If you eat protein, fat, or just drink water before a stressful situation, your body’s stress hormone (cortisol) reacts about the same no matter what you ate or drank.

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Pro

43

Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (0)

0

Community contributions welcome

No supporting evidence found

Contradicting (1)

43

Community contributions welcome

43

Glucose but not protein or fat load amplifies the cortisol response to psychosocial stress.

Randomized Controlled Trial

Human

2002 May

The study found that drinking water, eating protein, or eating fat all led to similar stress hormone levels, which matches the claim — but eating sugar made the stress hormone go up higher than the others.

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

Glucose but not protein or fat load amplifies the cortisol response to psychosocial stress.

Score: 43

DOI: 10.1006/HBEH.2002.1766

Similar Assertions

If you're a healthy young man and you eat protein, fat, or drink water before a stressful situation, your stress hormone (cortisol) doesn't go up much more than if you'd eaten sugar instead.

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When healthy young men get stressed, the more their stress hormone (cortisol) spikes, the more their blood sugar tends to go up too.

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