Stress, Anxiety, and Weight Gain

7 Ways to Beat Stress Fat

Anxiety is a powerful trigger that can cause your body to pile on pounds. Here's how to stop it—fast
By Nancy Kalish prevention
 

Why Stress Makes You Hungry

For most of us, stress is a fact of life. Unfortunately, recent research reveals that it's also a fact of fat.

7 Ways to Beat Stress Fat // woman stress eating in front of computer © Thinkstock
Image: Thinkstock
"Even if you usually eat healthfully and exercise, chronic high stress can prevent you from losing weight—or even add pounds," says Pamela Peeke, MD, MPH, a Prevention advisor and the author of Body for Life for Women.

25 Ridiculously healthy foods

Here's what happens: Your body responds to all stress—physical or psychological—in exactly the same way. So every time you have a stressful day, your brain acts as though you're in physical danger and instructs your cells to release potent hormones. You get a burst of adrenaline, which taps stored energy so you can fight or flee. At the same time, you get a surge of cortisol, which tells your body to replenish that energy even though you haven't used very many calories in your stressed-out state. This can make you hungry... very hungry. And your body keeps on pumping out that cortisol as long as the stress continues.

Sadly, few of us reach for carrot sticks in these situations. "Instead, we crave sweet, salty, and high-fat foods because they stimulate the brain to release pleasure chemicals that actually do reduce tension," explains Elissa Epel, PhD, a researcher on stress eating at the University of California, San Francisco. This soothing effect becomes addicting, so every time you're anxious, you reach for fattening foods.

Why Stress Increases Body Fat
With your adrenal glands pumping out cortisol, production of the muscle-building hormone testosterone slows down.

"Over time, this drop causes a decrease in your muscle mass, so you burn fewer calories," explains Shawn Talbott, PhD, author of The Cortisol Connection. "This occurs naturally as you age, but high cortisol levels accelerate the process." Cortisol also encourages your body to store fat—especially visceral fat, which is particularly dangerous because it surrounds vital organs and releases fatty acids into your blood, raising cholesterol and insulin levels and paving the way for heart disease and diabetes. Obviously, getting rid of all anxiety isn't an option. But by taking these seven steps to beat stress, you can get your cortisol levels and your weight under control, and improve your overall health at the same time.

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