Table of contents for The cortisol connection : why stress makes you fat and ruins your health - and what you can do about it / Shawn Talbott.

Bibliographic record and links to related information available from the Library of Congress catalog.

Note: Contents data are machine generated based on pre-publication provided by the publisher. Contents may have variations from the printed book or be incomplete or contain other coding.


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Contents
Important Note	6
Contents	7
Foreword	10
Acknowledgments	11
Introduction	12
Are You a Type C? Gauging Your Exposure to Stress	15
Chapter 1: Stress and Your Health: The Type C Personality	18
Are You Happy?	19
The "Normal" Stress Response	21
What Is Stress?	22
Humans Are Not Zebras	23
Stress, Cortisol, and Metabolism	24
Stress and Disease	24
Cortisol: Too Much or Too Little?	25
Counteracting the Effects of Chronic Stress	27
Why Supplements?	28
Summary	28
Chapter 2: The Science of Stress	29
Stressed Versus Stressed Out: What's the Difference?	30
Stages of Stress	30
Acute Versus Chronic Stress	31
Individual Responses to Stress	33
Is There a "Weaker Sex" When It Comes to Stress?	34
Summary	34
Chapter 3: All About Cortisol, the Master Stress Hormone	35
The Endocrine System	35
The Adrenal Glands	35
What Is Cortisol?	36
What Does Cortisol Do?	36
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Cortisol Metabolism	37
The Catabolic Effects of Chronically Elevated Cortisol	39
Cortisol Is Only One Piece of the Puzzle	39
Summary	40
Chapter 4: HSD: The Body's "Fat Storage" Enzyme	41
What Is HSD and What Does It Have to Do with Cortisol?	41
The Effects of HSD on Obesity and Diabetes	42
The Pharmaceutical Rush to Block HSD	46
Controlling HSD Activity Naturally	47
Summary	49
Chapter 5: Testosterone: Cortisol's Alter Ego	50
What Is Testosterone?	50
Not Just for Men	51
Maintaining Balance: The Cortisol-to-Testosterone Ratio	52
Testosterone and Aging: Menopause and Andropause	53
Testosterone and Weight Gain	54
Maintaining Testosterone Levels Naturally	56
Summary	58
Chapter 6: The Relationship Between Stress and Disease	59
Metabolic Consequences of Elevated Stress Levels	59
How Stress Makes Us Fat: Cortisol, Diabetes, and Obesity	61
Cortisol and Syndrome X	68
Cortisol, Fatigue, and Insomnia	70
Cortisol and Sex Drive	72
Cortisol, Suppressed Immune Function, and Cancer	74
Cortisol and Cardiovascular Disease	78
Your Brain on Cortisol: Anxiety, Depression, and Alzheimer's Disease	79
Cortisol and Your Gut	84
Cortisol, Connective Tissue, Osteoporosis, and Arthritis	86
Cortisol and Aging	88
Summary	89
Chapter 7: Counteracting the Effects of Chronic Stress	91
Adrenal Stress-Testing Kits	91
Controlling the Stress Response: The SENSE Lifestyle Program	92
Stress Management and Avoidance (or Where Did Our Vacations Go?)	93
Exercise	100
Nutrition	102
Supplements	106
Guidelines for Choosing and Using Dietary Supplements	108
Choosing Supplements	109
Using Supplements	111
Chapter 8: Dietary Supplements for Stress Adaptation	113
Supplements Versus Prescription Drugs	113
Supplements to Avoid	115
Vitamins and Minerals for Stress Adaptation	122
Cortisol-Control Supplements	131
HSD-Balancing Supplements	142
Testosterone-Control Supplements	143
Adaptogens (General Antistress Supplements)	149
Relaxation and Calming Supplements	155
Chapter 9: Putting It All Together: The SENSE Lifestyle Program	165
Be the Balloon: The "3S" Approach to Managing Metabolic Adaptation	165
Stress Management	167
Exercise	169
Nutrition	176
Supplementation	187
Evaluation	190
Concluding Words	191
Appendix: Putting the SENSE Lifestyle Program to the Test	192
Results	193
References	195
Chapters 1-3 and 6-7: Stress, Cortisol Metabolism, and Disease	195
Chapter 4: HSD	199
Chapter 5: Testosterone	201
Chapter 8: Dietary Supplements	202
Stress Management and Avoidance	218
Exercise	218
Nutrition	218
Supplements	219
Other Books and Resources by Shawn M. Talbott	219
Index	220

Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication:

Stress management.
Stress (Physiology).
Hydrocortisone -- Physiological effect.
Health.
Obesity.