The Cortisol Connection: Why Stress Makes You Fat and Ruins Your Health — And What You Can Do About It

by Shawn Talbott, William J. Kraemer (Foreword)

Why does stress make you fat? What can you ultimately do about it? Shawn Talbott answered these questions in THE CORTISOL CONNECTION.

Cortisol is the body's main stress hormone, prompting our fight or flight mechanism when dealing with a highly stressful situation, like being chased by a lion. However, the human body was made to deal with short bursts of stress (like being chased by a lion), not prolonged, continuous levels of stress (like mortgage payments, project deadlines, and traffic jams). This kind of stress causes the body's cortisol levels to rise, and scientific research has shown that high cortisol levels are associated with obesity, diabetes, fatigue, and even Alzheimer's disease.

This new edition describes the results of the latest research about the connection between cortisol and HSD, and cortisol and testosterone. If we keep cortisol and HSD and testosterone within normal ranges, we're able to maximize the metabolic effect of diet and exercise regimen – and improve weight loss.

In the first edition, Talbott introduced his SENSE program, that teaches participants how to manage stress and reduce cortisol levels. The program has been refined in the second edition with the help of the new research and the results of Talbott's test of the SENSE program over the past 5 years – he know it works. For the past 5 years, he has been actively researching (and refining and tweaking) this popular program to make it more and more effective in helping people to lose weight.

SENSE is a program that combines Stress management, Exercise, Nutrition, Supplementation, and Evaluation into a comprehensive and highly effective (yet easy to follow) program that delivers results. During these 5 years, Talbott has combined different dietary approaches with varied exercise regimens and myriad supplement combinations – until finding just the right combination that works best for the majority of people.

This edition contains 25% new material and a revised program to help everyone manage cortisol, stress, and their weight.

Genres: Health, Nonfiction, Psychology, Self Help, Medical, Brain, Nutrition

324 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting enough to finish in a day, but again, nothing mind-blowing.

[Dumitru Moraru · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cortizolul e un cuvânt nu chiar plăcut, pentru că ne duce gândul la stres. Corect, cortizolul e hormonul stresului. Dar atât timp cât acest hormon e în limite normale, nu avem pentru ce să ne îngrijorăm. Dacă nivelul lui crește peste normal o perioadă mai îndelungată, atunci apar tot felul de probleme. Atunci când suntem expuși la stres, fizic sau emoțional, are loc o cascadă de evenimente care modifică metabolismul în multe feluri. Stresul cronic are un efect dăunător asupra sănătății pe termen lung precum boli gastrointestinale, diferite disfuncții, metabolism dereglat, probleme cu sistemul imunitar/cardiovascular/nervos etc, arată cercetările. Organismul se poate descurca de minune cu stresul acut și anume prin exerciții. Pentru contracararea efectelor stresului cronic e nevoie de altă abordare, de soluții mai profunde.

Deci, care e rolul cortizolului? El e necesar pentru refacerea rezervelor de energie după situații de stres. Una din funcții e stimularea eliberării de glucoză, grăsimi și aminoacizi pentru producerea energiei. Autorul descrie amănunțit despre rolul cortizolului, modul cum afectează organismul în general atunci când e expus la stres cronic. Teorie este din plin, deși partea bună e că există și soluții practice.

Atunci când suferim de stres cronic, autorul pune accent pe somn, nutriție, exerciții fizice, suplimente și evitarea/controlul stresului. Acestea constituie prima linie de apărare! Apropo, alcoolul și cofeina nu sunt o soluție, deși o grămadă apelează la ele.
A doua linie de apărare constă din vitamine și minerale cum ar fi vitamina C, magneziu, complexul vitamina B, calciu. Acestea sunt utile pentru adaptare la stres.

Nutriționistul scrie ce produse și suplimente să evităm, dar și enumeră suplimentele ce pot normaliza nivelul acestui hormon. Atunci când trecem printr-o perioadă foarte intensă de stres, se apelează pentru o perioadă scurtă la adaptogeni gen ginseng, ashwaganda, rhodiola etc. Găsim suplimente de relaxare și calmare pentru combaterea insomniei, depresiei și stresului cum ar fi ceaiuri de plante, melatonina, valeriana, sunătoarea etc. Autorul recomandă să folosim temporar si alte suplimente pentru controlul glicemiei (crom, vanadiu etc), pentru menținerea masei musculare, pentru stimularea sistemului imunitar (echinacea, vitamina C, seleniu, probiotice/prebiotice, zinc și altele).

Totul e scris detaliat, poate chiar prea detaliat, ceea ce poate fi cam obositor de citit. Limbajul e ok, e multă teorie științifică, dar nu pot să spun că e total neprietenos cu cititorul. Un alt dezavantaj al cărții e că sunt tratate superficial metodele de relaxare altele decât exercițiile fizice. A menționat în treacăt plimbări, citirea unei cărți, muzică. Aș fi dorit să pună mai mult accent pe metodele de control al stresului, de descărcare sub aspect psiho-emoțional.

[Katie Gendel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting overview of how cortisol affects the body, especially around stress and weight. Some of the information felt dated and pretty basic if you’ve already read about stress physiology, but the sections on supplements and herbal remedies were useful.

[Strivetoengage · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book Cortisol Connection by Shawn Talbott is an interesting read and he suggests that one keeps a food and mood diary for 7 to 10 days to record every bite eaten (including time of day) and mood and energy levels before and afterwards. I did this for about 4 weeks and it helped me to remove sugar and grains from my diet. Part-way through the book I realised that Talbott’s agenda was not so much to enlighten as to proselytise about his special approach (and make money). He is a strong advocate of dietary supplementation.

I first posted this as part of a blog post: https://strivetoengage.wordpress.com/...

[Louise Mathewson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book for aging issues, including weight, sleep, fatigue, etc. and how stress can make us lose our health. Includes information on supplements to help modulate cortisol in our systems.

[Deanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like I already knew a lot of the information in this book but Talbots does a great job at illustrating how stress impacts our health and the different factors that contribute to lowering cortisol. He gives a lot of resources and explains why they work and goes really deep into them. He also provides examples and plans for starting your own regimen that’s helpful for those who don’t know where to start.

[Michael MacRae · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Cortisol Connection was ahead of its time. The first half explains in the most simple ways how Cortisol works, what the implications are, and how it affects you. The second half is more like your average health YouTuber content: Throwing a ton of general guidance into a program to help people succeed… with weight loss. Whilst some of the recommendations are disproven by now, this is a fantastic starting point to learn.

[Kiran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting deep-dive into cortisol and how it works in the body, what to do when it goes awry, etc. Parts of this felt very dated, and a lot of the information was rather elementary if you've studied stress and it's impact on the body at all. However, the information on various herbal remedies and supplements was very interesting and useful.

[Danice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well presented information about the connection between cortisol and a healthy weight. Tying in the phenomenon of "adrenal fatigue" this book offers comprehensive treatment options, as well as insights regarding: lifestyle, supplements, and stress management.

[Eniko Rozsa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative but with the agenda of selling supplements.

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book to help understand cortisol! Must read.

[Gabriela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel I already knew most of the information contained in this book. I thought it focused too much in supplements, which don’t interest me. There was some good information at the beginning, though.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Less than 250 pages
2025 Reading Challenge @ READERHAVEN

[Sz · Rating 4 out of 5]

So what is SENSE?
S – Stress Management Techniques
E - Exercise
N - Nutrition
S - Supplements
E – Evaluation
https://www.crushcamp.com/letters/cor...

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting health and wellness book. I took a lot of notes and tried some supplimetns to help cut down on teh stress factor.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books is straight forward and makes a lot of sense. Since I am pretty stressed out all the time, this book had some good ideas for me as far as strenghtening my immune system.

[Donna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another book my friend lent me. Has Sarah heard about this one - it is mentioned on the box of that "belly fat" diet product that starts with a R.

[Teak Wall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stress is bad for you. Really, really bad.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book helped me begin to understand some of the changes in my body over the last 5 stressful years. Helpful info on supplements.

[George Farris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been using the supplements this book recommended for several years now. This book was very enlightening and beneficial.

[hemlet kiai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting. Now if only I can rein in my cortisol.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most people would probably benefit from reading this book. A lot of it I'll incorporate into my life. The test at the beginning seems to be designed so everyone reports abnormal stress though.

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for anyone concerned about stress.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting