in this issue

• Stress Could Be Making You Fatter: Zone Out and Lose
• Belly Flat for Free
• What Others Are saying About From Belly Fat to Belly Fat on Amazon.com

In previous newsletters Genie and I have talked about why too much estrogen – or the condition of estrogen dominance - is the primary culprit causing you to pack those extra pounds around your middle.  Now we want to address a weight loss saboteur that almost everyone has to fight:  STRESS.  The biochemical reality is that stress impacts the production of five other hormones that can influence your metabolism, your appetite and your food cravings. 

Three of the five hormones are produced by the walnut-sized adrenal glands located on top of each kidney.  They are adrenaline, cortisol, and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA).  The other two hormones are ghrelin and leptin which are produced by a small area in the middle of the brain called the hypothalamus.  If stress has disrupted the balance of one or more of these five hormones, you will tend to always be hungry and never feel full no matter how much you eat.  The result?  More fat stored around your middle. 

Stress, Hormone Imbalance and Hunger
For years I have observed how my patients’ life stressors seemed to directly contribute to their weight gain.  Recent medical research now validates my clinical observations.  According to Tene T. Lewis, Ph.D. a health psychologist and lead researcher at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, “the pressures of a busy life can stimulate some bodies to conserve more fat.” Dr. Lewis’s team of researchers has found that, the more stressors reported, the more weight gained over four years.  This weight gain was not attributable to other variables like diet or exercise.

What are life stressors?  The list of typical stressors cited by my patients include: daily time management issues, juggling work and family, being laid off or fired, experiencing major money worries, losing a parent, going through a divorce, dealing with difficult infants, angry teenagers and/or aging parents.  Can you identify?

How does stress impact hormone levels?  When the brain perceives some form of danger, it signals the adrenal glands to pump out more of the hormone adrenaline, often referred to as the flight-or-fight hormone.  The sudden surge in adrenaline levels signal fat cells to quickly release energy.  This energy rush stimulates flight, or running away.

Once the body is out of danger, the brain continues to signal the adrenal glands that there is a temporary need to keep adrenaline levels elevated.  Higher than normal adrenaline levels cause an increase in appetite which is needed to encourage the body to eat more calories and replenish fat stores. Under acute stress situations, adrenaline levels will soon return to normal once the immediate appetite has been satisfied.

Now this brain-body hormone stimulating phenomenon served human beings very well in times when people were trying to avoid acute, or immediate, dangers like the threat of being eaten by wolves or minced up by invading armies.  Today, however, the modern person in the United States in not frequently subjected to such immediate dangers. 

Contemporary stressors like worrying about paying the mortgage, doing the jobs of three people, dealing with an unhappy marriage or grappling with ongoing parenting issues tend to be more long term. A life stressor can be considered chronic if it persists for three or more months. Instead of pumping out more adrenaline, chronic stress causes the adrenal glands to secrete more of the hormone cortisol. Because chronic stress is ongoing, high cortisol levels do not subside until the stress is removed or the adrenal glands are exhausted. 

Over time, elevated cortisol levels can wreak havoc on the body.  Sustained high cortisol levels destroy healthy muscle and bone, slow down healing and normal cell regeneration, co-opt biochemicals needed to make other vital hormones, impair digestion, dull mental processes, interfere with healthy endocrine function, and weaken your immune system. If you are stressed out, high cortisol levels will also compromise your metabolism and cement more pounds around your middle.

"Often, our response to stress today is to sit and stew in our frustration and anger, without expending any of the calories or food stores that we would if we were physically fighting our way out of stress or danger," says Shawn Talbott, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Nutrition at the University of Utah and author of The Cortisol Connection. Moreover, Pamela Peeke, M.D., author of Body For Life tells us that, “Chronic stress can cause the body’s cortisol levels to remain persistently elevated.  This then causes a feeling of being constantly hungry.”

In addition, when the adrenals are chronically overworked and straining to maintain high cortisol levels, they lose the capacity to produce DHEA in sufficient amounts. DHEA is a precursor hormone to estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone, and is necessary to moderate the balance of hormones in your body. When DHEA is produced at optimal levels, it functions to promote the loss of body fat. Double-blind clinical trials have found 100 mg per day of DHEA to be effective in decreasing body fat in older men.   Conversely, when the body’s DHEA levels are insufficient, body fat is more difficult to budge.

Are You Doomed To Be Both Stressed and Fat?

“Absolutely not,” says my co-author (and wife) Genie James.  “The first step is awareness that stress can sabotage your weight loss efforts.  The second step is taking responsibility for managing your stress in a more healthy and productive way.”

“Let’s start with awareness. If you are living in the U.S. today and are not living in a silent hermitage, my guess is that your life has its stressors.  On our website, www.hormonewell.com, we offer a Life Stress Questionnaire that quantifies how your particular life stressors, combined with your coping strategies (or lack of), are putting you at risk you for a stress-related hormone imbalance.”

“So you find out that you are at moderate to high risk of a stress-related hormone imbalance and weight gain.  Now what?  Let me suggest three basic steps:

1.  If you are a woman over 30 or a man over 40, odds are you are estrogen dominant (this is the theme of our book FROM BELLY FAT TO BELLY FLAT or refer to previous blogs or go on our website for a more in-depth explanation of estrogen dominance, www.hormonewell.com). The condition of estrogen dominant sets you up to be mentally and emotionally tense, moody and volatile which will compromise your ability to manage your stress in a healthy way. Take a first basic step to restore your optimal hormone balance by using bio-identical progesterone cream.  Again, we have Dr. Randolph’s Natural Balance Cream available on our website.  We also recommend several other brands that Dr. Randolph has reviewed for content and quality in both our books.
   
   
2. Eat a diet that will help you eliminate that extra estrogen naturally.  Our Belly Flat Nutritional Program does just that.  In a nutshell, our belly-blaster foods are cruciferous vegetables (like broccoli, cauliflower, spinach), citrus fruits (oranges, grapefruits, tangelos), insoluble fibers (oats and whole grains) and lignans (flaxseed, flaxseed oil and sesame seeds). We also recommend nutritional supplements to support optimal hormone balance, including 7-Keto DHEA and adrenal support formulas.   Danger foods:  caffeine, alcohol, foods high in saturated fats (like processed meats, pastries) and the white group (white flour foods, white sugar).  Because you need a balanced diet, we also tell you how much protein and calcium you should eat with every meal.
   
   
3. Zone out and watch those pounds start to melt away.  Find 30 minutes a day to do something just for you.  We don’t have a life stress eraser.  The fact is that the things in life that stress you out are probably not going to ever all go away so perhaps a better idea is to change how you cope with stress.  We have found that often when a woman (or man) simply decides to take 30 minutes a day to do something for themselves, their mental and emotional sense of calmness increases. Exercise is great but sometimes just getting quiet will help lower your cortisol levels. Choose something that appeals to you:  yoga, walking, swimming, meditating, basketball hoops, taking a bubble bath, listening to Mozart or Bruce Springsteen on your iPod.”   

Genie concludes: “My personal mantra is that “Joy is the daughter of Calm” and, when I zone out 30 minutes a day, I know that I am not only doing my best to keep my sanity in this crazy world, I am also tuning in to thin up my waistline. You can do the same thing.  How cool is that?”

We Wish You Well and Buff!

C.W. Randolph, Jr., M.D. and Genie James, M.M.Sc.
Co-Authors of From Belly Fat to Belly Flat &
Co-Founders of The Natural Hormone Institute of America

Dr. Randolph is a practicing gynecologist and an internationally recognized expert in the field of in bio-identical hormone replacement. He is the Medical Director for the The Natural Hormone Institute of America and is also the author of From Hormone Hell to Hormone Well as well as From Belly Fat to Belly Flat.

* Please Note: Because legally we are unable to provide prescriptions for telephone consultation patients unless they have been previously seen in my office, should you require a prescription for a more comprehensive panel of bio-identical hormone replacement, my nurse practitioner will advise you how to locate a physician and compounding pharmacy in your area.