Appendix A
Putting The Cortisol Connection Diet To The Test
As a scientist, theories and ideas are nice – but cold hard evidence is where the rubber meets the road. In the words of many of my colleagues, I want to “see the data” about a particular program before I will believe it works. Based on that data, other professionals can recommend a given program with a certain degree of confidence that it will actually work for their clients and patients. So before releasing the Cortisol Connection Diet, I felt very strongly that I had to “put it to the test” to see if these ideas would really stand up to the harsh reality of losing weight in the real world. It all makes sense “on paper” from a biochemical and physiological perspective, but there have been lots of great ideas “on paper” that never made a lick of difference to anyone in the real world.
With the general Cortisol Connection Diet plan developed, and with the invaluable assistance of AnneMarie Christopulos at the Treehouse Athletic Club in Draper, Utah, 50 motivated volunteers set out with me on a 12-week journey to see if this program was all it seemed. The program lasted for 12 weeks because we wanted to see how people felt after following it for several months. Almost any program, no matter how tedious and restrictive, can be followed for a few weeks, but sticking with something for a full 12 weeks means that it has high likelihood of becoming a lifestyle rather than simply a temporary diet.
One important aspect of the program was that we set out to recruit as many “hard cases” as we could find (people who had tried and tried and tried to lose weight with other programs in the past and who just could not seem to succeed). Why would we recruit the toughest cases and set ourselves up for failure? Simply because in my experience conducting weight loss trials over the past decade or so, it is easy to recruit a group of overweight subjects and get them to lose large amounts of weight in a short period of time – and almost any simplified program of diet or exercise will do it. With the Cortisol Connection Diet, I'm trying to help the millions of Americans who struggle day in a day out with that ten or twenty or thirty pounds of weight that simply won't respond to simplified diets and exercise regimens. It's these “tough nuts” that need help cracking their weight loss code – and the Cortisol Connection Diet was put to the test to help them.
Over those 12 weeks, we met as a group on six occasions – approximately every other week to talk about one of the six MCPs (metabolic control points – cortisol, blood sugar, thermogenesis, serotonin, thyroid, and norepinephrine) and how diet, exercise, and supplements could have an impact. Over the 3 months, we measured body weight, body fat, waist circumference, cortisol, and stress/anxiety levels. Using a double-blind, placebo-controlled study design, we also studied whether or not people taking a dietary supplement (for cortisol and blood sugar control) in addition to their diet and exercise program might lose more weight (or have an easier time of it) compared to a group taking a placebo or nothing at all.
The results were nothing short of dramatic – not only because of the fact that virtually every person in the program lost body weight, body fat, and inches around their midsection, but because the majority of people also reported increased feelings of energy, reduced stress/anxiety, appetite and craving control, and no feelings of deprivation. The most common comment about the Cortisol Connection Diet was that nobody felt like they were on a “diet” and yet the continued to lose weight, fat, and inches (and felt great doing it).
Of particular interest over the 12 weeks, was the fact that the group taking the dietary supplement for cortisol/sugar control (plus diet/exercise) lost about 20% more weight/fat and almost double the inches from their waist as the group following diet and exercise alone. In no way does this mean that the supplement was a substitute for diet and exercise, but it suggests strongly that by adding the supplement to their diet and exercise regimen, they were able to reap some additional metabolic control and thus a greater degree of weight loss. In many ways, the results make perfect sense – because the people in the supplement group had three factors driving them toward weight loss (diet, exercise, supplements), while the placebo group had only two (diet and exercise). No matter what group each subject was in, however, the more attention he or she paid to controlling those six metabolic control points, the more of those stubborn “last few pounds” they were able to lose (even after struggling with those pounds for so long).
The fact that a new “popular” diet (one written for the real world and for real people to try to follow) was being studied ahead of its publication was quite a surprise to most of my colleagues. The typical chain of events is for some diet guru to write a book with lots of miraculous claims (lose weight and eat all you want!), for them to hook up with a marketing outfit, and for the book to ride the top of the bestseller charts until people figure out that it doesn't really work as promised after all. In the case of the Cortisol Connection Diet, I was prepared to put my money where my mouth was so when my colleagues said, “show me the data,” I could do just that. The data from our 50-subject 12-week program was accepted for presentation and publication at the 5th International Congress on Nutrition and Fitness in 2004 in Athens, Greece – perhaps one of the most prestigious scientific meetings concerning metabolism and the very metabolic control points addressed by the Cortisol Connection Diet.
Attendees of the meeting from around the world found that the most interesting aspect of the Cortisol Connection Diet was not any single aspect of the program – but rather that the synergy between the component parts was so effective when melded into a single approach. For example, we've known for years that regular exercise and a balanced diet are the foundation of a healthy weight management program – but what the Cortisol Connection Diet showed was that by building on that diet/exercise foundation with attention to the MCPs (cortisol, blood sugar, thermogenesis, serotonin, thyroid, and norepinephrine), the “standard” weight loss results of diet/exercise could be optimized (much to the delight of Cortisol Connection adherents).
Toward the end of the 12-week program, some of the participants started talking about how the combination of diet/exercise/MCPs in the Cortisol Connection Diet had put them into what they called the “Sweet Spot” – where their weight loss became effortless. In tennis, the sweet spot is that part of the racquet that generates the greatest velocity with the least effort (you hit the ball with the same force, but it takes off). In rowing, we call the same phenomenon “swing” where everything comes together and the boat just cruises along – almost with effortless grace. For a diet program to be generating the same feelings in participants was certainly something – but again, it makes perfect biochemical sense “on paper” – and now it makes sense when applied to the real world.
Summing Up The Sweet Spot – through the combined effects of diet (Balance-Factor plus Helping Hand from Chapter 1), exercise, and stress management – with the added attention to the MCPs (metabolic control points: cortisol, blood sugar, thermogenesis, serotonin, thyroid, and norepinephrine), the Sweet Spot brings together a multi-pronged “metabolic makeover” that leads followers to effective and sustainable weight loss.
In Closing
That brings us to the end of The Cortisol Connection Diet. I hope that at this point you feel as strongly as I do that the Cortisol Connection approach to weight loss is the most practical and easy-to-follow approach to using food to control the effects of cortisol and glucose in your body-and ultimately to control how many calories you burn off or store as fat. It is my sincere wish that you use this book and its many recommendations to help you make the Cortisol Connection a part of your everyday life.
Remember to use the sample menus and supplement suggestions located in this chapter, and the list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) located in Appendix B. The Daily Log found in Appendix C should be your daily diet companion for at least the first few weeks of your journey into the Cortisol Connection approach to metabolic control. Carry it with you to help you choose foods and meals with a high Balance-Factor, and an appropriate serving size (Helping Hand), and to remind you when and what to eat and how to supplement your diet.
Following the Cortisol Connection Diet will help control your appetite, promote fat loss, and simply make you feel great-with more energy, better mental focus, a better body, and a better you. Thanks for reading.
Additional Resources
The Cortisol Connection: Why Stress Makes You Fat and Ruins Your Health-and What You Can Do about It, by Shawn M. Talbott, Ph.D. (Hunter House, 2002).
A Guide to Understanding Dietary Supplements, by Shawn M. Talbott, Ph.D. (Haworth Press, 2003).
Eat, Drink and Be Healthy, by Walter C. Willett, M.D. (Fireside/Simon and Schuster, 2001).
Eating for Optimum Health, by Andrew Weil, M.D. (Random House, 2000).
SupplementWatch website: www.supplementwatch.com. Offers unbiased educational information about dietary supplement use (or avoidance). (Note: Shawn M. Talbott was one of the founders of Supplement Watch and has contributed extensively to the website.)
by Shawn M Talbott, PhD