Stress, Cortisol and Weight Gain

Many of us have heard that stress can cause weight gain. In our society, we are constantly under pressure to work more, play less and succeed. All in all, we are expected to accomplish more than we possibly can in a twenty-four hour period of time. This can lead to chronic feelings of anxiety and stress. We all know the correlation between too much stress and the poor lifestyle choices that can develop as a result. For example, we may abandon our healthful eating choices or exercise routines because we feel that there is “just not enough time” to take care of ourselves. Even when we do manage to eat well and exercise, we can still gain weight when under chronic stress due to our hormonal responses to stress. While we cannot control much of what causes us stress, we do have some control over our responses to this stress which in turn can give us more control over our weight.

To explain why our bodies can gain weight when under chronic stress, it is important to understand how the body works. When we are under stress, our body goes into what is known as “fight or flight” mode. This means quite simply that our bodies make an unconscious choice to fight something head on, or to run away from something in a stressful and time-sensitive situation. When we experience this intense stress, our body creates a quick burst of energy that alters our metabolism, blood flow, and chemicals in the body. More specifically, the hormone cortisol is released to prepare us to manage the stressful situation. This is all well and good when we experience occasional stress. Problems begin to arise when we undergo chronic stress, and the body is continually pumping out cortisol.

Chronic stress and cortisol release can lead to weight gain in many ways:
• Slowing our metabolisms down, causing the body to be less efficient when burning calories
• Increasing food cravings for foods with more fat, salt, and sugar, as these foods cause the body to release pleasure hormones (such as dopamine) to counter-effect the stress.
• Altering blood sugar levels. When blood sugar is not consistently leveled, we may experience things like mood swings, tiredness, and feeling shaky and irritable.
• Affecting where we store fat. People who are under constant stress have been shown to have higher levels of abdominal fat. This is dangerous for many reasons, one of which is that the higher the fat levels around our abdomen; the likelier we are to develop chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.

Stress can often cause us to make food choices that are not the best for our health. We may also feel stressed out by the idea of squeezing in gym time when we are under pressure to complete all of our daily tasks.

The dangerous combination of excess stress, cortisol, and the way stress impacts our lifestyle choices can lead to weight gain and other health risks. It is important to find stress management techniques that work for you in order to keep our bodies and metabolisms working efficiently.

Here are some quick tips to help you manage stress:

1. Practice letting go by making a conscious choice not to become angry or upset by stressful situations or people (don’t sweat the small stuff
2. Breathe slowly and deeply
3. Practice taking things more slowly than usual, and become more mindful of your actions and behaviors as you go about your day
4. Try to find and implement an effective time management strategy, and avoid multi-tasking when you can
5. Get outdoors for a break- being outdoors can be very soothing
6. Drink plenty of water and eat small, nutritious snacks
7. Do a quick posture check. Hold your head and shoulders upright and avoid stooping or slumping
8. Plan something rewarding (not food related) for the end of your busy day