Patients who drank a carbohydrate solution two hours before gallbladder surgery had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol two hours after surgery compared to patients who did not.
Mechanism
Synthesis from 1 study
Drinking a sugary drink before surgery tells the brain the body has enough energy, so it doesn’t need to release as many stress hormones. This leads to lower cortisol levels after surgery. The body also becomes less tense overall, which helps reduce another stress signal called noradrenaline.
Most probable mechanism
When a person drinks a sugary solution before surgery, the sugar is quickly absorbed into the blood, telling the brain that the body has enough energy. This reduces the brain’s signal to release stress hormones, which in turn lowers the amount of cortisol produced by the adrenal glands after surgery.
Oral ingestion of maltodextrin is rapidly broken down into glucose, increasing circulating blood glucose levels
Elevated glucose and insulin levels signal metabolic sufficiency to the hypothalamus, reducing the drive for stress-induced gluconeogenesis and counter-regulatory hormone release
Reduced hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing hormone release decreases pituitary adrenocorticotropic hormone secretion
Lower adrenocorticotropic hormone stimulation reduces adrenal cortisol synthesis and release
Less supported by current evidence, but not ruled out
Drinking a sugary solution before surgery reduces the body’s sense of being in a fasting or energy-deprived state, which lowers the activation of nerves that trigger stress responses, leading to reduced release of noradrenaline and a quieter overall stress reaction.
Oral carbohydrate intake mitigates the metabolic stress signal generated by preoperative fasting
Reduced metabolic stress signals from the hypothalamus and liver decrease sympathetic nervous system activity
Lower sympathetic outflow to the adrenal medulla reduces noradrenaline release into circulation
Evidence from Studies
Supporting (1)
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