All of us have those weeks when we overdose on stress, leaving us to soothe our misery with late-night ice cream binges. But before your shame spiral over your lack of self-control, weak willpower isn't the only thing to blame in these situations.

Meet cortisol, the stress hormone which is responsible for your body's "push or pull" mechanism. It's been called public health enemy number one for its link to heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, memory loss and more. It might also be responsible for weight gain and throwing habits off the rails. Here's how cortisol might be messing with your body, and what you can do about it.

What Is Cortisol? Jen Landa MD, chief medical officer of BodyLogicMD, a group of physicians who specialize in bioidentical hormone therapy, explains this hormone.

Imagine this scenario: you are walking around the kitchen when you suddenly saw something burning. Your body then activates its fight or flight response, preparing to protect yourself from possible harm. The hypothalamus region of the brain, responsible for triggering this response, sends messages to the adrenal glands telling them to release cortisol and adrenaline. This causes the liver to release sugar into the bloodstream and increase blood flow to the heart, increasing heart rate. 

Health.com reported that when you're in a dangerous situation, high amounts of sugar in your bloodstream is needed just in case you need to weight bearing. Landa says, "Problem is these days many are living at 80 percent "dangerous mode" all the time, and having a stress response like this becomes defective." This response can only be helpful for dealing with short-term crises.

Research shows that high cortisol levels may be the reason for stress eating. One study found that women eat more, especially sweets on days they were stressed out than on days they weren't. Jennifer McDaniel RD who specializes in weight management related that the sugar-released activated by the increase in cortisol levels doesn't enter the cells for energy, but stays in the bloodstream. In turn, this disrupts the system and increases hunger signals to the brain, leading to an increased appetite for high-calorie foods.