Can Stress Make You Gain Weight?

With so many that experience chronic stress in their lives, it’s no wonder that obesity is also such a huge issue in many societies. Stress management is often overlooked by those looking to lose weight. You may have heard that stress can make you gain weight and have wondered why that is.

Research has shown that stress can indeed lead you to gain weight through a combination of hormonal changes that occur from the stress along with the habits that these hormones can induce. One main culprit is cortisol, which is released as a result of prolonged stress to replenish energy levels in the body, thus increasing cravings of unhealthy, sugary foods.

How Stress Affects The Body

Stress is how your body reacts to a real or perceived threat. It is an evolutionary response meant to protect us. Our ancestors primarily faced physical threats such as war scenarios or animal attacks. When you are in physical danger, stress is useful because it prepares you to either fight or escape. This is known as the “fight or flight” response. Occasional stress is not harmful and is very normal. However, stressors have changed a lot in recent years with the introduction of a global, connected world. It is now hard to be present since you may carry around a phone all day which connects you to work, friends, family, etc. 

Because of this, long prolonged stress is becoming more common as the brain can’t seem to resolve the stresses it faces. Problems are more complicated. You may be thinking about debt, a job you don’t like, homework that is due in a few days, your sick family member, or the fact that everyone else’s lives seem to look better than yours on social media. If you aren’t careful, you will carry around stress all day which is what starts to cause issues with your health. This is because you are exposing your body to prolonged periods of this “fight or flight” response which is only meant to be experienced on occasion.

The stress response begins in the amygdala, which is the part of the brain that deals with emotion. It then contacts the hypothalamus which is a command center that speaks with the rest of the body through the nerves. The hypothalamus triggers a release of adrenaline which increases heart rate and the intake of oxygen. It also releases glucose to parts of the body for energy.

Cortisol is released as well to replenish energy stores and regulate many different bodily functions. It also diverts energy from systems perceived as unnecessary in a stressful situation such as the digestive, reproductive, and immune systems. Cortisol fluctuates throughout the day and is highest in the morning when you wake up. Prolonged cortisol levels due to chronic stress contributes to numerous health issues such as high blood pressure, anxiety, digestion issues, and weight gain.

How Can Stress Make You Gain Weight?

The high levels of cortisol start to have negative effects on your weight because it affects both your habits and fat storage. Due to the drop in blood sugar as part of the stress response, your body will seek to replenish those energy stores. So you may feel a particular enticing for sugary and fatty foods. Cortisol even affects how your fat is stored. It actively facilitates the storage of excess nutrients as fat in the body, particularly in the belly region. High cortisol levels are correlated with high visceral and belly fat which is the most harmful type of fat for your health. It has even been shown to slow your metabolism. Stress also leads you to seek out other possibly unhealthy forms of stress relief such as T.V. binging and affects your sleep, further harming your health.

Your body is really trying to help you deal with the stressful situation by increasing energy and alertness and it sees some weight gain or fat storage as unimportant when compared with your survival. However, the constant stress that we create in our heads through excessive worry is what confuses our body into thinking that we are in constant danger. This is how our body can unintentionally harm itself through its own stress response.

What You Can Do About It

Now that you know how stress can slowly wreck your weightloss goals, it is time you incorporate some stress reduction techniques into your fitness routine. There are multiple articles here regarding stress which may be good to look into. However, here are some great stress reductions methods you can try:

Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness meditation originates from Eastern medicine and is now backed by some heavy research demonstrating its ability to help manage stress. The Journal of Psychosomatic Research published a study showing how mindfulness-based practices improved the physiological effects of stress and helped to reduce cortisol production. 

Mindfulness puts your mind into the present moment, helping you spend less time in abstract thought, worrying about things that don’t really exist. Consistent practice can help you to remain more in this state and be less concentrated on future or past stressors that can’t be controlled. So give it a try. You can start with just a few minutes a day.

Exercise

Exercise is a great way to combat stress-induced weight gain because it attacks the problem from both sides. The exercise releases endorphins to make you feel good and more relaxed. It also burns calories and builds muscle at the same time which further enhances fat loss. The American College of Sports Medicine states here that exercise reduces stress by both giving the body a break from stressors as well as improving the way the body handles stress through healthier hormone production.

Most of the research has been performed on aerobic exercise such as running, walking, or other sports. However, it is a good idea to also include some resistance training into your routine. Just getting in 20-30 minutes of exercise a day has shown to be helpful in reducing your overall stress. It is best if the activity is something that you enjoy and is interesting enough to occupy your mind.

There are of course many methods you can use to reduce stress in your life but these are some of the most researched.

Don’t Stress About It!

The purpose of this article wasn’t to cause you to stress more about your stress, but rather to recognize that it does play a factor in your overall health and should be given some time and attention. Everyone should learn to recognize their level of stress and have tools at their disposal to combat it. So take a look at your life and see where your stress is at, and look at ways to improve.

Your body will thank you.