When looking at how the human body responds to stress, we have to remember one thing: We are all a bunch of animals! Like all other animals we have a response to threatening situations designed to save our life.

When an animal in the wild faces a threat, the hormone cortisol rises. This gives the animal the resources to immediately run away from the threat or fight back. Once out of danger, cortisol levels drop back to normal and all is well.

Unfortunately for humans, we are constantly faced with threatening or stressful situations that we cannot run away from. In these situations, cortisol rises and it stays high. What was designed as an emergency response system ends up in constant use. The affects of this on our health are many, and include an increased appetite, food cravings, decreased muscle mass, and more.

At first cortisol stimulates the release of stored fuels for energy to respond to the emergency. It stimulates the breakdown of stored fuels in liver, muscle, and fat cells. In the short term, this may result in weight loss.

The breakdown of muscle cells to give the body energy means that, over time, muscle mass decreases and is replaced with fat. Muscle tissue burns more calories than fatty tissue. This change eventually contributes to weight gain or difficulty losing weight.

Cortisol also encourages the body to re-fuel itself after responding to a stressor so that you will be ready for the next emergency. High cortisol levels encourage the body to deposit fat around the waist, keep appetite high, and create a craving for carbohydrates.

The body knows how to deal with acute stress; run or fight. The closest thing we can do to that is exercise. Unfortunately, we can't always exercise at the moment of the stressor and so the stress response builds up in our body. What we can do is build some kind of enjoyable movement into our lives.

Any movement that engages your muscles and changes the rate of your breathing will do. If you are forcing yourself to do something that you hate you are adding more stress to the situation and possibly negating the weight-loss benefits of the exercise. So find something you enjoy.

What else can you do? Relax! For anyone who needs to lose weight this may come as a surpirse. The more common message is that you need to work harder to be thinner. If these efforts are causing you stress, they may be counterproductive.

Read more on how stress affects your body weight. I highly recommend the book The Cortisol Connection - Why Stress Makes You Fat And Ruins Your Health - And What You Can Do About It.

Purchase The Cortisol Connection at Amazon

Sleep. Eight hours each night is required for most adults. This is probably the first and most important step to take - and the one most often ignored. If you are chronically sleep-deprived, you may need to sleep up to 10 hours each night for a period of time to give your body enough resources to make a shift in its metabolic processes. The Lavender/Rose Bath Tea pictured here can help you fall asleep with comfort and ease.

Minimize foods that are known to raise cortisol levels. This primarily means caffienated beverages. Two or more cups of coffee per day have been shown to consistently raise cortisol levels. Focus on eating whole foods rather than processed. Processed foods are missing the very nutrients that are needed for the adrenal glands which regulate cortisol.

Finally, I frequently prescribe nutritional supplements which can support the body in finding hormonal balance- including a normalization of cortisol levels. Supplements can also support restful sleep, the ability to unwind, blood sugar balance, and the immune system. Nutritional supplements do not replace exercise, good eating habits or stress management, but they may be the easiest step to initially incorporate into a busy life.

Teas and Bath Teas for Sleep and Relaxation