Prolonged Increased Cortisol and its Impact on the Body

Cortisol is secreted by the adrenal glands when you wake up in the morning and in response to several triggers including stress, food, and exercise. This response is initiated by the pituitary gland situated in the brain and impacts many systemic functions within the body.

It primarily aids in mobilizing resources for energy to the necessary tissues depending on the trigger. These resources are carbohydrates, fat, and protein. Under normal circumstances, this effect is beneficial in providing your body with whatever is necessary to perform the physical demands of the triggering situation, however, under prolonged secretion, cortisol can be destructive to tissues and facilitate processes that put you at higher risk for a number of other conditions.

With stress levels experienced on an emotional level, cortisol is released.

This causes fatty acids in the body to be moved to the deep tissues that require it for energy and the conversion of your muscle making amino acids into glucose at the liver level. It also diverts fat cells into the abdomen and stores them around your organs where they will secrete an enzyme that enhances the exchange of cortisol from an inactive state to active which perpetuates this cycle by increasing the number and size of cortisol attracting fatty cells within your abdomen giving you that kidney bean shape (and a slew of conditions to which abdominal fat is contributed).

This type of fat surrounding the visceral organs, unlike subcutaneous fat, places individuals in first place for heart disease and diabetes and makes losing that fat more difficult than gaining glute size on a guy that avoids leg day. A

nd finally, if getting fatter isn’t enough, and because it is a steroid (a glucocorticoid not an anabolic one) it suppresses the immune systems making you a sitting duck for the diseases carried via poor hygiene, poor cough etiquette, and especially your wide range of gym germs in which you douse yourself with every dumbbell.

Stress is not the only thing that can prolong cortisol and produce the above conditions.

Since exercise also triggers cortisol’s activity, prolonged working out, unnecessarily ego-fueled dueling of the deltoids, or pec presses with the intent to impress the size challenged guys in the gym, can end up making you the moon faced, bloated guy with the barrel shaped belly busting out of his training belt.

Besides avoiding the now obvious triggers, there are supplements you can take to suppress the prolonged states of cortisol secretion.

Stop by the shop today and be proactive about protecting your body from the damage of cortisol.