fat can produce its own cortisol!
And in another twist in the complicated relationship between insulin and cortisol, insulin increases 11-HSD activity, which increases cortisol levels which then causes increased insulin resistance. In this way, belly fat acts like a parasite ensuring its growth at the detriment of the host.
Sometimes an extra hour in bed, to lower cortisol, may be a better strategy than an extra hour on the treadmill. Fatsos must sleep well . During your sleep, your body utilizes fat as it’s primary source of fuel. So getting enough sleep is key to making sure that your body burns off more fat!
The three best ways to control cortisol are diet, exercise, and lifestyle. Cortisol is an alarm hormone. Skipping meals can raise cortisol because the brain requires a constant supply of glucose. For some, skipping meals will cause blood sugar changes that create a cortisol response.
Another great way to lower cortisol is finishing workouts with slow relaxing movements like leisure walking.
As cortisol levels rise, a protein (HES1) in your liver elevates, which turns off your liver’s ability to break down fat. This also contributes to fatty liver and abdominal weight gain. We are designed for fight or flight.
Cortisol is produced as a response to stress ,and we are all stresses nowadays . Even people who go on holidays are overly stressed , and they find out the hard way, that home is a less stressing place.
Stress increases your cravings for sweets and carbohydrates, it increases muscle breakdown for energy production, it increases the percentage of fat that is stored in your abdominal area, and it increases your levels of depression and anxiety – which make you eat more, which further increases your cortisol levels, creating a vicious cycle, resulting in you feeling tired and burnt out all of the time.
Cortisol depletes lean muscle and makes your body hold on to fat in the abdominal region. It also enlarges your fat cells, allowing them to store more fat. Cortisol is catabolic and elevated cortisol levels can cause the loss of muscle tissue by facilitating the process of converting lean tissue into glucose.
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An excess of cortisol can also lead to a decrease in insulin sensitivity, increased insulin resistance, reduced kidney function, hypertension, suppressed immune function, reduced growth hormone levels, and reduced connective tissue strength. Chronically elevated levels of cortisol can also decrease strength and performance in athletes.
Get more spinach in your diet. Spinach has magnesium which help balance your body’s production of cortisol.
Zinc help inhibit the production of cortisol. If you don’t eat meat, you can also get zinc from cashews, pumpkin seeds, spinach and beans. Cortisol inhibits the growth of beneficial microflora in the intestines.
These essential bacteria support the immune system, create B vitamins, and increase the absorption of minerals like calcium, iron, and magnesium. A decrease in their population results in more colds, sore throats, headaches, diarrhea, upset stomachs and the overgrowth of harmful bacteria and fungus like candida.
Eliminate caffeine from your diet. It’s the quickest way to reduce cortisol production and elevate the production of DHEA, the leading anabolic youth hormone. Cortisol levels are very high when we wake up in the morning and falls as we go through the day.
When we are stressed, our body releases extra cortisol to help the body respond to stress; as a result, our heart rate, breathing, perspiration, and adrenaline levels all go up, muscles gets tensed, and metabolism goes down.
A cortisol blood test can measure the amount of cortisol in the body and determine if there are problems with the adrenal gland. Thin arms and legs, along with excessive weight carried around the midsection are typically symptoms of a high cortisol level.
Low cortisol levels can produce low blood pressure, as well as low blood sugar. Both of these conditions can suppress the immune system and cause weakness and changes in skin pigmentation.
Eliminate Mumbai Irani restaurant type bright fluorescent white tube lights and go for golden lights in your home.
CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL
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