Role of cortisol in intermittent fasting

Intermittent fasting is a dietary strategy that is used with the primary purpose of losing weight, it has been practiced especially for religious reasons, but currently with interest from other groups. In periods of caloric restriction, metabolic processes occur, one of which involves secretion of cortisol as a mediator of stress. The aim of this review was to analyze the effect of intermittent fasting and the role of cortisol. The applied methodology corresponded to a documentary design, with the review of articles published in scientific databases such as Scielo, PubMed, Virtual Health Library in Spain (BSV), Dialnet, Scopus and Science Direct, using keywords related to the topic and selected under inclusion and exclusion criteria. From a total of 172 articles, 43 published in the last five years were selected, in English and Spanish. The results show improvements in the regulation of glucose, blood pressure and heart rate, effectiveness of resistance training and loss of abdominal fat, so that today it has been shown to positively favor diseases such as diabetes mellitus and its complications, directly or indirectly, especially due to the reduction in weight that it entails; However, the scientific evidence regarding the participation of cortisol as the main mediator is controversial, given its association with alertness and stress due to lack of food, especially in women.