Crucially, cortisol also reverses the body’s anabolic processes. While an anabolic process builds up energy reserves, a catabolic process breaks them down for immediate use. Cortisol, as a catabolic steroid, blocks the effects of both testosterone and insulin; and it causes glycogen deposits to be broken down into glucose; fat cells into free fatty acids, an alternative energy source; and muscles into amino acids, which are then shunted to the liver to be converted into glucose. Cortisol has further effects in preparing us for a crisis: it suppresses the reproductive tract by inhibiting the
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