Controlled study
Acute stress, cortisol and intake: the Geliebter experiment
In Geliebter's experiment involving 20 women with obesity, comparing a cold pressor with warm water on counterbalanced days, no statistically significant relationship was found between the cortisol response and food intake.
- Evidence design
- Controlled, counterbalanced crossover experiment; order randomization unverified
- Population
- Twenty women with obesity, assessed while fasting and after an acute laboratory stressor.
Keep in view
- Experiment in 20 women; counterbalanced days, with order randomization unverified in the consulted scope.
- A statistically nonsignificant association does not establish the absence of any relationship.
- Do not extrapolate the acute laboratory stressor to chronic stress or weight loss.
See study details — Cortisol and intake experiment
Study design and methods
Controlled, counterbalanced crossover experiment; order randomization unverified
Controlled crossover experiment on two counterbalanced days: a hand in ice-cold water for two minutes versus warm water. Random assignment of the order was not confirmed; do not label it a randomized trial.
Population
Twenty women with obesity, assessed while fasting and after an acute laboratory stressor.
- Study design
- Controlled crossover experiment on two counterbalanced days: a hand in ice-cold water for two minutes versus warm water. Random assignment of the order was not confirmed; do not label it a randomized trial.
- Reported sample count
- 20
- Role of the reported sample count
- Reported study sample; not necessarily the denominator for each outcome
- Included study count
- 1
- Role of the study count
- Single study
- Research question
- Does the cortisol response to an acute stressor predict appetite or intake at a subsequent meal?
- Qualified findings
- The ice-cold-water test increased cortisol and perceived stress but did not increase intake at the test meal. Hunger and desire to eat decreased in acute measurements; cortisol concentration did not show a significant relationship with subsequent intake in this experiment.
- Estimand and analysis rules
- Not reported or not verified
- Reason the formal estimand is unavailable
- A complete formal estimand was not extracted from the verified input.
What the curated evidence supports
- In Geliebter's experiment involving 20 women with obesity, comparing a cold pressor with warm water on counterbalanced days, no statistically significant relationship was found between the cortisol response and food intake.
Limitations
- Experiment in 20 women; counterbalanced days, with order randomization unverified in the consulted scope.
- A statistically nonsignificant association does not establish the absence of any relationship.
- Do not extrapolate the acute laboratory stressor to chronic stress or weight loss.
Verification scope
Verified through 2026-11-04 within the consulted scope.
- Bibliographic metadata checked
- Yes
- Original article abstract consulted
- Yes
- Full-text consultation
- Not consulted
- full text verified fields
- Official trial registry consulted
- No
- Statistical analysis plan consulted
- No
- Verification boundary
- Verification is limited to the input's identified abstract/full-text fields. A trial identifier linked by an article does not imply a separate registry review.
Source record
Plasma cortisol levels in response to a cold pressor test did not predict appetite or ad libitum test meal intake in obese women (2012)
Source identifiers
- PubMed record 22983369
- PubMed Central: PMC3490010
- Article DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2012.08.025