The release of cortisol that results from repeated stressful events can lead to an increase in the accumulation of ______ and subsequently the release of free fatty acids into the blood stream.

Cortisol, the primary stress hormone, promotes the accumulation of visceral abdominal fat through glucocorticoid receptor activation in adipose tissue concentrated in the abdominal area. This visceral fat is highly metabolically active and, when stimulated, releases free fatty acids into the bloodstream, increasing cardiovascular and metabolic disease risk.

Subcutaneous fat is stored directly under the skin rather than in the visceral abdominal region, and cortisol preferentially drives fat accumulation in the visceral depot, not subcutaneous tissue.

Cholesterol is a lipid molecule and steroid precursor, not a fat depot whose accumulation is directly driven by cortisol-induced stress responses in the same mechanistic pathway.

Lipids are a broad category of molecules including fats and cholesterol; while free fatty acids are a type of lipid, 'lipids' is not the specific depot that accumulates due to cortisol and subsequently releases free fatty acids.