The impact of stress on hormones and metabolism and how to mitigate it with Registered Dietitian Becky Bell

The impact of stress on hormones and metabolism and how to mitigate it with Registered Dietitian Becky Bell

Amy: [00:00:00] Hey there, I'm Amy Connell. Welcome to Graced Health, the podcast for women who want simple and grace-filled ways to take care of themselves. I'm a certified personal trainer and nutrition coach who wants you to know your eating movement and body don't have to be perfect. You just need to be able to do what you're called to do.

I am stoked to have Becky Bell on today. I wanna tell you a little bit about Becky, and she is going to help us understand all things about stress hormones and how they affect appetite and metabolism. So Becky is a registered dietician and weight loss expert. Becky helps women lose weight, restore their relationship with food and ditch dieting for good.

I think we would all love to ditch dieting. She uses a sustainable approach to weight loss that includes blood, blood sugar balance, mindful eating and metabolism optimization instead of restrictive dieting. Becky currently lives in [00:01:00] Colorado with her husband and three kids and owns a functional nutrition practice called Rooted Nutrition Therapies.

Becky, welcome to the show.

Becky: Thanks, Amy. I'm excited to chat with you today.

Amy: You reached out and I have to say there's a lot of different ways that we could have taken this conversation. You have a breadth of experience and knowledge and wisdom and , really focusing on food and metabolism and holistic wellness. But I wanted to just kind of, Zone in on one, and of course people can learn more about you and we'll share all of that information a little bit later.

But I wanted to zone in on stress hormones and how they impact appetite and metabolism. So how does that sound with you?

Becky: Yeah, it sounds great. So this is actually a topic I really love to talk about because I think for a lot of women it can be kind of like the missing piece in the health journey. , if [00:02:00] we don't, if we kind of ignore this one, then I can really hold us back and really any kind of , health goals that we're looking for.

So, yeah, I love talking about this topic.

Amy: Yes. And I think it has such a wide ripple effect as well, because when we're stressed and when we're in those stressful situations, it's not just in the moment, but it does things externally to our decisions. It does things internally. So I'm, I'm excited to, to talk about this, but let's start by clarifying what you mean by stress hormones.

Becky: Technically speaking, when we say stress hormones, there's kind of three main hormones that that includes, which would be cortisol, epinephrine, no epinephrine. And those are all of the hormones that help our bodies adapt to stress. And really, this is like the illustration I like to use is like, if you're walking in the woods and you face a bear, a threat comes up.

, God made our bodies to have, , to like, have a response to that. Like, to like, , something happens in our bodies and we face that [00:03:00] threat and all those hormones, , get released and, and produced and they all have a purpose of making our bodies, , more alert, kind of getting us into a state where , can face that threat where we can, , have everything we could possibly muster up to be able to face that, that bear in the woods. The problem is, is that we aren't facing angry bears. Most of us, , in our daily lives, but we are living where we're just constantly feeling stress and, , maybe not, , physical str threats to our safety, most of us.

But we're. Facing stressors, and so we're getting a release of those hormones, , often throughout the day. The one that I usually, , like to talk about the most is cortisol. Cortisol is kind of that main hormone that we tend to get triggered, , , with our stress that we face and that has a big appetite or have a big influence on our appetite and metabolism.

Amy: I am wondering if we can dig in a little bit to these. I'm curious what happens in our body. [00:04:00] What, what is different when we are, say, faced with a bear or we're when, when we're in that constant chronic low grade stress? So , that might be like fighting traffic or getting frustrated, or maybe it's, , a project looming over our head or relationship issues that aren't working well or something that just is constantly threatening us in micro doses rather than, oh my gosh, there's a huge bear.

Is there a difference in our body? How our body responds to those?

Becky: Yeah, I think there's a difference. I mean, when you get that, when you get faced with that, , that major threat, you get that huge rush of adrenaline where it's like every other function of your body kinda shuts down, , temporarily to really give you that surge, a surge of energy. And most of us aren't facing that, but we get, we are getting that in small doses.

A very similar response on a little bit smaller scale. And some of the things that are kind of mirror that [00:05:00] experience is for one cortisol. We get kind of like that. Those little surges of cortisol that happen, , throughout throughout our day when cortisol should. Go on a curve in our bodies.

 It should rise in the morning, , kind of peak in the afternoon, start to drop off in the afternoon. There should be like this nice, , curve. But what happens when the stress is stimulating that, , kind of throughout the day and we're getting those surges.

It messes up. Just, it gets dysregulated that, , like that nice curve we're supposed to get. So most of us aren't getting into that extreme situation of stress where it's like, , huge surge of, of adrenaline and cortisol and everything else shuts down. But we're getting those microsurges and it kind of, it does mirror that experience in a smaller scale.

Another thing that happens in stress is that , we talk about like fight or flight. , that stress response is fight or flight. Well, the opposite of that is rest and digest. So, and I think that's important because, Digestion is one of those, those functions of the body that happens in, in a restful state.

The stress response and those sore surges of cortisol kind of shut down digestion, it makes [00:06:00] our gut motility move a little bit more slowly. Because if you're faced with a threat, you don't need to be digesting food, right? That's not priority at the moment. And so our body shuts those things down, but it's where a lot of times you'll see if you're living chronically stressed, Then you'll notice sometimes negative effects in your, your digestion.

Digestion. You might have more trouble with, , bloating or discomfort with food or like bowel movement, irregular, aals, all those, some things that come, , with suboptimal digestion. And a lot of times it comes back to like that, that nervous system being constantly shifted into that more fight or flight mode throughout the day.

And we're not spending enough time throughout the day in that rest and digest state.

Amy: That answers a question that I had, which is , when we start to have that cortisol kick in , what does that do to our appetite and metabolism? And so I guess that I, I feel like you covered that on a high level, but is there anything else that you would wanna add to that?

Becky: I think a couple other things specifically, I mean, we're tied with digestion is like, that's part of, [00:07:00] part of metabolism, right? Metabolism is, I mean, we, we think about metabolism being like burning calories, but really what metabolism is is turning. Turning food into energy. , that process of our body being able to use, , energy.

So digestion is a part of that. But there's some metabolic changes that happen when we're under stress and cortisol kinda, , turns carbohydrate and fat into quick energy. We need that in the moment. But then , again, all, this is like part of God's design for our body.

It's a protection mechanism, right? So if we're, we're feeling stressed, we're, , it's designed to be part of threat. It's also gonna kick up appetite because, It's the, it's the cortisol's telling your body, , we need to make sure we have enough energy if this threat persists or to continue to manage stress.

So you'll get, you notice that a surgeon, , more appetite and you particularly cortisol will make you crave things like sugar and salty foods. Cause those are the, those are the things that we kind of use as fuel, , when we need it in the moment. So really co really common. If you're [00:08:00] chronically stressed, that you'll notice that you struggle a lot more with craving those types, those types of foods.

Amy: Are there particular types of food? I mean, you talked about salt and sugar, but are there, I'm just kind of thinking about, okay. Is. Is there a particular type of food that when I am starting to crave that might be a good check for me to say, okay, where's my stress level? What am I, what's going on beyond just me really wanting this type of food?

Becky: I see a craving for salty foods a lot of times more when it's , chronic stress because your adrenal glands, which produce cortisol need salt. And so sometimes that's where that's coming from. But yeah, in the moment, if you're like, okay, like that, that check of like maybe my stress is outta control.

I think it's like the cravings for those, those quick carbohydrates, , you're more refining carbohydrate sugar because your body knows that those are quick energy and so when you're like, , just when you're on the rollercoaster, the up and down, I mean that it's very closely tied to blood sugar balance [00:09:00] too.

Which, , I mean it's that. We could get into a whole other conversation about that. But that's really tied to stress too. , blood sugar imbalance. Contributes to this form of stress in the body. But both of those, , stress and blood sugar imbalance, , can, can fuel that.

 I need, I need those easy carbs, give me the bread, the pasta, the chips. So those are things that are. Going to give my body quick energy, your body knows I can get a surge, , of energy from that. So I think when you feel out of control, you notice you're just constantly feeling like I have to have these types of foods, that would be a good, a good indicator.

 I think I need maybe assess where my, where my stress is.

Amy: That makes sense. So I wanna pull one more thread here. When you talk about blood sugar balancing, talk us through some about how that does impact our stress hormones.

Becky: I'll try to keep this high level, I'm a science nerd, so I always try to keep it really simple and not get into the weeds, but your , blood sugar, we think of blood sugar balance, , for, for people with diabetes and it's really, it should, all of us should be paying attention to blood sugar balance.

And there's , two [00:10:00] main hormones that really regulate your blood sugar balance throughout the day. So you eat blood sugar goes up a little bit when you eat. Your body produces insulin and that helps bring blood sugar back down. When your blood sugar starts to get a little bit too low. Well, cortisol is the hormone that helps to bring blood sugar back up to normal.

All that is a good, normal process. The problem is when we're having frequent ups and downs and , we want, we wanna have kind of a, a little wave, , throughout the day of blood sugar. We don't want big spikes and dips. And when we're having those big. Spikes in dips that is stressful on the body.

Cuz your body's constantly, , figuring out how do I keep this in balance? , how do I keep, keep blood sugar normal? And every time you have that little bit of a, a dip towards the lower end of normal, then your body is producing cortisol. It is that stress hormone. So you're going to be, it is, it is a form of, of stress, that you're putting on the body when you're constantly having that up and down.

Amy: That makes a lot of sense. Thank you for that. Okay, so we're sitting here. We [00:11:00] are safe. We have a roof over our head. I don't know about you, but I had a really great breakfast. I'm feeling very regulated right now. It's a little bit harder sometimes though, that's not real life, right?

Like, , I can leave and I can go hit traffic or , I mean there's just a million different ways. So I'm wondering what kind of recommendations you might have to just kind of keep those stress hormones in check. Whether it's something that we can do or something that we can prevent.

Becky: I to think of stress as, as a bucket. , we have, we all have a, a stress bucket and we all have rocks in that, in that bucket, right? That are are stressors. And we, we can't live a stress-free life. We don't even want to, , there's some, some amount of stress in our bodies actually is actually good.

It's good for our mental health, our physical health to have some amount of stress. And the problem is, is when that bucket starts to overflow, there's too many rocks in the bucket, it's overflowing. And so when your bucket is overflowing, there's, we, there's two things we can do. You can either remove rocks from the bucket, [00:12:00] which means that's when we need to set some boundaries for ourself.

 Maybe we need to take a pause. We need to. Of some commitments. We need to, , take, take some time for ourselves to make some more space, but sometimes we need to then maybe just, , create a bigger bucket. Because sometimes we have stressors in our lives that there, there's nothing we can do about, , we're taking care of sick parents or we're, we're, we're in the throes of parenting, , where, and there's, there's things, , our jobs, sometimes we, there's nothing we can do to remove those stressors.

So, but what we can do is focus on. Increasing the size of our bucket, which means increasing our body's stress, resilience and our ability to adapt to stress. And honestly, that, , is some, some of that we can do with nu , with nutrition certainly plays a role in that. But some of that is just incorporating habits that are helping our body to manage the stress load that is on and on us.

And I think a great place for everyone to start is is being intentional about in your daily rhythms, are you doing something in your daily rhythms? [00:13:00] That is. Releasing some stress, , , and that can be, it can be as simple as, , 10 minutes of, of journaling, , just , getting some things out.

It can be some 10 minutes of silent, meditative prayer. It could be even meditation. There's some really beautiful, even faith-based meditation apps that are just guided and allow you, , take you through some releasing and some things really helpful. Deep breathing.

Really, really powerful practice. And there's, there's a lot of science behind that, , that, that, , deep breathing helps us to relax our nervous system, release some of that pent up stress we're holding in our body. And a habit of doing that. It helps, that helps your stress resilience, , it increases the size of that bucket, including some of those habits.

Walking is another favorite one. I mean, walking, there's, , it has been shown to lower cortisol levels. It it can be, , also just being out in nature. Of course Duke is also lots of signs about nature and, , our st our body stress response. So I think starting with making sure you're making space and if you're thinking [00:14:00] about your health habits, It's more than just food and exercise, right?

 Stress management, intentional stress management, and taking time to create a rhythm for stress relief, I think is a, is a really important place to start.

Amy: Yeah, I completely agree and it's funny, I can only speak for myself, but it's taken me a long time to. For lack of a better word, admit that all of these seemingly really small things actually do help. They seem too simple because they are simple and a lot of times they're easy. You just have to be intentional about it, and they really do make a huge difference.

Yeah.

Becky: I'm a super high achiever, and I'm , I've always been someone who's like, I think I manage stress really well because I don't , feel stressed. I don't , feel overwhelmed. But you don't have to feel overwhelmed to be stressed. , we're carrying that stress in our bodies, whether or not we feel like we're at the breaking point.

 If you are [00:15:00] someone more like me, that high achiever, it's all the more reasoning why you need to be intentional about. Releasing stress because just because you're carrying it well doesn't mean that it's not having negative effects on your, on your body.

Amy: That's a great point. Yeah. I actually don't carry stress well, good or bad. I just get, , I remember, I almost didn't get a promotion at my job before I had kids, because when I get going, I get amped up, and that actually was perceived as, oh, she's, she's stressed out, she can't handle this.

Whereas really for me, it was more like, I was excited and I was amped up, but it was, it, it all came across the same way. So yeah, I do not, I do not carry my stress very well. And actually speaking of that, so that reminds me of a story that I experienced just a couple weeks ago. So I am in a season of doing college visits with my younger son and we were off at a at a university [00:16:00] somewhere I've never been and. We were there for the college tour and it's. It's wet. Everybody would say, well, how is this tour? I'm like, it was so wet. It was raining. And my umbrella, I had one of those tiny umbrellas, like I didn't even have a big one because we had flown there and I had to pack it, and the umbrella was really cheap, and so it was dripping through.

And so I had my rain hood on and then I had the rain hood over, but the hood, like, I couldn't see and my, and the rain is coming down and I've got the, my phone out and, and it's getting wet and I'm lost and I can't figure out where I'm going. I mean, I was so stressed and all of the preparation of resiliency and breathing and prayer time and everything else goes out the window, at least for me in moments like that.

And so I'm wondering if you have some suggestions when even if we have prepared ourself and done as much as we can, but when we're in those moments, I mean, I finally had to say to my son, I [00:17:00] just need a minute. I just need a minute. And then we ended up not going to one part of the thing because we, we went to the visitor's center.

I was like, I just have to reset. We were both frazzled. So anyway, when we find ourselves in those situations, despite our best efforts, what kind of recommendations do you have? Because even though. , we're talking about stress. This really does affect us metabolically, it affects our rest and digest, and, and , it, it's all intertwined.

I mean, that's just how God made our bodies. So what, what do you recommend then?

Becky: I actually think that for me, breathing is one of my favorite tools to use in those moments because it doesn't have to be , , a 30 minute de-stress session. It's , can literally be in the moment and, and it's the power of breathing is that it shifts your nervous system into that.

Parasympathetic, more restful nervous system. And, but, but like you alluded to, sometimes just walking away, I'm one of those people too. I'm an introvert, , hardcore, so like getting by myself and just, , [00:18:00] doing some re redirecting my thoughts, , and kind of telling myself this is not true if you're on this negative spiral of thoughts.

Cuz sometimes our, our thoughts are directing that stress response, right? So kind of calling my thoughts out a little bit and speaking a little bit of truth to myself and say , okay, I don't have to keep, , spiraling down this path and taking a few , really deep belly breaths.

 Sometimes when I feel that tension, rising up in my body, . For me, that's one of the most powerful things in the moment to be able to shift outta that is breathing. If, if I have the space, I'll go like, , sit and listen to some worship music or something too. That was super also helpful.

But I'd say breathing is probably my number one go-to , okay, let's take a pause. I do that with my kids too, when they start getting worked up and let's like, okay, we're not having a productive conversation. You're angry, , breathe with me and it's can calm that nervous system down in the moment.

Amy: I don't know how old your kids are, but I wish I would've understood the power of the breath when I was raising little ones. And , they're fighting back. I mean, now mine are. [00:19:00] Almost 18 and 19. So , they can still learn, but it's just a little different. Yeah. Well, and what? I think that that is still modeling the kind of behavior that you want them to have, even if they're not necessarily joining in at the moment. So one of the other things that you have the designation of is a mental health integrative medicine provider, which by the way is a real mouthful to say, but

oh man, we so need this. I'm wondering if in this spirit of this conversation, if you can offer us some foods or, , other things to help us stabilize our stress and really promote a healthy brain. Because again, as we know, it's all related.

Becky: I have to , start that answer with going back to the topic of blood sugar balance, because one of the best things you can do for mental health, for your brain health is [00:20:00] really keeping blood sugar stable. First step in that is just focusing your meals, making sure you're getting protein, adequate protein, healthy fat.

Fiber, all those are really important for blood sugar balance. But there are some specific nutrients that are really helpful, that your body needs more of when you're under stress and also are really, , supportive for the brain. One of my favorite nutrients is magnesium. , most of us don't get enough magnesium.

It's a super mineral as far as helping, , your body to, , deal with stress. You, you definitely go through more and more magnesium when you're stressed. Helps really a lot with anxiety, muscle relaxation, digestion, all those things. You can certainly take supplemental magnesium, but some of my favorite foods are things like nuts and seeds.

Really important, , good, healthy fats to have in the diet. Legumes like your beans, really good foods that are high in magnesium, avocado. So , including some more of those, those foods are gonna give you magnesium. Vitamin C is really helpful for your stress response too. So your adrenal glands, which produce cortisol and regulate cortisol [00:21:00] need vitamin C.

And again, you'll go through any, anytime you're, you're stressed, you're going through more of any of those nutrients. So , prioritizing vitamin C rich foods, especially first thing in the morning, can really help support your adrenal glands when you're more stressed. So things like citrus fruits, kiwi, bell peppers, those are really good foods to include.

And then, and then B vitamins to be. I actually think when, when you're under in a more stressful period of time, I think that taking a b supplement is a good idea rapidly when you're under stress. And then the last one I would mention is omega-3 fatty acids real, I mean very, very important for your brain especially.

So including foods in your diet on a regular basis. Things like fish like flaxseed, chia seed, those are really good sources of omega-3 s. Very, very helpful for your brain as well as decreasing inflammation and salting all connected to our stress response.

Amy: Awesome. For [00:22:00] people who are newer to me they and wanna learn more about magnesium. I had a very interesting conversation in season 15 with Natalie Jurado about. All the different kinds of magnesium. I learned a lot. I implemented a lot. And she has a great lotion, a topical lotion too, I just have to, I have to add that because it was a, it was a fascinating conversation about magnesium too.

So I'll put that in the show notes if you guys wanna go check that out. Well thank you for that. I think it's always really helpful to kind of, , have some specific things that we can add into and be intentional about when we are in those periods of time. Because if nothing else for me, it feels It just feels like I have a little bit more control and, and I can drive the boat more than it just running and, and I'm following it, which is sometimes how life feels anyway.

Like we're on a speed boat and it's like, I know where it's going, so thank you for that.[00:23:00] So I know that you have a free guide called Five Health Habits that are keeping you from Losing Weight. And this is something that I know you wanted to make available to my community. And can you tell us some about that guide?

Becky: Basically this guide goes through five. Habits that a lot of us have been told are healthy or that are maybe, are, are helpful, but they're actually habits that are probably having a negative effect on our metabolism and, , keeping us stuck either, either mentally or physically , if you're on a weight loss journey.

So and then of course I go through what have I recommend instead, instead of, instead of these mistakes.

Amy: I love the concept of calling out things that we. Often think in myths. I actually have a book that takes 22 health and fitness quote unquote rules and breaks them with exercise science and nutrition science because there's so much misinformation out there and there's so much misunderstanding and thing the science is changing too.

 I love that you have these [00:24:00] five habits and I think that that'll be really eye-opening. Definitely go grab those, everyone. Okay. Now I have some questions I ask all my guests. One of them is I love learning about people's tattoos because I have found that when people choose to put something on their body for the rest of their life, often they have a meaning behind it.

I was wondering if you have a tattoo, if you wouldn't mind sharing what that is and the meaning behind it. If you don't have one, but you had to get one, what would it be and where would it go?

Becky: Yeah, so I do not have a tattoo, but I have wa I was wanted one. Someday. Someday I'll get one and I, one of the ones that I've the. And the reason for that is because nutrition is a, is a passion of my life. Wellness is one of my, , I feel like that's my calling. It's my passion. But I also, , really believe in number one, that food should be savor.

There should be joy in eating, but also the word savor [00:25:00] is a reminder to me, to slow down and enjoy life, , as, as I said, I'm a high achiever. And, and that is , my go-to, to live life very driven, goal oriented and that word saver is meaningful to me. , to slow down and to enjoy, be present.

 That's a constant reminder that I need in my life. If I move, put a tattoo in my body, it's gonna be something that's something I need as a reminder. Something that I wanna live by and something that I, I need in front of my face, ,

Amy: Yes. That's great. Where would you pit it?

Becky: Probably on my wrist. Cause again, I, I wanna see it all the time.

Amy: Yes. I had a client once who chose to put tattoos, places where she couldn't see him. She wanted to put him on and she's like, I don't wanna see 'em. Which I thought, I was like, okay, that's fine. So everybody has their own little preferred place, so thanks for that. What about a meaningful Bible verse?

I know you and your husband are both in ministry, and so do you have a meaningful Bible verse you'd like to share?

Becky: Yeah, I thought I'd just share my, my all time favorite verse, which I actually feel was kinda fitting to our conversation about stress. My favorite verse is Isaiah. [00:26:00] Says you will keep in perfect peace. Him whose mind is steadfast because he trusted you and for sure sting steadfast into what I know to be true.

Another, , important tool we need to lean into when life gets crazy stressful.

Amy: Yes, absolutely. If people are wanting to learn a little bit more about you and your your company, where would you like to point them?

Becky: I'm pretty active on Instagram, so my Instagram handle is at Rooted Dietician. And then my website is rooted nutrition therapies.com and it's where you can learn, , all about my programs offers, and, , I have lots of freebies on the website too.

Amy: Fantastic. And we'll definitely put that in the show notes for people to check out. Okay. And then I would love for you to leave our Leave me and everyone listening with the one simple thing that you would like us to remember. It can be big, it [00:27:00] can be small, but just one thing to implement into where our our lives.

Becky: I think more than anything, what I, , want to lead people with is just the idea that health is about so much more than the food that we eat. , it's about how you talk to yourself. It's about the rhythms of self-care that you develop and, and ultimately living in a way that really nourishes your mind, body, and spirit.

Amy: Amen. Okay, that is all for today. Go out there and have a graced day.