Another variable that helps predict hyperphagia or hypophagia during stress is how your body responds to a particular stressor. Put a bunch of subjects through the same experimental stressor (for example, a session on an exercise bicycle, a time-pressured set of math questions, or having to speak in public) and, not surprisingly, not everyone secretes the exact same amount of glucocorticoids. Furthermore, at the end of the stressor, everyone’s glucocorticoid levels don’t return to baseline at the same rate.
