How can stress affect my hormones?

Stress doesn't just make you feel bad; it can actually raise or lower the level of key hormones involved in fat-burning and food craving. In this video, naturopathic doctor Dr. Natasha Turner explains the interplay between stress, hormones and weight

Transcript

00:00

All those comfort foods, we know we eat these foods, and not only do we eat them when we're stressed, we actually eat more of them.

00:06

So you have to get your stress under check if you want to control your appetite. [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:27

Stress, in particular, cortisol, which is your long-term stress hormone, does terrible things to your metabolism

00:34

and terrible things to your appetite. When we're stressed out, we're not craving broccoli. We're craving muffins, and pastries, and all those comfort

00:41

foods. We know we eat these foods. And not only do we eat them when we're stressed, we actually eat more of them.

00:47

So you have to get your stress under check if you want to control your appetite. Your stress hormones also impact your sleep.

00:54

If you have high amounts of stress hormone, you'll fall asleep, but maybe you'll wake up between 2:00 and 4:00 AM. And that's a double whammy, because then

01:01

if you don't sleep well, your stress hormones are higher, and then you want to crave all the comfort foods. So you have to get your stress under check for your sleep,

01:09

and your stress, and your appetite control. The other thing that stress does to you is it suppresses your thyroid hormone.

01:15

Your thyroid hormone is the master of your metabolic rate. If you do things to create stress, you'll drop your metabolism. [MUSIC PLAYING]