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[Kathleen]

Hello ladies.

There is a report in today's Guardian about the link between weight gain and cortisol levels. Researchers at UCL measured the levels of cortisol in the hair of volunteers and found that the larger the person, the higher their cortisol reading indicating higher stress levels. The article explains that long term stress raises cortisol levels  and asks if this mean we can attribute obesity to stress? The research was done on men over 50 but it made me wonder about weight gain during the menopause and if it is attributable to more cortisol rather than less oestrogen or a re balancing of the two?  What do you ladies think? The rollercoaster that is the menopause has certainly raised my stress levels to an all-time high!

The science minded among you may want to investigate further and
 the online version of The Guardian may have some information.  The research came from Dr Sarah Jackson, of University College London's Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care.

Wishing you well ladies.

K.

[babyjane]

I suffer from chronic anxiety and stress and have done for a long time but I am not, and never have been, obese or even overweight 

[jorainbow]

Likewise babyjane! Unless that is you take into accout the rubbish that is BMI which has me down as overweight at 9st 6!!!!

[CLKD]

Like many things, BMI guidelines have been altered in recent years.  I have had anxiety since age 3 and never been overweight  .  I 'go' by how tight my belt on the jeans is. 

[nearly50]

From the Independent article on this

After taking into account variations in age and sex as well as other factors like whether someone smokes or has diabetes, the researchers found that the higher the level of cortisol (ie. the more stressed someone was), the bigger the body weight, BMI and waist circumference of the person.

Maybe it is the case that the bigger the body weight, the higher the stress levels? Maybe obese people don't get the benefits from exercising which can decrease stress.

[Susannah]

Hi, I think there's something to this for some of us.  I've always struggled to maintain a healthy weight and have a history of episodes of extreme anxiety since childhood really.  I finally lost and maintained a healthy weight around age 42-46 only to see it rise dramatically when life became really stressy for me.  I was eating 12-1400 calories per day and doing moderate to intense exercisie regularly but the weight just kept going up and my doctor couldn't explain it.  Thyroid (TSH) was around 5-7 mark but apparently not high enough to warrant medication. Blood cortisol was consistently elevated to the point I was tested for Cushings disease but thankfully it wasn't that.  Along comes peri menopause and a six month period - my hormones are completely out of whack and they all seem to have an impact on each other.
Some people lose weight with stress but I'm sure it's the opposite for others.  I'm trying to get the weight off again but peri certainly doesn't make it easy. I know losing weight will help overall health and I'm trying to get out of this vicious circle of hormonal hell! 

[breeze]

To be honest I think this a 'chicken and egg' situation.  My son, who has had two episodes of acute anxiety caused by adrenal exhaustion, put on lots of weight both times.  The question is did the weight gain cause the problem, or the other way around.  My money is on the weight being a symptom, and not the cause.

[CLKD]

When stressed I can't eat  - in 1971 I went down to 5st. (I was 17).  Some people comfort eat. 

[nearly50]

I lose weight when stressed, but only because I can't physically eat when worried. As CLKD says, others comfort eat. There's a lot of denial over overeating too, I had a friend who would swear she hadn't eaten all day when she had in fact continually grazed on rubbish

[Susannah]

Sorry to go off the main topic but when I lost a huge chunk of weight over a period of 2-3 years I subscribed to a weight loss calorie database and used a heart rate monitor to record exercise calorie expenditure as accurately as possible. I understand the mechanics of weight loss very well and never kidded myself on about calorie intake vis-a-vis any lack of weight loss.  I was at a loss (sadly not a weight one!) when the weight started going the wrong way, as were my doctors.

 All of us can only ever speak from our own experience but I am positive cortisol plays a significant part in some people's weight problems.  I'm currently attending a mindfulness course run by NHS psychologists in an effort to keep the pesky cortisol production line from going into overdrive every five minutes.

[Kathleen]

Hello ladies and thanks for your responses.

Yesterday's article included a comment from Professor Tim Spector of King's College London who believes a healthy gut biome helps to avoid obesity. He says that we don't consume more calories or do much less than previous generations but people around the world are getting fatter and he believes this is because we are not looking after our biomes ( bacteria in the gut) and thinks the solution is to eat a range of fibre and vegetables, Polyphenols and fermented foods.  Worth considering I'm sure.

Wishing you all well ladies.

K.

[nearly50]

I didn't realise that people were consuming less calories than before - that does go against conventional wisdom, doesn't it? Found an IFS article that does back it up though. Surely many people do less than previous generations though, with the reliance on cars?

Interesting stuff.

[wombat62]

The research on gut flora is really interesting. I watched a program on it, they took identical twins one skinny and the other plump and turned out the skinny one had good gut bacteria and the plump one wasn't so good. They found that most naturally slim people had good bacteria but the twins helped prove it as they would have the same genes etc.

They did an article on this in the Mail a couple of months back and researchers have found various strains of bacteria, some were identified as good types to keep slim.

This week I feel bloated and tubby because we went away and I didn't eat my normal diet and let myself enjoy a few naughty things, paying for it now!

I take a good probiotic as I find it helps but also its good to eat prebiotic foods to keep gut bacteria healthy.