Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Cortisol and Obesity Article a Bit Misleading
I find myself slightly disturbed by the following article, which most people might stop reading after the headline: Cutting Cortisol May Not Cut Weight Of course, it's difficult to cover all the issues related to stress and obesity in just one article, and the writer makes it clear with four or five paragraphs that it is indeed complicated. But instead of writing how complicated it is, couldn't the author just come out with confilcting or supporting evidence.
What the article says is essentially right: cortisol alone probably doesn't account for all obesity. Did anyone expect that it did? OK, well maybe the pushers of cortisol supplements believe this, but their products really don't work without additional modifications in diet and physical activity.
One particularly bad point of the article is talking about the association between obesity and cortisol levels, because it leaves out recent research that should be shouted out in every article about stres and weight gain. In this article, the author says that there is no association between higher levels of cortisol and obesity. Just because you're really overweight, you won't necessarily have higher cortisol than the skinny jittery kid down the block.
That's true, but the reason why that is true is the important point. Recent research shows that the body tries to pack on a few pounds to relieve the burden of the extra cortisol. So, when you're stressed and eating too much, your body is getting the cortisol down to an acceptible level. Apparently, our bodies think that fat is better than cortisol. And the body does a good job of it. So, when you finally achieve that nice round belly and have practically guaranteed future heart problems and diabetes, your cortisol level is down around normal again, just like the researchers said.
But to say cortisol had nothing to do with it is like saying that two people that ended up in the same place must have started at the same place. But the journeys are not the same.
Of course, anyone who reads this knows that I hate it when articles try to "make healines" with end-all-be-all proclamations that only weigh one new piece of evidence. No wonder the public is confused about obesity, stress, and cortisol. Digg This!
What the article says is essentially right: cortisol alone probably doesn't account for all obesity. Did anyone expect that it did? OK, well maybe the pushers of cortisol supplements believe this, but their products really don't work without additional modifications in diet and physical activity.
One particularly bad point of the article is talking about the association between obesity and cortisol levels, because it leaves out recent research that should be shouted out in every article about stres and weight gain. In this article, the author says that there is no association between higher levels of cortisol and obesity. Just because you're really overweight, you won't necessarily have higher cortisol than the skinny jittery kid down the block.
That's true, but the reason why that is true is the important point. Recent research shows that the body tries to pack on a few pounds to relieve the burden of the extra cortisol. So, when you're stressed and eating too much, your body is getting the cortisol down to an acceptible level. Apparently, our bodies think that fat is better than cortisol. And the body does a good job of it. So, when you finally achieve that nice round belly and have practically guaranteed future heart problems and diabetes, your cortisol level is down around normal again, just like the researchers said.
But to say cortisol had nothing to do with it is like saying that two people that ended up in the same place must have started at the same place. But the journeys are not the same.
Of course, anyone who reads this knows that I hate it when articles try to "make healines" with end-all-be-all proclamations that only weigh one new piece of evidence. No wonder the public is confused about obesity, stress, and cortisol. Digg This!
