Research

Hormonal

Long-term energy balance is regulated by the reciprocal, antagonistic signals of glucocorticoids and insulin, where glucocorticoids stimulate food intake and insulin inhibits it, with the ratio of these hormones determining overall energy acquisition and deposition.

Your body's long-term weight regulation depends on the balance between stress hormones (glucocorticoids) and insulin. High stress can drive hunger, but this is modulated by insulin levels. Managing both stress and insulin sensitivity is key to regulating energy balance, rather than focusing on just one factor.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
We have proposed that the combined but antagonistic signals of glucocorticoids and insulin are major long-term regulators of both energy intake and energy storage... Thus glucocorticoids and insulin are reciprocal signals for energy balance.
Alison M. Strack et al. · American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology · 1995

Why this rating

Strong experimental evidence in animal models (rats) with controlled hormone clamping, though translational to humans requires caution.

Source

Glucocorticoids and insulin: reciprocal signals for energy balance

Alison M. Strack et al. · American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology · 1995

DOI 10.1152/ajpregu.1995.268.1.r142

mechanism_onlyCited 332×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →