Now you can blame your excess weight on commuter traffic, job pressures or being up all night with the new baby. Stress can make you fat — that's the premise of a new book, "The Cortisol Connection" (Hunter House, $15.95), by Shawn Talbott, a University of Utah nutrition professor. Talbott's major focus is on how to counteract the stresses of a hurry-up lifestyle and thus improve your health.
"We've known forever that stress is bad for us," said Talbott. "Now we're starting to know why."
The culprit, he believes, is cortisol, the body's primary stress hormone. Talbott says whenever we are under stress, not getting enough sleep or excessively dieting, our cortisol levels rise. He cites studies showing a connection between high cortisol levels and serious health problems such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, depression and osteoporosis.
While working on his Ph.D. in nutritional biochemistry at Rutgers University, Talbott researched the link between severe dieting and osteoporosis. One possible explanation for the loss of bone density during dieting was that restricting calories stresses the body and increases its cortisol levels, which in turn affects the bones.
"I became interested in this from the weight-loss angle because 90 to 95 percent of the people I counsel is for weight loss," he said. "Then about two years ago, three or four research papers all came out that linked stress and cortisol with being overweight."
The body produces cortisol to provide a burst of energy and stamina when you go through a stressful event — the classic "fight or flight" survival response. In reaction to danger, such as a charging lion, your brain quickly releases stress hormones that enable you to fight off the lion or run away from it. When the danger ends, your body's hormones are supposed to return to normal.
But today's stressors are different from the caveman days — credit card bills, job worries, traffic jams, family problems and so on. You can't fight them off or run away. They just come back again and again.
"This unfortunate situation puts us in the position of being stuck midway through the normal stress response, where stress hormones are chronically elevated," Talbott writes.
If cortisol levels stay high, the body craves carbohydrates and foods high in calories and fat. High levels also slow metabolism and prompt the body to store fat — especially around the abdomen, he says.
"Because one of the primary roles of cortisol is to encourage the body to refuel itself after responding to a stressor, an elevated cortisol level keeps your appetite ramped up — so that you feel hungry almost all the time," Talbott said.
Talbott's program for dealing with stress is called "SENSE" — stress management, exercise, nutrition, supplements and evaluation. But he realizes trying to implement all five at once could max out someone who is already under stress. Start with one thing that you can fit in the easiest, he advises. "For many, the piece that really works well is exercise. Some may choose a program of stress management to avoid things that cause them stress."
His eating plan contains no big surprises — fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean cuts of meat, with each meal having a blend of protein and carbohydrates. Going too low or high in carbohydrates or protein is perceived by the body as starvation, triggering your body's defense mechanisms and raising cortisol, he says.
He devotes several chapters to herbs and dietary supplements that affect cortisol levels. (In addition to his university work, Talbott is director of scientific affairs at Pharmanex, a Nu Skin Enterprises company involved in developing nutritional products. The book doesn't mention the company or its products. Talbott told us he wrote the book separately from his work at Nu Skin.)
"We have been telling people about stress management and nutrition and exercise for years, but people can't seem to fit them in. That's why I included a segment on dietary supplements in the book. They are one more weapon against stress. But some people look at supplements as a quick fix. You can't just pop a vitamin pill and keep accepting more stressors in your life."
Talbott advises cutting down on alcohol, caffeine and any diet supplements containing stimulants, which send your nervous system from a state of heightened alertness into anxiety. Ephedra, guarana and caffeine, which are in many popular diet pills, initially help kill the appetite. But the increased cortisol level tells your body to store fat, so in the long run, you're worse off than before, he says.
Getting eight hours of sleep every night is another important stress-buster.
One of his clients, a "high-stress person," was especially anxious and concerned over dieting.
"I told her to stop worrying about it, to take the focus off of dieting and every morsel of food she put in her mouth, and she ended up losing weight."
Local nutrition experts we consulted agreed that elevated cortisol levels can contribute to weight gain, but it's not likely to be the whole solution to weight loss, they said.
Julie Metos, clinical nutrition manager at Primary Children's Medical Center, said cortisol is one of the things (along with glucose and insulin levels) measured in overweight children and teens who come to the hospital for help.
"However, not everyone has high cortisol levels," she said. "A common flaw of a diet book is found here —- diagnosing a problem some people have as a concern for everyone," she said.
"As far as his nutrition recommendations go, I don't see a problem," said Kathleen Nielsen, director of food and nutrition for McKay-Dee Hospital Center. "But I get nervous about isolating just one hormone, because there are a lot of hormones and complex factors."
"Stress has always existed in one form or another in our society, so this cannot be the entire problem," said Diana McGuire, a Brigham Young University dietetics professor. "The methods cited are acceptable ways to reduce stress and improve lifestyle, except for the supplements. Taking herbal and dietary supplements to reduce cortisol levels is not a scientifically proven treatment, and would be a dangerous practice without a physician's approval."
"I'm right on with him. Cortisol does a lot of bad things to the body, but it's just one brick in the building," said Marc Sorenson, owner of Sorenson Fitness International in St. George. "During World War II, no group of people went through more stress than war-torn Europe. But instead of getting heavier, they got thinner because they had to live on grains and cabbage. So the type of food you eat makes a difference."
Talbott says everyone has a different tolerance for stress, and it's a matter of knowing your limits. Also, people who feel they have some control over a situation are less likely to feel as stressed by it. With a little forethought, it's possible to avoid some stressful situations: file your income tax well ahead of the deadline, for example, or keep obnoxious relatives at arm's length.
One of Talbott's personal stressors is rush-hour traffic. He tries to stay ahead of it by leaving for work as early as possible in the morning and leaving the office as early as he can in the evening. His backup strategy is to listen to a book on tape while driving.
"It enables me to learn something new or to lose myself in a story instead of stewing my way through a time-wasting traffic jam."
Stress is a part of life, especially with the current economic climate where people worry about losing their jobs, have already lost them or are trying to do the work of several laid-off co-workers.
"It really concerns me to see companies downsizing and the stock market in the basement," said Talbott. "It will show itself in health-care costs."
E-MAIL: vphillips@desnews.com