SUMAN AHUJA¹, JAMES D. CALDWELL¹, BRUCE C. SHANKS¹, RENE FLORES*²
*Corresponding author
1. Lincoln University Dept. of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences 904 Chestnut Street Jefferson City, MO 65101, USA
2. The University of Texas Health Science Centre at Houston Centre for Nursing Research 6901 Bertner Avenue Houston, TX 77030, USA

ABSTRACT: Obesity has reached epidemic proportions world-wide with approximately 1.6 billion adults overweight (Body Mass Index (BMI) ≥ 25kg/m²), almost 400 million clinically obese (BMI ≥ 30kg/m²), and an estimated 2.3 billion people will be overweight by the year 2015 (1). Obesity is a major risk factor for several chronic diseases and is a multi-factorial disorder that includes many contributing factors such as quality and quantity of food consumption, physical activity, hormonal imbalance, and life style choices. Of these, new attention has been given to certain hormones elevated by macronutrients and their relationship with other disorders. There has been speculation that moderate increase in cortisol levels may lead to an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, glucose intolerance, hypertension, and dyslipidemia, all classic conditions associated with metabolic syndrome (2). In fact, it has been reported that exposure to elevated maternal cortisol levels may have a negative impact on the fetus, which may result in predisposition to high blood pressure, elevated basal stress-induced glucocorticoid, and other features of metabolic synd ... ...