Does stress make you fat?
Does stress contribute to becoming overweight. The short answer is YES!!
In the short-term stress can’t make you overweight as the body has protective systems to prevent it, but long-term stress can cause more fat production so eventually long term stress does make you fat.
Why does stress make you fat
Understanding why stress can contribute to weight gain is important to preventing it happening.
The main demon in the battle against stress and fat production is the chemical called Cortisol.
This is released by the adrenal glands, as a reaction to stress when things such as blood pressure raises or low sleeping patterns.
For those who don’t know what cortisol does, its main function is to produce blood sugar. If too much blood sugar is produced then it is used for fat production.
There is one more chemical that causes weight gain through stress and that’s serotonin. This is found in foods like pasta, potatoes and bread.
Serotonin is released to help relax the body. When people are stressed these foods help relax the body and make you feel better. The result is that you tend to want to binge on these foods and so in the longer term if you continue to eat oversized portions of these foods then they will end up with the problem o
Eating food you enjoy that is tasty and filling that avoids producing too much blood sugar is the long term way forward to ensure that you maintain the same weight.
How you can stop stress making you fat
The way to combat stress to prevent weight gain is so simple.
Quite simply exercise releases feel good chemicals from the brain also taking away the feeling of being hungry.
Of course eating foods that make you relax can work against you. If you don’t want stress to make you fat, or to contribute to you putting on weight you need to make modest changes to your lifestyle. This means taking action to reduce stress.
Whether it is yoga, going for regular walks try and become more active. Try to incorporate more fruit and vegetables in your diet.
Secondly anytime you have food cravings pour a pint of water and sip it over a period of 30 minutes and your cravings and hunger pains will disappear.
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