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

By Shawn Talbott

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
• Release date: Jan 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9780897935623

Shawn Talbott

Dr. Shawn Talbott integrates physiology, biochemistry, and psychology to help people improve mental wellness and physical performance. He received Bachelor’s degrees in Sports Medicine and Fitness Management from Marietta College, Master’s degrees in Exercise Science from UMASS and Entrepreneurship from MIT, and his PhD in Nutritional Biochemistry from Rutgers. Recent projects include two academic textbooks, an award-winning documentary film, and several best-selling books translated into multiple languages. His work has been featured on The Dr. Oz Show, the TED stage, and the White House-and he has developed numerous top-selling nutraceutical products, generating over $1 billion in global sales. Shawn has competed at the elite level in rowing and triathlon, and has held the title of the “World’s Fittest CEO.” He lives with his family in Utah and Massachusetts.

Reviews for The Cortisol Connection

[seph_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Anxiety and depression run in my family. I also have the added bonus of coping with allergies and asthma, so I'm always on the lookout for books that might help me with any of these issues, which is why I picked up The Cortisol Connection.This book far surpassed my expectations. I was able to apply some of the nutritional advice before I'd even finished reading the book and immediately felt an improvement in my outlook and mood. This was over the holiday season too, which is normally a very tough time for me.If you know you are already stressed, you may want to skip the first six chapters and dive right into the advice that starts in chapter seven. Reading those first six chapters that explain what bad cortisol levels can do to you caused me quite a bit of worry, and it took a while to get through all that information. It was good information to have, I just wish I would've read the "what you can do about it" part first.This book gives the most concise and easy to remember nutritional advice I've ever read. The supplementation information corroborated with things I've read when researching inflammation. In changing my diet and adding some supplementation according to Talbott's recommendations I've been able to reduce my anxiety levels significantly, cut back on how often I need my rescue inhaler and clear up most of my congestion.My only complaint is the lack of notation. Talbott sites many scientific studies, but never includes notation with those passages to tie them to the appropriate study listed in the appendix. The few times I had the patience to flip to the appendix and try to pin-point the study he was referring to seemed to indicate he'd included all the necessary references, but more specific notation would've given me a little more initial confidence in the information.From the perspective of a lay person with no medical schooling, but who's spent years reading and researching in an attempt to improve my own health, I find this book invaluable. Several family members have asked to borrow it, but I'll be buying copies for them so I don't have to part with mine.

[mckait · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Cortisol. Who knew! Too little, or none.. and you have Addison's Disease and cannot handle stress without medication. Too much? Weight gain, IBS, joint pain, hair loss, and more. This book not only outlines the problems caused by stress, which causes too much cortisol to be created by the body, but how to cope with it. Not only will you be informed about what and how much damage can be done to the body by too much stress/cortisol, but there are recommendations on how to change it.Nutrition, supplements to take or not to take? And of course a healthy diet and exercise are the among the answers.This is not a gloom and doom book by any means. This is a book that explains a problem, and gives simple and often enjoyable approaches to controlling stress and the overproduction of this hormone. Read a trashy novel, soak in a hot tub, give yourself days off each week..hey, I can do that!Often books that you think you should read to learn something you feel that you should know about are dry and dull and agonizing to get through. This one has bits of humor ( humans are not zebras!) and it presents information in such a clear and simple way that I was able to zip right through the pages, and make my way through it in 2 sittings. Even though I have read it cover to cover, you can be sure that this is one that will spend a long time on my nightstand. I want it to be available for quick reference and reminders of what I should be doing and looking for. Not just a good and informative read, but by all means, a keeper!