Anxiety and stress
can cause a number of undesired effects in your body, including hypertension,
depression and even an increased cancer risk. Stress can also contribute to
weight gain, leading to an increased risk of stroke, heart disease, diabetes
and other conditions. Unfortunately, stress is often taken for granted in
today's high-paced, demanding world.
How Stress Causes Weight Gain
The
ways that stress and anxiety can lead to weight gain are both physical and
emotional. You might find that you simply overeat when you are under a great
deal of stress. In addition, you might resort to eating comfort foods, which
are often high calorie and high in fat. Some foods favored when you're feeling
anxious, such as chocolate, even have chemicals in them that help temporarily
counteract some of the side effects of stress and anxiety. These foods,
however, provide calories, fat and excessive carbohydrates that often leads to
long-term weight gain.
Since
stress is often a result of an overly busy, frenetic lifestyles, you might also
often skimp on healthy eating choices when you're stressed. You rush from one
appointment to another, and instead of taking time to cook a healthy meal, you
run to the nearest drive-through. Although fast food outlets continue to offer
more and more healthy alternatives to the staple burger and fries, they still
aren't the best dietary choice, since even the healthiest fast foods are often
loaded with sodium.
Serotonin, Cortisol and Weight Gain
One
reason you may find yourself binging on carbohydrates when you feel anxious or
stressed is that carbohydrates temporarily raise serotonin levels. A powerful
neurotransmitter, serotonin affects your emotions, alleviating anxiety and
depression. The temporary lift you get from binging on carbohydrates, though,
is often followed by a crash, and it certainly isn't worth the increased
calories and resulting weight gain.
Another
chemical that may be related to stress and weight gain is cortisol. Cortisol is
a natural hormone that plays an important part in regulating the systems of the
body. The body seems to release higher levels of cortisol during stressful
periods, and some studies seem to indicate that these higher levels of cortisol
in the system lead to increased abdominal fat.
Avoiding Stress-Related Weight Gain
The
first step toward avoiding weight gain due to stress and anxiety is to be aware
of your eating habits. If you tend to binge when you are under stress, take
steps to reduce the amount of comfort food--usually high calorie snack
food--that is available to you. Increasing exercise also helps reduce stress,
and produces mood-lifting effects that can reduce your tendency to binge.
Since
stress is connected to a variety of health issues, it is also a good idea to
work on reducing your overall stress levels. Although it is not always easy or
possible, removing major sources of stress from your life will go a long way
toward reducing your chances of stress-related illness. Exercise also helps
reduce anxiety and stress, as does meditation or other focused relaxation
techniques.
Why We Gain
Weight When We’re Stressed and How Not To
Emotional
Eating under Stress
Have
you ever found yourself mindlessly eating a tub of ice cream while you brood
about your latest romantic rejection or eating a hamburger and fries in front
of your computer as you furiously try to make a work deadline? Perhaps you’re a
busy mom, eating cookies in your car as you shuttle the kids back and forth to
a slew of activities. Or you’re a small business owner desperately trying to
make ends meet when you suddenly realize your waistline has expanded. If you
recognize yourself in any of these scenarios, you’re not alone and it’s
probably not your fault. Stress
that goes on for a long period is a triple whammy for weight—it increases our
appetites, makes us hold onto the fat, and interferes with our willpower
to implement a healthy lifestyle.
Below
are the four major reasons stress leads to weight gain and four great
research-based coping strategies you can use to fight back.
When
your brain
detects the presence of a threat, no matter if it is a snake in the grass, a
grumpy boss, or a big credit card bill, it triggers the release of a cascade of
chemicals, including adrenaline, CRH, and cortisol. Your brain and body prepare
to handle the threat by making you feel alert, ready for action and able to
withstand an injury. In the short-term, adrenaline helps you feel less hungry
as your blood flows away from the internal organs and to your large muscles to
prepare for “fight or flight.” However, once the effects of adrenaline wear
off, cortisol, known as the “stress hormone,” hangs around and starts signaling
the body to replenish your food supply. Fighting off wild animals, like our
ancestors did, used up a lot of energy, so their bodies needed more stores of
fat and glucose. Today’s human, who sits on the couch worrying about how to pay
the bill or works long hours at the computer to make the deadline, does not
work off much energy at all dealing with the stressor! Unfortunately, we are
stuck with a neuroendocrine system that didn’t get the update, so your brain is
still going to tell you to reach for that plate of cookies anyway.
Belly Fat
In
the days when our ancestors were fighting off tigers and famine, their bodies
adapted by learning to store fat supplies for the long haul. The unfortunate
result for you and me is that when we are chronically stressed by life crises
and work-life demands, we are prone to getting an extra layer of “visceral fat”
deep in our bellies. Your belly has an ample supply of blood vessels and cortisol
receptors to make the whole process flow more efficiently. The downside is that
excess belly fat is unhealthy and difficult to get rid of. The fat releases
chemicals triggering inflammation, which increases the likelihood that we will
develop heart disease or diabetes. And it can make it more difficult to fit
into those lovely jeans you splurged on, leading to more stress about money
wasted! Unfortunately, excess cortisol also slows down your metabolism, because
your body wants to maintain an adequate supply of glucose for all that hard
mental and physical work dealing with the threat.
Anxiety
When
we have a surge of adrenaline as part of our fight/flight response, we get
fidgety and activated. Adrenaline is the reason for the “wired up” feeling we
get when we’re stressed. While we may burn off some extra calories fidgeting or
running around cleaning because we can’t sit still, anxiety can also trigger
“emotional eating.” Overeating or eating unhealthy foods in response to stress
or as a way to calm down is a very common response. In the most recent American
Psychological Association’s “Stress in America:” survey, a whopping 40% of
respondents reported dealing with stress in this way, while 42% reported
watching television for more than 2 hours a day to deal with stress. Being a
couch potato also increases the temptation to overeat and is inactive, which
means that those extra calories aren’t getting burned off. Anxiety can also
make you eat more “mindlessly” as you churn around worrying thoughts in your head,
not even focusing on the taste of the food, how much you’ve eaten, or when you
are feeling full. When you eat mindlessly, you will likely eat more, yet feel
less satisfied.
Cravings and Fast Food
When
we are chronically stressed, we crave “comfort foods,” such as a bag of potato
chips or a tub of ice cream. These foods tend to be easy to eat, highly
processed, and high in fat, sugar, or salt. We crave these foods for both
biological and psychological reasons. Stress may mess up our brain’s reward
system or cortisol may cause us to crave more fat and sugar. We also may have memories
from childhood,
such as the smell
of freshly baked cookies,, that lead us to associate sweet foods with comfort.
When we are stressed, we also may be more likely to drive through the Fast Food
place, rather than taking the time and mental energy to plan and cook a meal.
Americans are less likely to cook and eat dinner at home than people from many
other countries, and they also work more hours. Working in urban areas may mean
long, jammed commutes, which both increase stress and interfere with willpower
because we are hungrier when we get home later. A University of Pennsylvania
research study showed, in laboratory mice, that being “stressed” by exposure to
the smell of a predator lead the mice to eat more high-fat food pellets, when
given the choice of eating these instead of normal feed.
Do
you ever lie awake at night worrying about paying the bills or about who will
watch your kids when you have to go to work? According to the APA’s “Stress in
America” survey, more than 40% of us lie awake at night as a result of stress.
Research shows that worry is a major cause of insomnia.
Our minds are overactive and won’t switch off. We may also lose sleep because
of pulling overnights to cram for exams or writing until the early hours.
Stress causes decreased blood sugar, which leads to fatigue. If you drink
coffee or caffeinated soft drinks to stay awake, or alcohol to feel better,
your sleep cycle
will be even more disrupted. Sleep is also a powerful factor influencing weight
gain or loss. Lack of sleep may disrupt the functioning of ghrelin and
leptin—chemicals that control appetite.
We also crave carbs when we are tired or grumpy from lack of sleep. Finally,
not getting our precious zzzz’s erodes our willpower and ability to resist
temptation. In one study, overweight/obese dieters were asked to follow a fixed
calorie diet
and assigned to get either 5 and a half or eight and a half hours of sleep a
night (in a sleep lab). Those with sleep deprivation lost substantially less
weight.
How to Minimize Weight Gain When You’re
Stressed
Exercise
Aerobic
exercise has a one-two punch. It can decrease cortisol and trigger release of chemicals
that relieve pain and improve mood. It can also help speed your metabolism so
you burn off the extra indulgences.
Learn
Mindful Eating
Mindful
Eating programs train you in meditation,
which helps you cope with stress, and change your consciousness around eating.
You learn to slow down and tune in to your sensory experience of the food,
including its sight, texture or smell. You also learn to tune into your
subjective feelings of hunger or fullness, rather than eating just because it’s
a mealtime or because there is food in front of you. A well-designed study of
binge-eaters showed that participating in a Mindful Eating program led to fewer
binges and reduced depression.
Find
Rewarding Activities Unrelated to Food
Taking
a hike, reading a book, going to a yoga class, getting a massage, patting your
dog, or making time for friends and family can help to relieve stress without
adding on the pounds. Although you may feel that you don’t have time for
leisure activities with looming deadlines, taking time to relieve stress helps
you to feel refreshed, lets you think more clearly, and improves your mood, so
you are less likely to overeat.
Write
in a Journal
Writing down your
experiences and reactions or your most important goals
keeps your hands busy and your mind occupied, so you’re less likely to snack on
unhealthy foods. Writing can give you insight into why you’re feeling so
stressed and highlight ways of thinking or expectations of yourself that may be
increasing the pressure you feel. Writing down your healthy eating and exercise
goals may make you more conscious of your desire to live a healthier lifestyle
and intensify your commitment. Research studies have also shown that writing
expressively or about life goals can improve both mood and health.
