 Good Read On Cortisol
The Cortisol Factor
Most people have heard of cortisol and many know that it’s bad news. Unfortunately, they don’t know the extent of damage this hormone can cause, especially when they are trying to get lean abs. This muscle-wasting hormone is literally eating away at their fat-loss potential.
Cortisol is the primary glucocorticoid, a natural hormone produced by the adrenal glands (located atop the kidneys). Although cortisol’s precise actions are not completely understood, we know that it is essential for life. It is necessary to maintain important processes (heart rate, blood pressure, adrenaline release) in times of stress. Most of its effects are not directly responsible for the initiation of metabolic or circulatory processes, but it is necessary for their full response.
Normal kidney function also requires cortisol. When there is an absence or deficiency of cortisol, water cannot be excreted rapidly, which can consequently lead to water retention (this may also occur with too much cortisol). Controlling cortisol levels and thus lowering excess body water is one of the ways you look leaner.
What Causes Excess Cortisol?
Any type of stress that occurs to the body signals the nervous system to relay this to the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus then responds by initiating the stress hormone cascade, starting with corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH), followed by adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) release, and finally glucocorticoid production. Stress to the human body can include trauma, anxiety, infections, surgery, and even resistance training and aerobics.
Recent research has shown that elevated cortisol levels increased protein breakdown by 5-20 percent. Even mild elevations in blood cortisol can increase blood glucose concentration and protein catabolism (muscle breakdown) within a few hours in healthy individuals. Cortisol can also increase body fat levels, especially when it rises dramatically in the body.
Overtraining by athletes may cause higher cortisol levels, potentially leading to hypertension because cortisol causes sodium retention and potassium excretion. Excess cortisol causes insulin resistance by decreasing the rate at which insulin activates the glucose uptake system. Cortisol levels rise as you increase the amount of time devoted to intense exercise. In overtrained individuals, cortisol levels increase while testosterone levels decrease. That is why one measure of overtraining is the testosterone-cortisol ratio. Overtraining is defined as an increase in training volume and/or intensity of exercise leading to a decrease in performance.
The Unhealthy Effects of Cortisol
Cortisol reduces the utilization of amino acids for protein formation in muscle cells. A cortisol excess can lead to a progressive loss of protein, muscle weakness and atrophy, and loss of bone mass through increased calcium excretion and less calcium absorption. The major catabolic effects of cortisol involve facilitating the conversion of protein in muscles and connective tissue into glucose and glycogen (cortisol may increase liver glycogen). This involves both the increased degradation of protein already formed and the decreased synthesis of new protein. Cortisol can also decrease the utilization of glucose by cells through directly inhibiting glucose transport into the cells. A cortisol excess can lead to a decrease in insulin sensitivity and adversely affect tendon health.
Excess cortisol causes a redistribution of body fat to occur through an unknown mechanism. Basically, the extremities lose fat and muscle while the trunk and face become fatter. Several studies have verified that high cortisol levels are directly linked with increased abdominal fat and can even cause binge eating (especially sweets). One study published in Obesity Research Journal clearly showed that men with higher levels of cortisol had greater abdominal fat deposits. Another study published in Psychoneuroendocrinology suggested that women with high stress levels (which increases cortisol) ate more calories and consumed a greater amount of sweet foods. This study linked high cortisol levels to binge eating in women. The scientists conducting the study concluded that this pattern could adversely impact body weight and health over the long run. Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, in another study published in Psychosomatic Medicine, stated that “central fat distribution is related to greater psychological vulnerability to stress and cortisol reactivity.” So, if you want to get lean, especially in the abdominal area, you have to control cortisol levels.
Cortisol inhibits growth hormone levels by stimulating the release of somatostatin, a growth hormone antagonist. It may also reduce IGF-1 expression. IGF-1 is one of the most anabolic agents in the body and is the substance that is responsible for most of the positive effects of growth hormone.
Cortisol has other hormone-modifying effects. It can directly inhibit pituitary gonadotropin and TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone). By doing so, cortisol can make the target tissues of sex steroids and growth factors resistant to these substances. It may also suppress an enzyme that converts the relatively inactive thyroid hormone T4 into the active form T3 (triiodothyronine). This can decrease the metabolic rate and make it harder to lose body fat.
Cortisol seems to play a role in various disease states. It is found in higher levels in diseases ranging from AIDS and multiple sclerosis to Alzheimer’s. Prolonged high levels of cortisol can throw the immune system into chaos and ravage the human body. A growing number of researchers believe that many of the worst, and least understood, diseases will soon be identified as caused by high cortisol, and subsequently treated with cortisol-reducing drugs or supplements.
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"Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual."
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