Cortisol Archives

August 22, 2024 By Shagufta Raza 4 Comments

This Is How Stress Affects Your Waistline

Have you been regular with your daily exercises and have maintained a healthy diet but you’re still not able to get rid of those extra inches on your waistline? Much to your surprise, the major reason for this may be stress! Yes! Stress! This can be the criminal putting those extra notches on your belt. Well you would say who doesn’t have stress these days? And you are right! Feeling stressed is an increasingly common problem. As long as the graph is small in height, it is fine. But how is it that stress affects your waistline? Let’s find out!

What happens when we feel Stressed?

When we are stressed, our body goes into “fight or flight mode”. Stress hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol, are released to help us respond to the ‘danger’, our heart pumps faster, muscles contract and our senses become sharper. Too much stress can constantly have our body in fight or flight mode and that can be a problem.

In limited doses, stress helps us stay focused, energetic and alert. But high levels of stress can lead to feeling anxious, depressed and result in many medical concerns like cardiovascular issues, damage to the immune system, Type 2 Diabetes and cause weight issues as well, to name a few.

How Stress Affects Your Waistline

Glycogen is the energy stored in our liver, primarily sourced from carbohydrates. When cortisol is released, glycogen is released to give us extra energy to ‘get away from stressful situations’.

We have glycogen receptors in our body and they are increased when we face high levels of stress, especially the ones located around our abdomen to protect our vital organs. Glycogen is being released to provide energy, but if not utilized, it is stored around our waistline, causing the inches to rise.

When stress levels increase, so does the production of the stress hormone, cortisol.

And you unknowingly start facing the following:

Making bad food choices and increasing the fat cells in the body.
The stress hormone cortisol can lead to sugar levels dropping down and makes you less sensitive to insulin.
Increases the appetite which gives you those hunger pangs. Which means you are more likely to reach out to burgers or pizzas which are calorie dense junk foods that quickly satisfy your hunger and you feel good. Hence, stress can cause you to eat more than required.
Constant high levels of stress can cause increased levels of fat cells and the rate at which the body stores fat also goes up which leads to weight gain.

How Can You Control It?

Indulge in Exercise: It’s the best way to relax your body and mind
Take a few deep breaths: It can take the pressure off you right away
Balanced meal: Consult your GOQii Coach to help you make right food choices. Never skip a meal as it can actually worsen the situation
Say no to caffeine: Since it increases the production of the stress hormone.
Drink plenty of water: Dehydration can cause increased production of cortisol
Avoid processed foods: They can affect your gut microbiome, stress response and energy levels
Sleep well: Sleep deprivation and chronic stress can play havoc with the production of the stress hormone.

We hope this article on how stress affects your waistline helps you! Do leave your thoughts in the comments below. For more on stress management, check out Healthy Reads or ask a GOQii Coach by subscribing for Personalised Health Coaching here.

#BeTheForce

Disclaimer: The information provided in this blog is for general awareness and educational purposes only. It is not intended to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider for personalised medical guidance or concerns related to your health.

August 20, 2024 By Rashmi Deshpande 8 Comments

5 Hormones That Have a Big Impact on Your Health

Ever experienced a sudden mood swing? Or, have you been dealing with a lot of fatigue or sleepless nights? Your body undergoes many changes from birth to adolescence and into adulthood. Most of these changes, both physical and mental, are regulated by the hormones present in our body.

Hormones are the chemical messengers of our body. They travel through our bloodstream and hold the key to optimum health. In essence, they affect metabolism, sexual function, reproduction, growth and development and even our mood.

A better understanding of the hormones that influence our well-being and how to activate them will help us live better and healthier lives.

Let’s take a closer look!

1. Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH)

We are quite familiar with this hormone nowadays! It is a pituitary hormone that stimulates the thyroid gland to produce thyroxine T4 and triiodothyronine T3, which stimulate the metabolism of almost every tissue in our body.

Abnormalities in this hormone can manifest as sudden weight gain, weight loss, dry skin, mood swings, severe sensitivity to cold or heat, depression with weak metabolism, and even an enlarged gland in the form of goiter.

The abnormalities in this hormone can be effectively managed with lifestyle modification, medication, yoga, exercises, and regular checkups of hormone. It has mainly two types: Hypo & Hyper. The Normal range is:

TSH: 0.5 – 4.15 mU/L
T4: 6 – 12 ug/dL
T3: 240 – 280 ug/dL

2. Insulin

“Hey! I am on insulin!”

At some point, we have all heard this from a diabetic person. Insulin is released by the pancreas, a leaf-like gland situated in the abdominal cavity behind the stomach. It regulates the body’s glucose or sugar levels, which are derived from carbohydrates.

It also allows the body to store and utilize glucose for energy. When insulin is released into the bloodstream, it can cause either hyper or hypo glycemia.

Abnormalities in insulin levels can lead to weight gain or weight loss, frequent urination, constant hunger, fatigue, wounds taking longer to heal, etc. These changes are due to insulin either not being produced in sufficient quantity or not functioning properly.

The most effective treatment include lifestyle modifications, healthy eating habits, staying active, managing stress and medication. The referred range is:

Random blood glucose: 70 – 100 mg/dl
Fasting: 70 – 110 mg/dl
After meals: <140 mg/dl

3. Cortisol (Stress Hormone)

There’s a fair chance that every second person you meet might be stressed! The stress hormone, called Cortisol, is produced by the adrenal gland. It helps us stay healthy and energetic. Its main role is to control physical and psychological stress.

Excess secretion of cortisol causes a number of side effects such as increased heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, sweating, and shivering. At stressful times, the body secretes cortisol to help cope with the situation. High level of cortisol consistently can lead to ulcers, high blood pressure, anxiety, high levels of cholesterol, etc.

Similarly, low levels of cortisol in the body causes weakness, fatigue and low blood pressure. This can be managed by sharing your feelings, meditating, pursuing hobbies, listening to music, spending time with family, going on vacations, prayers, and, if necessary, psychiatric treatment with medication.

4. Sex Hormones

This hormone are categorized into male and female hormones:

Testosterone: This is the primary male sex hormone. An anabolic steroid by nature, it helps in building body muscles. In males, it plays an important role in the development of male reproductive tissues like the testes and prostate. It also promotes secondary sexual characteristics like increased muscle and bone mass, body hair growth, etc. If testosterone secretion is insufficient in men, then it may lead to abnormalities, including frailty and bone loss. This can be treated with medication.
Progesterone: This hormone is produced in the ovaries, the placenta and the adrenal glands when a woman gets pregnant. It stimulates and regulates various functions. Progesterone plays an important role in maintaining pregnancy by helping the body prepare for conception, pregnancy and regulating the monthly cycle. When pregnancy doesn’t occur, progesterone levels drop, and menstrual cycle occurs. It also plays a role in sexual desire. Any abnormalities can be treated with home remedies and medication.

5. Serotonin

We all need this happy hormone during stressful days! It is associated with learning and memory, sleep regulation, digestion, mood regulation, some muscular functions, etc. An imbalance in this hormone may affect the brain’s ability to control stress levels and mood effectively.

Low level of serotonin can lead to depression, migraines, weight gain, insomnia, carbohydrate cravings, etc. Excess levels of serotonin in the body causes agitation, stage of confusion, sedation, etc.

After learning about the 5 hormones which are essential for good health, it is clear that the key to keeping them in balance is healthy eating, an active lifestyle, and good rest with meditation. Make sure to check with your doctor for any imbalances or irregularities in your hormones and take the necessary actions as suggested by your doctor. For further information or guidance, reach out to our certified experts by subscribing to GOQii’s Personalised Health Coaching here.

Do share your thoughts and queries in the comments below!

Be balanced! Be happy! #BeTheForce!

January 4, 2024 By Trishala Chopra 3 Comments

How much cardio should you do?

CARDIO- The only form of exercise which has grabbed everybody’s attention and why not, almost all the common activities are a form of cardiovascular exercise.

Whenever I ask someone about what exercise you do throughout the day- their reply is mostly WALKING. Hours of walking sometimes.

So, what does cardio include?

Walking (As already mentioned above)
Running
Swimming
Cycling
Aqua-aerobics
Aerobics
Zumba
Rowing
Boxing

I have seen people concentrating only on cardio exercises for years without any change in their routine. Some people consider themselves to be fit with simply walking.

Fitness is measured by different things and not just your overall structure.

As a part of your fitness routine, these 3 components are very important which is as follows: –

Cardiovascular exercises
Strength training exercises
Flexibility exercises

None of the components can be skipped.

All these 3 components are very important for a proper fitness regime.

The question which I always get is (which also became an idea to write this article) how much cardio should I do?

And my answer is (Always), you should actually ask how much of these 3 components I should do?

Well, I will be covering all these 3 components in 3 separate articles so for now, I will be concentrating on cardio.

So, going back to the question which I always get, I wish I had an answer to that which could be as simple as

Do 60 minutes a day or maybe 150 minutes a week!

But being a healthcare professional, I cannot give a generic answer.

In fact, that question has no specific answer.

The amount of cardio which should be done completely depends upon these 4 factors: – (Ps: – Please read all the factors before you come to a conclusion for yourself)

(1) It depends on what you are aiming at.

Well, not everybody needs weight loss! Some people might be looking for muscle gain while someone else might need to run a marathon.

So, does that mean all of them will be doing 150 minutes of cardio per week?

Definitely not!

Along with the aim, you also need to know about your metabolism.

Metabolism is the rate at which your body needs calories while resting.

So, for a person who wants to lose weight will probably be needing a lot of cardio but for someone who wants to build muscle- the amount of cardio which you require completely depends on your metabolism. If you have a fast metabolism then you don’t need any cardio but if your metabolism is slow then you need to do some amount of cardio.

Someone who is into different sports like shot put or powerlifting or sprinting might require very little cardio.

Why am I targeting these 2 categories first?

It is because losing weight and gaining muscles are totally different things to talk about. For your body as well, it becomes a very confusing state because the body cannot do 2 things simultaneously. However, with proper training, it does become possible sometimes.

Then, what about fat loss? How much cardio should one do?

If losing weight is your only goal then it is okay to put your focus more on cardio and neglect the muscle gain part.

You just work on not losing muscles while you are losing your fat.

This can be achieved by 2 times a week strength training and adequate proteins in your diet.

What If someone is a marathoner? How much cardio should one do?

It also includes a good amount of cardio and minimum strength training but flexibility here is very important. It can all be divided throughout the week with a focus more on cardio and other endurance sports.

Although I don’t like putting anything in a restricted way I guess I can do with sharing some guidelines about the first factor which I have discussed in brief above so that it becomes easier for everyone to understand.

Building muscle + Fast metabolism = No cardio
Building muscle + Slow metabolism = 2-4 days per week with about 20-30 minutes every day.
Losing fat = 5-6 times per week with about 45-60 minutes every day
Marathoner= 4-6 times per week with about 30-60 minutes every day

*This is very generic; the requirement might differ in each person but this can be used as a guideline to work upon.

(2) State of your hormones

Well, the most common problem which most of us are facing is WEIGHT GAIN or UNABLE TO LOSE THE EXISTING WEIGHT which ultimately makes you hit the gym and your trainer will suggest you do cardio. He or she will decide the plan and everyone blindly follows that plan. But, do you think everybody needs exactly the same amount of cardio?

When your weight becomes a problem the hormone which comes into the picture is CORTISOL.

Cortisol is a hormone which is released all the time in the body but most commonly it reaches its peak under extreme stress. When the stress is often short-term like some assignment to complete or some exams to give then the graph of cortisol keeps fluctuating but when the stress becomes long term which goes on for months and years then the gland which produces cortisol is adrenal glands that starts burning out which means there won’t be enough cortisol which is produced. Well, none of this is good. Neither LOW nor HIGH. Everything goes well in balance.

So now that was about the theory, let’s understand how to practically apply it.

Symptoms of cortisol imbalance: –

Rapid weight gain
Muscle weakness
Chronic fatigue
Mood swings
Anxiety
Depression
Confusion
Insomnia
Fluctuating sugar levels

How to know about your cortisol imbalance?

It is important to do a stress test first and then go for the lab reports and get your 8 am cortisol checked.
Visit an endocrinologist with your reports.

How much cardio should you do if your cortisol levels are not up to the mark?

Under 60% of your maximal heart rate.

How to calculate your maximal heart rate?

220 – your age= maximal heart rate

For example: –

Person who is 40 years of age,

220-40= 180 (Maximal heart rate)

60% of 180 = 108 beats per minute.

You should not cross 108 beats per minute while doing cardio in any case.
You must strictly monitor it and get yourself a personal trainer/coach who can help you understand this.

Why are we discussing cortisol imbalance and what is the reason behind reducing your cardio activities in such cases?

All the exercise puts the body into some stress. This stress can affect stimulation of different hormones.
When you do steady cardio like a treadmill or cycling your body increases cortisol and reduces other hormones like growth hormone.
When you do interval training your body increases cortisol and growth hormone
When you do strength training with moderate repetition and sets your body increases growth hormone and cortisol by a small margin.
When you do strength training with heavy repetition and sets your body increases testosterone (Which is mostly seen in bodybuilders)

I have given you an in-depth reason here so that you can understand that doing cardio under any stress will increase the complication even more and will do no good to your body.

So before getting into intense workouts, check your cortisol levels.

If everything is okay then you can do the cardio as discussed above.

(3) Depends on your intensity

Whenever I try getting the history about exercises, I get to hear this very often: –

” I do cardio for about 1 and half hours in the gym but I am not getting any results “

” I walk for about 2 hours a day, one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening but I don’t think it is helping”

Well, the basic point to this is,

YOUR DURATION DOESN’T MATTER.

WHAT MATTERS IS- YOUR INTENSITY.

You can work out for just like 15 minutes and still get the same effect as you might get it from longer duration.

Since a couple of months, I often see people talking about high-intensity workouts, low-intensity workouts. I was actually very curious to know their definition of these workouts. I was actually very surprised to know that out of 10 people not even 2 of them knew what exactly it is. They were talking about it because they read it on the internet or their trainer told or something else. You don’t need to be a doctor or personal trainer or a certified health expert. You as a common man to have the rights to know, after all, you are the one who is actually, going to follow that advice. Well, writing this article in this depth is just for everyone to understand the basics behind all the theories which are coming up.

So, coming back to the theory behind intensity.

What is a low-intensity workout?

Under 60% of your maximal heart rate (How to calculate it is mentioned above) is a low-intensity workout.
These intensity workouts will not increase the endurance but do have relaxation benefits.

What is moderate intensity workout?

In between 60-85% of your maximal heart rate is moderate intensity workout.
This is a basic workout if your goal is to lose fats.
Start with 3-4 times per week and for 30-45 minutes
This is just about cardio however in this routine strength training is also required which will be covered in the upcoming article.

What is a high-intensity workout?

Anything above 85% of your maximal heart rate is high-intensity workout
This can be maintained only for about 1-4 minutes before your speed drops and then gradually goes ahead.
Start with 2-3 times per week for about 20 minutes.
This course will include proper strength training also which will be covered in upcoming article

Note: – High-intensity workout is not suggested for anybody who has not done any cardio exercises for past 4 months, for someone who has serious cardiac issues. Please consult your doctor before getting into these kinds of workout. Inform your coach and coaches too can take this as a basic part of history taking.

(4) Depends upon how well your response to cardio exercises.

As I mentioned in the beginning of the article, every individual is different and there is no same answer to HOW MUCH CARDIO YOU SHOULD DO?
It all depends on your responses which can vary from person to person
I can simply guess that maybe you require this much workout but I am never sure about it unless I check the response for minimum 15 days.

My players always ask me that why do I give the workouts for 15 days and then think so much for the next set of workouts. Sometimes it so happens that I refuse to change the workout and make then repeat it for 15 days. I know it’s annoying, like very annoying but it is better than any serious injury. Unless I am sure about the responses and progress I do not go ahead in case of workouts.

This article only gives you insights about CARDIO but your workout routine is incomplete with strength training and flexibility.

My next blog is HOW MUCH STRENGTH TRAINING YOU NEED TO DO?.

We hope this article helps you. For further information or guidance, reach out to our certified experts by subscribing to GOQii’s Personalised Health Coaching here.

#BeTheForce

October 6, 2023 By Satish Kurapaty Leave a Comment

All you want to know about hormonal imbalance and weight issues

This is a topic that is on most people’s minds but never knew where to get their answers and solutions.

Have you wondered why sometimes despite a healthy diet and regular exercise, many individuals gain weight especially between the ages of 35 and 55. This is often caused by a hormonal imbalance.

At every stage of life body goes through various hormonal changes. Your hormones control every aspect of weight loss including your metabolism, where you store your fat, your appetite and even your cravings. This means any form of hormonal imbalance will sabotage your efforts – regardless of your diet and exercise habits.

Extra belly fat can indicate one or more of the following hormonal imbalances: high estrogen, low testosterone, high cortisol. Abdominal fat also sets a risky stage for aging, increasing the risk of chronic health diseases like heart disorders and diabetes. To get rid of this stubborn fat, one must include proper diet, exercise, sleep and, of course, motivation.

Hormones

Cortisol
Testosterone
Estrogen
Progesterone

Cortisol – Normally, it’s present in the body at higher levels in the morning, and at its lowest at night. Although stress isn’t the only reason that cortisol is secreted into the bloodstream, it has been termed “the stress hormone” because it’s also secreted in higher levels during the body’s response to fight stress, and is responsible for several stress-related changes in the body.

To keep cortisol levels healthy and under control, the body’s relaxation response should be activated after the fight or flight response occurs. You can make lifestyle changes in order to keep your body from reacting to stress in the future.

Testosterone – Testosterone is the main male hormone, produced in the testes, which stimulates the development of male sex characteristics (like body hair and muscle growth) and is essential in the production of sperm. Low levels of testosterone can cause male infertility. Testosterone is also produced in smaller amounts by the ovaries in women.

Estrogen – Estrogen is a hormone secreted primarily by the ovaries, but it is also secreted by the adrenal glands and from fatty tissues. While we often refer to estrogen as a hormone alone, estrogens are actually a group of like hormones, which include estrone, estradiol and estriol. Estrogen affects the body in many ways, but its main duty in the female reproductive system is to signal to the lining of the uterus, the endometrium, to grow. Estrogen is also responsible for the increase in fertile cervical mucus and increased sexual desire that comes just before ovulation.

Progesterone – This hormone is naturally produced by both males and females, however its level in females is at peak during menstruation and pregnancy. This hormone helps people to both maintain a healthy body weight and avoid weight gain by limiting the production of excess fat, and may also reduce the food cravings caused by hormonal imbalance. Also, Progesterone typically increases a person’s metabolism which can help facilitate weight loss.

People should be careful while taking any hormone tabs. These should be taken only under medical guidance.

If this article helped you, let us know your thoughts in the comments below! Find more articles on weight loss here or get these tips directly from a GOQii Coach by subscribing to Personalised Health Coaching here.

#BeTheForce

5 Hormones That Have a Big Impact on Your Health

1. Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH)

2. Insulin

3. Cortisol (Stress Hormone)

4. Sex Hormones

5. Serotonin

How much cardio should you do?

All you want to know about hormonal imbalance and weight issues

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