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One test that I run on patients who are dealing with resistant weight loss is an adrenal stress index test. When you're in the early stages of stress your adrenal glands produce a lot of cortisol which makes it hard to go to sleep at night and your body feels "wired." If you are under a lot of stress for too long your body down regulates the production of cortisol to protect you from the damaging affects of prolonged exposure to high cortisol.

Early stages of chronic stress = high cortisol
Late stage of chronic stress = low cortisol

The adrenal stress index test tells us where you fall on that spectrum.

Too much cortisol can lead to weight gain especially in the abdominal area. Being stuck in fight or flight mode signals to your body that you are in survival mode, so it is more likely to hold onto fat rather than get rid of it. Too little cortisol can mean you've hit adrenal exhaustion which is going to prevent you from exercising because you have no energy. You body will also crave easy sources of energy such as sugar and carbs.

The adrenal stress index test tells us how the adrenal glands are functioning and whether you're producing too much cortisol or too little. In the beginning stages of chronic stress our body cranks out tons of cortisol which makes it hard for us to fall asleep at night because we're wired. If you are in a constant state of stress for long enough your adrenals will get worn out. When this happens your adrenal glands aren't making enough cortisol for you to have daily energy or function optimally.

Often times the people in my office who are the most overweight are some of the most driven and persistent people I have ever met. A lot of the time the reason these people aren't losing weight is not because they are lazy and have no self control. There it often a biological reason that they are experiencing weight loss resistance and that's because weight is a symptom of dysfunction. So when you've made all the lifestyle changes and you still aren't getting results with weight loss it is time to look somewhere else for answers. In my office we run lab tests to find out in the body could there be a breakdown or some dysfunction preventing you from losing weight.