A major thing that affects everyone nowadays is surely the stress of everyday!
Some people know how to deal with it, and others get frustrated and go crazy!
Whether we’re stressed because of constant and crazy demands at work, at home, or when facing a new situation or condition in life, our body responds like we’re about to fight for our lives.
This need causes a burst of energy, shifts in metabolism and blood flow, and many other changes.
But the question: Does stress make us gain weight???
There are several ways in which stress can contribute to weight gain.
One has to do with cortisol, a stress hormone that is released when we stress out.
Unfortunately This hormone contributes to weight gain in the following ways:
– Cravings: Did you ever see someone stressing out and binging on a nice salad to relax! That’s impossible!
People experiencing chronic stress tend to crave more fatty, salty and sugary foods. Typical examples include sweets, fast foods, more bread, pasta, so mainly foods containing a lot of carbohydrates and fat to increase serotonin( brain hormone) and thus to feel good. . These food will definitely lead to an increase in body weight.
– High blood sugar: Prolonged stress can alter your blood sugar levels, causing mood swings, fatigue, and hyperglycemia (high blood sugar level). Too much stress has even been linked to metabolic syndrome, an important health concern that can lead to greater health problems, like heart attacks and diabetes.
– High fat storage: Excessive stress even increase our fat storage in the fat adipose tissues. Higher levels of stress are linked to greater levels of abdominal fat, which unfortunately, is not only undesirable, but it’s also linked with greater health risks than fat stored in other areas of the body.
– Metabolism: A lot of people think that stressing out causes them a higher metabolism that’s why they tend to eat more!
But the truth is too much cortisol can slow your metabolism, causing more weight gain than you would normally experience.
Emotional eating and stress are no doubts connected in a way, and the big reason we’re seeing more obesity in our society these days is that people are too stressed and busy to make healthy food choices.