It’s no secret that obesity is at the root of many diseases, from heart disease to cancer.
But the condition it’s most closely linked to is diabetes.
In fact, the two are so likely to go hand-in-hand that doctors have coined a term for it – ‘diabesity.’
According to Cleveland Clinic endocrinologist, Jay Waddadar, MD,” “Diabesity is a disease with enormous potential to cause ill effects on the body in the long run. Diabesity is a silent disease that damages your body if it’s not controlled, even while you feel fine.”
However, not everyone with obesity develops diabetes, and a team of scientists at Rutgers University believes they’ve uncovered why and how it could help others…
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Stress and obesity-induced insulin resistance
Scientists have long thought obesity causes diabetes by impairing the way insulin signals within the liver and fat cells.
However, while looking at hormone levels in mice, the Rutgers team discovered that overeating in normal mice increases the stress hormone norepinephrine within days, resulting in stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system.
This insight quickly led the researchers in a new direction: determining what effect excess production of this hormone has in spurring diabetes development.
To do so, they fed genetically engineered mice (unable to produce stress hormones) the same obesity-inducing high-fat and high-sugar diet. But even though these mice ate as many calories and got just as obese as normal mice, they didn’t develop metabolic disease.
Their conclusion?
Overeating and obesity increase the body’s sympathetic nervous system – the fight-or-flight response – raises the level of the stress hormones norepinephrine and epinephrine and causes insulin resistance.
The new findings may help explain why some obese individuals develop diabetes while others don’t and why stress can worsen diabetes even with little weight gain.
“Many types of stress – financial stress, marital stress, the stress associated with living in dangerous areas or suffering discrimination or even the physical stress that comes from excessive alcohol consumption — all increase diabetes and synergize with the metabolic stress of obesity,” said Christoph Buettner, chief of endocrinology, metabolism and nutrition at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
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Reduce the effects of stress
“We hope this paper provides a different take on insulin resistance,” Dr. Buettner added. “It may also explain why none of the drugs currently used to treat insulin resistance, except insulin itself, directly increases cellular insulin signaling.”
That makes addressing how stress impacts the body, specifically diabetes, something that can’t be ignored. And while overeating and stress can partner up to increase the risk for diabetes, developing healthy eating habits should still be at the top of any list to lower those risks.
Stress, however, can be harder to tame. There are a few lifestyle factors that can help manage stress, including exercise, medication or prayer and learning to say “no.”
However, we can’t talk about stress and the body’s natural fight-or-flight response without discussing the adrenal glands.
The adrenals secrete several hormones including epinephrine (adrenaline), norepinephrine (noradrenaline) and cortisol, which have similar functions — including increasing the heart rate and force of heart contractions, increasing blood flow to the muscles and brain, relaxing airway smooth muscles, and assisting in glucose (sugar) metabolism.
All of these functions are necessary for the fight or flight response needed during times of short-term stress. But when stress becomes chronic (long-term), the adrenals become fatigued. Cortisol output can contribute to a recurrent stress loop that can’t be resolved appropriately, potentially resulting in elevated norepinephrine.
It becomes difficult to rein the fight or flight response back in with hormones that normally would, like DHEA, and we can experience problems with blood sugar, weight gain, low energy levels and more.
Adaptogens are active ingredients in certain plants that help your body adapt to stress. Some adaptogen herbs, including ashwagandha and holy basil, have been shown to improve the body’s response to physical and emotional stress:
- Ashwagandha has a positive effect on the endocrine and nervous systems by regulating metabolism how the brain responds to stress.
- Holy basil also helps to balance blood sugar and cholesterol and also provides a rich source of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds.
Sources:
Researchers suggest stress hormones explain how obesity causes diabetes – EurekAlert!
Diabesity: How Obesity Is Related to Diabetes – Cleveland Clinic
Adrenal Glands — Johns Hopkins Medicine
Adaptogens — Cleveland Clinic
The one thing that reverses the amazing benefits of healthy fats – Easy Health Options