Does cortisol contribute to belly and midsection fat?

peachvine29
peachvine29 Posts: 400 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have heard this. I hold my weight in my midsection and am wondering if reducing stress could help with losing this fat. I am only 10 pounds from goal or so but still have a lot of fat on my belly, sides, and back in general. I know I am high stress in general and being less stressed would benefit me anyway!

Replies

  • ladyreva78
    ladyreva78 Posts: 4,080 Member
    From what I've read, there's some correlation between high cortisol levels and visceral fat accumulation. Altought, most of the studies I've seen where retrospective cohort studies, so really, only correlation.

    Working on being less stressed sounds more like an all round good deal. So I'd say it's worth a try :wink:
  • cmarangi
    cmarangi Posts: 131 Member
    I've also read about studies that say high cortisol release correlates with "belly fat." Being stressed does release cortisol and it's hard on your body, so no harm trying to lower that. I've also seen lots of anecdotal examples on these boards saying that belly fat is the last to go, so there's that as well.

    Keep in mind though (which I am telling myself as well) that as women we normally do not have a completely flat belly area. We have structures in there which can contribute to that rounded look. And those structures contribute to the awesomeness of the female body and how it works!

    Keep working but love yourself during the process! Good job being 10 pounds from goal.

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