Cortisol & eating

[Saz94]

Just a biology question. I think I remember reading somewhere on the internet (though it is possible that I misunderstood what I read) - and I've been searching and can't find it again - that eating food causes cortisol secretion. I think this was in the context of the circadian rhythm and eating breakfast signalling to our bodies that it's daytime now as it stimulates cortisol secretion? I am probably phrasing that really badly, but is that sort of correct?

I've tried googling it but that just gives me information about how high stress levels cause you to eat more.

I do remember that at university - back when I was healthy - eating snacks helped me to stay awake late when I needed to work late into the night to get an assignment finished on time. Would that be to do with eating affecting the hormones which regulate the sleep/wake cycle, or just to do with food giving me energy and/or keeping my blood sugar up?

 

[TigerLilea]

I don't know if this is what you were referring to:

• Eating breakfast helps to ensure the normal drop off in cortisol levels after awakening.
• Skipping breakfast means we miss the window when our body is designed to most efficiently deal with a meal and, among other things, triggers cortisol production and a subsequent increased desire for comfort foods

http://www.pointinstitute.org/should-you-eat-breakfast-like-a-king/

 

[Midnattsol]

It says something about it here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00217-016-2772-3

"Consumption of meals induces increase in cortisol level. This response is strongly marked in men than in women. Influence of kind of macronutrients in taken food on cortisol concentration was investigated in many researches, but the results are not clear [26, 27, 28, 29]."

They also write that ghrelin, the hunger hormone, could increase cortisol and that different nutrients and overall stress the body experiences (like physical exertion) also plays a part. Good control of blood sugar (as both hypo- and hyper-glycemic states are stressful for the body) is also important.

So what the meal consists of and its nutrient density seems important.

Late night studying for an asignment I would say is enough og a stressor in itself, and eating supplied you with energy. Although, if this late night snacking was unusual for you, it could possibly affext your circadian rhytm and confuse your body and act as a stressor? Cortisol, to me at least, is more known for increasing appetite and decrease with foods that destress the body.