By Gina Zammit, on behalf of Nuvance Health
For many Westporters, stress is a part of our daily lives. When it lingers, it can have a profound effect on our health due to the presence of cortisol.
Often called “the stress hormone”, cortisol plays a critical role in weight management, energy regulation and overall wellbeing. Understanding how cortisol works, especially in relation to hunger and weight, can open doors to better health, one small step at a time.
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Erica Seebeck – Photo Nuvance Health
I spoke with Erica R. Seebeck, APRN, a board-certified Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner in primary care specializing in obesity medicine about what we can do to reduce spikes of cortisol in our bodies.
What is Cortisol?
Cortisol is a hormone that’s produced by the adrenal glands and helps to regulate the body’s stress response. Cortisol also regulates your metabolism, helps with inflammation, regulates blood pressure, blood sugar and the sleep/wake cycle.
“It really has an impact on pretty much everything,” says Erica R. Seebeck, APRN.
Why is Managing Cortisol Important?
“Our bodies can’t really tell the difference between a deadline or if you’re being chased by a bear,” says Seebeck.
Since the body can’t tell the difference between a psychological stressor and a physical stressor, it will automatically treat every attack, whether it’s an actual life-threatening strike or nerves about a big test or work project with the same seriousness, and thus spikes cortisol. Why this is an issue is because it not only throws off our homeostasis, but overtime, it can cause an increase in visceral adipose tissue.
That type of tissue is the internal fat that surrounds your organs and can lead to cardiovascular issues, cancers, and type 2 diabetes. The reason this happens is that when you have elevated cortisol, it alters your body’s fat distribution.
“Instead, your body storing it in your subcutaneous tissue, which is underneath your skin,” says Seebeck, “it instead puts it into that visceral area.”
How Can We Best Manage Cortisol?
“Unfortunately, we don’t have any kind of magic pill or wand to help reduce cortisol,” says Seebeck. “People are often looking for something that’s a little bit easier to intervene with, but really it’s back to the basics.”
Those basics include:
- Getting Good Quality Sleep — at least 7 to 8 hours per night for most healthy adults
- Meditating — for promoting calmness
- Cognitive behavioral therapy — for managing stress eating
- Deep breathing — a quick way to return to homeostasis
- A Healthy Diet — focusing on whole foods and protein-forward diet
- Exercising — particularly strength training
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All these practices help regulate cortisol by calming the nervous system and improving stress responses.
Regarding exercise, Seebeck notes:
“Honestly, all exercise is good exercise, but strength training is great for maintaining muscle mass during weight loss.”
Related content: 5 best exercises for weight management
For deep breathing, Seebeck stands by the evidence-based “three by three” grounding technique:
“You can do this wherever you are. It stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system to calm things down,” says Seebeck.
The technique is simple:
- Pick three items you see around you.
- Focus on those items while you take a deep breath
- Slowly breathe out
- Repeat, if necessary
Seebeck also advises busy Westporters to “pick out one thing: sleep, hydration, eating right and just do that. This helps build slow, sustainable habits rather than overwhelming oneself.”
The Stress-Eating Connection
If all that information didn’t implore you to reduce your stress levels, perhaps this will. Stress can also increase appetite and promote stress eating.
“Stress is the number one reason why people emotionally eat,” says Seebeck.
This is especially true of carb-heavy, salty, crunchy foods that “temporarily reduce perceived stress but worsen metabolic health.”
To counteract this, Seebeck advises us to adopt a more protein forward approach to our meals as well as not skipping meals. Both will help regulate hunger hormones like ghrelin and reduce stress-driven overeating.
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Seebeck also recommends seeking out Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and group programs for people struggling with chronic stress eating habits. CBT helps patients understand emotional vs. physical hunger and build mindful eating habits.
Learn more about behavior health programs at Nuvance Health part of Northwell Health
Seebeck runs a virtual group program through the Nuvance Health Metabolic Weight Loss Program at multiple locations including Wilton and Norwalk where patients tackle stress-eating and build healthier habits. The group also covers the behavioral components of weight loss and helps patients differentiate between emotional and physical hunger.
“One way to help people be more successful is connection and support,” says Seebeck. “What I love about these groups is it’s an opportunity for patients to connect with each other as well as with a support team.”
Nuvance Health, part of Northwell Health, has sponsored this content for Westport Journal. Visit nuvancehealth.org for more information.