The Real Reason Why You’ve Lost Your Butt and Gained a Belly

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In this article, we’ll discuss the real reason why you’ve lost your butt but gained a belly.

Short answer is EXCESSIVE CORTISOL.

Understanding cortisol

Excessive cortisol can break down the quadriceps muscles and the gluteus maximus.

Here’s a disclaimer, I’m not trying to diagnose you with any cortisol-related condition (Cushing’s syndrome) because no one just wakes up one day with Cushing’s syndrome. Note that Cushing’s syndrome is basically a high level of cortisol, and it happens gradually. A person can have a slight version of Cushing’s syndrome but not the full-blown condition just because of high cortisol.

Note that cortisol is a stress and survival hormone, so what it tends to do is keep your sugar levels available, and you can use it as quick energy.

Cortisol also technically robs Peter to pay Paul by taking extra nutrients or resources from your body that you might not need and using them in another part.

Photo by Darren Lawrence on Unsplash

For instance, the gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in the body, so apparently, it has extra amino acids to convert into glucose. There is also the thigh muscle — the quadriceps. Both muscles are broken down, which is a catabolic effect.

Catabolic means breaking down something from protein to amino acid and then from amino acid to glucose. In the process, there will be atrophy of the muscles, which could have the resemblance of cellulite, but it is really not. It is just a loss of muscle fiber. The glucose is converted to fat with the help of insulin.

What causes high cortisol?

Several factors can elevate the cortisol levels in the blood.

* Prednisone oral tablet

Prednisone is usually taken when a person has some kind of inflammatory condition. You should know that prednisone is basically a synthetic version of cortisol, and one of the side effects is Cushing’s syndrome.

* Menopause