I’m afraid to say Granny was right again! ‘Don’t stress, you’ll give yourself a heart attack!’ haha. The truth is, Stress IS a killer and has unbelievable consequences and is mega detrimental to our health AND your FAT loss efforts!
You, like myself may take this for granted but after hours and hours of research and some awesome courses along the way I can share some valuable information that hopefully will change the way you perceive stress completely !
Nowadays who isn’t stressed? the 21st century lifestyle is jam packed with stress factors. From screaming kids, lack of sleep, relationships, financial problems, employment, social media, work, even dehydration, radiation, lifestyle, diet, pollution, they all contribute to stressing us out physically and mentally!
So, what’s the big deal isn’t this normal? NO! these days we have 100x more stress than our late grandparents. It’s simply not normal! As a result we are all continuously conscious of our diet and exercise. Because of this stress unfortunately most of us are also fat. Approximately 65% of the population is classified as overweight or obese. Health experts have been telling us since the 1950’s that the solution to the obesity epidemic is to ‘Eat less, exercise more’ but after over 50 years of hearing this it is obvious that this recommendation does not work. People try, some people don’t but still we have an ongoing epidemic, why? Stress! stressed out people eat more! Stressed out people have more belly fat! Stressed out people are more likely to have diabetes! more heart attacks, more depression, more colds and less sex. How is it that stress can cause so many problems?
Stress increases a hormone called Cortisol, cortisol can actually help us with our energy production during hard workouts but unfortunately too much cortisol can have serious negative effects on the body. When cortisol is increased for too long it breaks down muscle tissue and increases FAT storage and also oxidises tissues in the body. There are over 14’000 scientific research papers that show the link between high cortisol levels and increased abdominal fat. Increased body fat leads to numerous health conditions. These days cortisol is produced too much and for too long. The more stress we have, the more cortisol created! Too much stress also causes vitamin C and vitamin B5 depletion which in turn effects our immune system and increases the probability of insulin resistance. Research shows people with lower levels of vitamin C have a greater risk of diabetes. Also, too much cortisol decreases the testosterone in your body which is not good when you’re trying to build muscle!
There you have it, the fat loss fight is more complicated than people think. Are YOU stressed? could the stress factor be the missing link to your fat loss efforts? The good news is there a tools, protocols and supplements you can implement to reduce your stress exposure and detoxify cortisol levels. My Biosignature programme by Charles Poliquin delves deeper into the management of cortisol, which is also covered in our 21 Body Body Transformation challenge. Improving your sleep, avoiding dehydration, improving time management, reducing wifi exposure, healthy diet and exercise are just a few very simple ways to help reduce cortisol production.
Good old granny, she’s not mad after all! haha how do they know these things? 😉
By Darren Tyrie North East Personal Trainer and Biosignature Practitioner
Hi thanks
Thanks