Cortisol causes weight gain?

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MelaniaMadison
MelaniaMadison Posts: 33
in Health and Weight Loss
A story:

My friend Jen was in a bad car accident and broke both ankles. Her recovery and recuperation took over a year as she needed multiple surgeries. Physical therapy was also painful. Over that year she put on 30lbs even though she was barely eating. She felt like everytime she ate something it stuck to her. Granted, she was sedentary BUT shed always been sedentary had a desk job etc. Its not like she was athletic beforehand. She had very little appetite as well, but kept puting on weight.

Well her therapist told her that during that year, her cortisol level were probably very high and that "when cortisol levels are high, you could eat 1200 cals/day of grilled chicken and spinach and still not lose weight". She said cortisol level increase with injuries/pain as well.

Is this true? can massive stress and anxiety really prevent weight loss and increase weight gain?
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Replies

  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    can massive stress and anxiety really prevent weight loss and increase weight gain?

    No.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    You know what causes weight gain? Eating more calories than you burn. Your friend wasn't burning much, and she was eating more than you think.

    Please, read the Sexypants post: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-Sexypants
  • MelaniaMadison
    MelaniaMadison Posts: 33
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    You know what causes weight gain? Eating more calories than you burn. Your friend wasn't burning much, and she was eating more than you think.

    Please, read the Sexypants post: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-Sexypants

    thanks, what a great read! very helpful
    Well, I agree with it in general. But for my friend, the reasons he was at the therapists talking about this issue was bc she went on a meal delivery weight loss program where she was eating only 1500 cals day and wasnt losing
  • Supertact
    Supertact Posts: 466 Member
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    You know what causes weight gain? Eating more calories than you burn. Your friend wasn't burning much, and she was eating more than you think.

    Please, read the Sexypants post: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-Sexypants

    thanks, what a great read! very helpful
    Well, I agree with it in general. But for my friend, the reasons he was at the therapists talking about this issue was bc she went on a meal delivery weight loss program where she was eating only 1500 cals day and wasnt losing

    People lie.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    Does cortisol, which is a stress hormone, suppress weight loss? Yes.

    Is that minor compared to eating and exercise? Yes.

    People worry about all these dumb minor factors like when they eat and stress and sleep. Yeah, controlling for everything else they make a difference. But NOTHING like calories, food composition, and exercise.
  • TerraJanuary
    TerraJanuary Posts: 5 Member
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    Well, I believe it. My doctor said so, anyway. Case in point, Cushing's Syndrome is a disease of the adrenal glands (which produce cortisol) that causes not only weight gain, but specific fatty deposits around the midsection and upper back (among other places).
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
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    Elevated cortisol can cause quite a bit of water retention but that usually disappears when cortisol returns to normal. I'm guessing her complete lack of physical activity led to much of her gain. I also find that when people don't have much of an appetite, what they tend to eat is calorie dense foods. If you are laid up on a couch all day and eat enough ice cream and cookies, even though it appears you aren't eating much, you may very well be in a caloric surplus.
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
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    Well, I believe it. My doctor said so, anyway. Case in point, Cushing's Syndrome is a disease of the adrenal glands (which produce cortisol) that causes not only weight gain, but specific fatty deposits around the midsection and upper back (among other places).
    Cushing's disease is a total different situation then what the OP presented. Your comparing apples to Volkswagens.
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
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    You know what causes weight gain? Eating more calories than you burn. Your friend wasn't burning much, and she was eating more than you think.

    Please, read the Sexypants post: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-Sexypants

    thanks, what a great read! very helpful
    Well, I agree with it in general. But for my friend, the reasons he was at the therapists talking about this issue was bc she went on a meal delivery weight loss program where she was eating only 1500 cals day and wasnt losing

    People lie.

    "and people don't get what they want; they just get what they get...there's nothing any of us can do about it"
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
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    Well, I believe it. My doctor said so, anyway. Case in point, Cushing's Syndrome is a disease of the adrenal glands (which produce cortisol) that causes not only weight gain, but specific fatty deposits around the midsection and upper back (among other places).
    Cushing's disease is a total different situation then what the OP presented. Your comparing apples to Volkswagens.

    I don't know what exactly Cushing Syndrome should show as symptom...
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    You know what causes weight gain? Eating more calories than you burn. Your friend wasn't burning much, and she was eating more than you think.

    Please, read the Sexypants post: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-Sexypants

    thanks, what a great read! very helpful
    Well, I agree with it in general. But for my friend, the reasons he was at the therapists talking about this issue was bc she went on a meal delivery weight loss program where she was eating only 1500 cals day and wasnt losing

    People lie.

    Or they are eating more than they think. A lot of times, people don't understand how huge of a difference it is between using measuring cups versus a food scale. And a lot of times, people aren't consistent with monitoring their intake as they think or let on.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    The other point - you say 1500 calories like that's a magically low number anyone would lose on.

    I am 5'10" and run around a decent amount for a 50 pound woman. To lose 1 pound a week, MFP set me - by the end - to 1230 calories. I only started at 1370. I was set to sedentary and ate my calories back for exercise. But my point is, I wouldn't have lost anything on 1500 calories. That isn't extraordinarily low for a sedentary person. You don't need another explanation.
  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
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    Water retention due to stress levels being elevated potentially, but not actual weight gain. Once your hormones balance off it will dissipate.
  • parkscs
    parkscs Posts: 1,639 Member
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    If you're going to be accurate, yes it can cause weight gain. The people saying it can't almost certainly intend to say that it cannot cause fat gain, which is true cortisol in and of itself would not, but weight gain is not the same as fat gain.
  • AsaThorsWoman
    AsaThorsWoman Posts: 2,303 Member
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    Also... it's worth noting that 2.5lb per month weight gain is not horrible for the situation described, that's really only 2.5 lb gained per month for the whole year, with very special circumstances and understandable conditions.

    I bet she can knock it off faster than she gained it.

    :drinker:
  • DrFlave
    DrFlave Posts: 59 Member
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    Over that year she put on 30lbs even though she was barely eating.

    That's impossible. Stress, anxiety, cortisol, etc. is not going to grab energy out of thin air and magically store it as body fat.
  • parkscs
    parkscs Posts: 1,639 Member
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    If you're going to be accurate, yes it can cause weight gain. The people saying it can't almost certainly intend to say that it cannot cause fat gain, which is true cortisol in and of itself would not, but weight gain is not the same as fat gain.
    Semantics

    It's a bit more than that, again, if you want to be accurate. Cortisol can absolutely lead to your weight going up, which is the metric people tend to track most often (oftentimes reading way too much into the number on the scale). Saying that cortisol cannot influence weight is misinformation, and given that water retention caused by elevated cortisol levels can sometimes mask fat loss on the scale, I'd say it's a fairly relevant topic to some people on the forums. Treating weight loss/gain as synonymous with fat loss/gain only contributes to people overreacting to the number on their scale.
  • Nikkisfitblog
    Nikkisfitblog Posts: 149 Member
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    Alright you guys that are like calories in/ calories out. Gunna have disagree with you when it comes to hormones. Hormones determine everything, your metabolism, your weight loss and gain, to being able to menstrate. If for instance you have been in a prolonged bout of stress, your body has evolutionary tactic to cope...it goes into fight or flight mode... constant stress = constant cortisol and adrenaline and it can actually cause entire hormone systems to shut down (or at least not perform ideally), particualry in woman, woman very commonly suffer from stress induced amenorrhea where calorie intakes and expenditure are controlled (yes in scientific research).

    For those who are like then where does the fat come from if you are not consuming extra calories, one the metaolism is damaged and uses calories in a less optimal way = eg. storing fat, also less effort is put into making other parts of the body, nails and hair become weak, bone denisty drops (esp. ini post menapuasal woman, but even in woman who have been without period for several years...become at risk of osteoporous).

    Im sure im going to get a heap of hate for this. But calories when hormones are concerned is never black and white!

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