We’ve all heard that stress can lead to weight gain, but how does it really do that?
Chronic stress causes many harmful cycles that can lead to this excess weight and here are the top four ways this happens:
1 – Hormones:
When our brain feels threatened whether it is from a bull running at us or studying for an exam, our body releases adrenaline, CRH, and cortisol. In the short term, this makes us less hungry and feel alert and ready to “fight” or run away, “flight.”
Unfortunately, once the adrenaline wears off, cortisol stays in the body and signals us to replenish our food supply that we burned up in the fight or flight response.
Cortisol does this by controlling blood pressure, insulin release, and carbohydrate or fat metabolism. Since we are not running away from a bull and we are sitting at our desks working on homework, the eat more signal is NOT working in our favor.
The stress is also causing decreased blood sugar and fatigue, leading to more food. Moreover, our bodies are designed to store visceral fat deep in our bellies to use in times of need. It is difficult to get rid of and it releases cytokines that trigger inflammation. The chemicals released from these fat stores are linked to the development of heart disease and diabetes.
2 – Anxiety:
The adrenaline makes us alert and wired up, but it is also shown to trigger emotional eating.
The American Psychological Association conducted a survey that found that 40% of Americans deal with stress by eating. Many of the respondents also reported that they like to watch TV or do other inactive activities to destress.
Memories from childhood can also lead people to associate sweet foods with comfort. Eating for comfort and not being active lead to weight gain – and the cycle continues.
3 – Fast Food and Cravings:
Chronically stressed individuals report craving comfort foods that are easy to get, high in fat, sugar, and salt.
This concoction of food causes chemical changes in our brains that rewire the body (and stomach bacteria) to crave more of the unhealthy food. Cortisol plays into this role as well as the rewired reward system in the brain.
Stressed people are more likely to eat unhealthy food with easy access rather than use energy to plan and cook a healthy meal after a long day at work.
4 – Less Sleep:
With long days at class and then at work coupled with the hours of homework after, there is little room left for sleep.
Research also shows that chronic stress is a leading cause of insomnia or trouble sleeping.
Less sleep = more stress = less sleep.
With less sleep, people compensate with coffee or caffeine pills which further disrupts sleep. Lack of sleep disrupts ghrelin and leptin levels which control appetite.
In studies on weight loss – even with a fixed calorie diet, those with more sleep lost more weight.
How do we fix this?
Overall, our bodies just aren’t made to live under the chronic stress that is our everyday lives. This is why exercise and other stress relieving activities are so important to add to our schedule.
Those activities as well as sleep should be moved up into our priority list as a society if we want to see massive weight loss and healthier people.
How Stress Can Lead to Obesity
