Is stress causing you to gain weight around the middle of your body? A simple test could give you the nswer by measuring the levels of one of the stress hormones, cortisol. We know that a wide range of physical and emotional problems are linked to stress and no matter what the cause of your stress, if you are under pressure and your cortisol levels are high, you could be experiencing any of the following symptoms:

• A tendency to gain fat around your middle
• Increased appetite
• Increased cravings for chocolate, sweets, breads, cakes, caffeine and alcohol (particularly any combination of carbohydrates and fats, such as chocolate and cakes because they are particularly high in calories)
• Slump in the middle of the afternoon, around 3 or 4pm when you know you are going to need a cup of tea or coffee and/or something sweet to get you through the afternoon
• Your immune system is low (you get frequent colds and infections)
• Headaches
• Nail biting or skin picking around the nails
• Teeth grinding (the best way to tell if you are grinding is to attempt a bowl of muesli for breakfast, if your aching jaws steer you towards porridge, see your dentist about a cushioning bite guard)
• High cholesterol
• Blood sugar swings
• Digestive problems (such as bloating and flatulence)
• Chest pains - (you must see your doctor if you are getting chest pains but the effects of the stress hormones can mimic heart problems)
• Muscle aches and pains
• Shoulder and neck pain (stress hormones will keep certain muscles tense ready for fight or flight)
• Hair loss
• Irregular periods or no periods (your reproductive system is the only system your body can shut down without killing you, so when you are stressed your body may divert energy and resources away from your reproductive organs)
• Difficulty in concentrating or forgetfulness
• Depression
• Increased premenstrual symptoms (PMS)
• Slower metabolism (which makes it harder to lose weight in general)
• Low sex drive
• Tiredness but an inability to sleep well
• Tendency to get a second wind in the evening
• Waking up in the middle of the night, finding it hard to get back to sleep and then desperately want to continue sleeping in the morning when you should be getting up (the last two points are caused by your daily cortisol rhythm being out of sync. Cortisol should be starting to rise in the morning ready for you to wake up and be alert and then quieten down at night ready for sleep).

Now there's an easy way to find out whether your stress these imbalances are affecting how you feel by taking the Adrenal Stress Test.

This simple safe and non-invasive test can determine your cortisol levels using four saliva samples which you can easily collect at home or at work. You will be sent your results and a report showing you what those results mean and what you do about them.

So if you would like to find out if your adrenal hormones are out of balance and what your stress levels are like, then you should send for this test now.