Insulin Resistance And Why It Matters Part 5 (Stress) & Stubborn Belly Fat

Have you ever struggled with stubborn BELLY FAT? This video is for you!!Show more

For a lot of people, this word could sum up the whole year of 2020!! I Think a lot of us know that stress is harmful to our health but some times I'm not sure people really know just how harmful stress is!! Stress impacts every metabolic pathway in the body and can age you faster then anything on the planet.

And here is the kicker, you're body does not know the difference between real physiological stress and perceived stress. Your metabolic pathways all respond the same weather it's real or not.

I want to set the stage because we will be talking about how stress effects insulin and blood sugar but I wanted you to know first that there are many types of stressors that people deal with on a daily basis. These could be things like emotional stress that you have with work, relational stress that you may be having with family or friends or Physical stress that demands a lot of you physically.

It could also be toxic stressors from chemicals that are in your food, hair, skin products, soaps, shampoos, tooth paste, deodorants, plastics and a ton more that I won't bore you with. YOU GET THE POINT!! And then you add 2020 into the mix!! Does it seem like I'm over exaggerating at all? Welcome to the average person in todays culture!! No wonder we have so much chronic disease and obesity.

Here is the thing stress alters your physiology in so many ways. Everything from your hormones, brain function, your digestive and gut health and ultimately driving a ton of inflammation in the body!! We could spend countless hrs. talking about how stress effects each one of these pathways but I would like to focus on how stress and blood sugar are related.

Some of you may have heard of the stress hormone called Cortisol. And if you are one of those people that have access stubborn belly fat hanging around that you just can't get rid of, most likely it's do to this hormone. So to get rid of that belly fat your main focus should be how to eliminate stress in your life.

To understand all of this, it's important to understand how Cortisol is effecting Insulin and blood sugar. Here's how it works. When you are stressed Cortisol is responsible for signaling the release of stored sugar from your Liver & Muscle tissue. If you remember on the last video we discussed that your liver and muscle store energy in the form glycogen for when you need access to energy fast through what's called the glycolytic pathway. This energy ultimately is a survival mechanism that allows you to tap into so that you can be alert, have focus, be able to sprint an run away form danger.

Imagine you were getting chased by a bear, you would need that energy immediately, your eyes would be become dilated, your blood vessels would constrict to force more blood & oxygen to the muscle, your brain goes on high alert and so on. Your Stress hormones cortisol Adrenaline are Responsible for these physiological changes when under stress.

Now here is the interesting part!! Remember that I said Cortisol signals for the release of sugar from the liver & muscle tissue. Well here is the thing!! In the case of you running from a bear, you would be more likely to utilize and burn that energy for fuel because of the physical energy demands of running. Now picture this same response happening to you all day long while you are sitting in a chair because of emotional stress that you are dealing with. What would happen is that you would have high cortisol all through the day, releasing sugar into the blood stream. Now since you are insulin resistant and without physical activity, that sugar gets turned back into triglycerides which is your stored form of fat!!

So essentially this is why you it becomes hard to lose weight

It becomes a vicious cycle because stress causes you to became insulin resistant, while driving more sugar into the blood stream, Causing you to store fat. You then crave and eat the wrong types of food at the wrong times, which then effects your sleep in a negative way which then puts more stress on the body, ultimately leaving you feel tired and sluggish so that you don't feel like working out.

Ok so at this point I may be sounding like a broken record but in order to this problem, we have to begin to start reversing the cycle. To do this you have to make your health a priority. I believe that there are 2 types of emotional stress, things that are out of your control and things that are in your control
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