The liver can be simply understood as a "chemical factory" of the body. When you are stressed, hormones like cortisol increase and send signals for the liver to release sugar (glucose) into the blood. This sugar source may come from available reserves or from the body itself from other substances. Therefore, even if you have not eaten, the body still maintains blood sugar, this is a normal survival mechanism.
However, if stress is prolonged, this mechanism will work excessively. Blood sugar is constantly increasing, insulin must be secreted more, causing the body to gradually lose the ability to be flexible in using energy. As a result, metabolism slows down, and the ability to burn fat decreases.
Notably, this situation often stems from habits that seem good but are counterproductive if overdoed.
The first is overtraining. Cardio such as jogging or aerobics is good for health, but if you exercise too much, while your body is stressed and not getting enough rest, it will increase cortisol for a long time. At that time, the body can break down muscles to get energy. Loss of muscle means reduced metabolism, causing you to burn less calories even when resting. Gradually, even if your weight may decrease, the body will easily become less toned and metabolize slower.
The second mistake is fasting excessively when the body is stressed. Intermittent fasting is beneficial if applied correctly, but it itself is also a form of "pressure" on the body. If you are both sleep-deprived and stressed, and fast for a long time (20-24 hours), the body will become overloaded. At that time, the body tends to save energy, reduce thyroid activity, reduce calorie consumption and increase feelings of hunger. As a result, instead of improving metabolism, the body is more likely to store energy.
