Hello and welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition.

To start today's episode, let me ask you a question.

Do you ever feel like the stress in your life just won't let up?

Or do you feel these effects of stress on your

health maybe? Or do you have a hard time keeping up with the day-to-day task because you're

exhausted all the time? But then when it's time for bed, your brain is wired and you can't

fall asleep. Do you feel like a lesser version of yourself because you feel like

you're running on empty all the time? If it sounds like you, stay tuned because today we're talking

about cortisol, the stress hormone, and how it affects your energy, weight, mood, and your overall

health. But before we go any further, I want to take a moment to

introduce ourselves. I'm Melanie Beasley, and I've been a registered and licensed dietitian for

over 35 years. Joining me today is Brandy Burrow, who is also a registered and licensed dietitian.

Thanks for joining me today. How many years for you? I think we are approaching. Let me do the math, 14 years.

But thanks for having me here today, Mel. I'm happy to be here with you today because this is a really important topic.

I can't think of anybody in my life who is not under a lot of stress right now.

And all the clients that I'm working with are exhausted, you know,

but they can't get good rest. They're anxious all the time. They're wired and tired by the end of the day.

But they just can't shut it off. Does that sound like you? So today we're going to be answering

a lot of questions that are probably on your mind,

like what causes high cortisol? Can high cortisol cause weight gain? And of course, what can I

do about it? And we'll talk about how to balance cortisol naturally and what a healthy

cortisol pattern looks like. So if you are feeling tired but you're wired,

...