When male rats are stressed by being stuck in a small space for an hour, twice a day, for two weeks or a month, their bodies produce less insulin—even though their blood sugar goes up. This suggests their pancreas isn’t releasing insulin properly.

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Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

11

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Effect of chronic psychological stress on insulin release from rat isolated pancreatic islets.

Cohort Study

Animal

2006 May 30

The study found that stressed rats had less insulin in their blood after 15 and 30 days, even though their blood sugar was high — just like the claim said. But surprisingly, their pancreas cells could still make insulin just fine in a dish, so the problem isn’t the pancreas failing — something else is blocking insulin release in the body.

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Source Study

Effect of chronic psychological stress on insulin release from rat isolated pancreatic islets.

Score: 11

DOI: 10.1016/J.LFS.2005.12.032

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