Is Your Mood Adding Inches to Your Waistline?
©2018 Health Realizations, Inc. Update
Most of us are all too well aware that overeating, eating junk food and not exercising are sure to expand our belt buckles another notch. But weight gain is not always so cut and dry. Oftentimes you may carefully watch what you eat, load your plate full of fruits and veggies, even exercise regularly ... and still not win the battle of the bulge.
In this latter case, your weight gain may have nothing to do with the foods you eat or the exercise you do, but rather with your emotional health.
A new study published in BMJ analyzed data from four medical screenings of over 4,300 British civil servants aged 35 to 55, including screenings that assessed mental health and measurement of height and weight.
People with a common mental health disorder, such as anxiety or depression, at all three previous screenings were twice as likely to be obese at the final screening compared with those who had no mental health disorder symptoms. Further, the risk of weight gain and obesity was the greatest for those who had more incidences of a common mental health disorder.
The connection between mental health and weight gain is not a new one.
Said Dr. Mark Dedomenico, M.D. in an MSN Health & Fitness blog post:
Depression, like anxiety, causes some release of cortisone from the adrenal glands. Cortisone will cause insulin resistance at the cellular level, making the delivery into the cells difficult. This in turn causes hunger and weight gain.”
Stress, Job Layoffs and Anxiety May All Impact Your Weight
Research has shown that more than 50 percent of Americans increase their food intake when feeling stressed out. In the past people would lose weight when faced with stressful situations, but the stress of the economy and fear of the unknown are causing people to put on weight.
In fact, the more anxious people get, the more they tend to turn to sugar, fat and salt to boost their mood, albeit temporarily. This explains why boredom, lots of free time at home and financial woes are three big factors that drive people to overeat.
Overeating aside, just being stressed out can cause you to gain weight in and of itself, according to the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation.
"Under stress, people conserve more fat, and we think that may be what's going on here," said psychologist and study co-author Tene Lewis of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
The study involved more than 2,000 women from their 40s through menopause, and the researchers asked them about unhappy events in their life over the past year. The results? Even after taking into account other factors that could affect weight gain (exercise habits, diet, smoking, etc.) it was found that the more bad things the women reported, the more weight they gained.
In other words, the greater the stress, the greater the women's weight.
So the link between stress and weight gain is not just the tendency to overeat when stressed, but the fact that your body produces a hormone called cortisol in response to stress, and increased cortisol causes your body to store fat. Therefore, even if you are watching your diet, stress can cause you to gain weight!
This is why getting into a positive state of mind and having proper relaxation are two of the most important keys to good health. They can help lower cortisol levels, effectively help you reduce stress and also contribute to weight loss at the same time.
Five Key Stress-Reduction Tips Based Upon Stress that is Proven to Cause Weight Gain in Women
Stress is as much a part of American culture as a cheeseburger and fries ... and it can be just as risky to your health. Even if you aren't facing any major troubles, just going about your daily routine ~ getting the kids ready for school, driving to the office, trying to hook up phone service, etc. - can expose you to loads of it.
At the least, stress is a nuisance and just plain doesn't feel good. It can manifest in a number of different ways. You may:
- Feel distracted or anxious
- Worry excessively
- Feel nervous
- Be tired or irritable
- Gain weight
That's right -- just being stressed out can cause you to gain weight, according to the Study of Women's FHealth Across the Nation. "Under stress, people conserve more fat, and we think that may be what's going on here," says psychologist and study co-author Tene Lewis of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
The study involved more than 2,000 women from their 40s through menopause, and the researchers asked them about unhappy events in their life over the past year. The results? Even after taking into account other factors that could affect weight gain (exercise habits, diet, smoking, etc.) it was found that the more bad things the women reported, the more weight they gained.
In other words, the greater the stress, the greater the women's weight. As if that weren't enough to contend with, stress ~ especially the chronic kind that lasts for weeks or months at a time - is a leading contributor to disease, presenting more serious symptoms like:
- Depression
- Increased risk of heart disease
- Fleadaches
- Nausea and vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Change in appetite
- Digestive problems
- Chest pain or pressure
- Heart racing
- Excessive fatigue
- Restlessness
- Dizziness
- Hyperventilation
Chronic Stress Wears Down the Immune System
If stress reaches beyond a manageable point, and you begin to feel that it's unending, out of your control or causing a change in your very identity, you are likely suffering from chronic stress. According to a study published in the July 2004 issue of the American Psychological Association's Psychological Bulletin, chronic stress is likely the worst kind of stress.
In the study, researchers confirmed that stress does in fact affect the immune system. Further, while short-term stress, like the kind that occurs when you're stuck in traffic, "revs up" the immune system to prepare your body for injury or a fight, chronic stress, like that from ongoing relationship problems, puts too much pressure on the immune system and causes it to break down. People who are already sick, and the elderly, are more vulnerable to stress-related changes in the immune system.
So, if your stress in ongoing, your immune system will not function at its optimal level, leaving you vulnerable to a host of diseases.
Five Keys to Manage Stress in Your Life
It's impossible to eliminate all stress from your life, but what you can do is learn how to manage the stress that is there in a more effective manner. Flere are five tips to do just that.
1. Exercise: "Exercise ... is a great stress reliever," Lewis says. Aside from strengthening your heart and lungs, two organs that can become physically affected from too much stress, it's great for your mental health too. Exercising increases the levels of endorphins in your body, which stimulate your immune system, reduce stress and put you in a better mood.
2. Take Time to Relax: This may sound easy, but how many of you reading this actually schedule time into your day to relax and enjoy life? It's imperative to do so, because without adequate down time, it will be near impossible to soothe your stress woes away. Relaxing can take on many forms, like:
- Meditation
- Yoga
- Prayer
- Gardening
- Reading
- Journaling
- Soaking in a bath
- Hiking, biking or swimming
The body and mind know how to relax - we just need to give them "permission" to do so.
3. Proper Sleep: Another essential tool for stress reduction is getting enough sleep. When we sleep, the stress hormone, cortisol, is lowered, but when we are sleep deprived, cortisol levels rise. Further, your energy levels will go down and you'll be less able to cope with any setbacks during your day. If you have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep (insomnia can certainly be a cause for stress in itself!).
4. Proper Nutrition: Fortifying your body with the nutrients it needs is key to reducing stress (and staying healthy while you're feeling it), as stress can actually rob your body of nutrients. This means eating plenty of fruits, vegetables and other antioxidant-rich foods while avoiding junk foods.
Although sugar and fats actually work to lower levels of stress hormones circulating in the body, according to a study in the Early Edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which is why we likely crave these foods when we're feeling stressed, in the long-term sugar and junk food will only further suppress the immune system and increase your chances of developing disease.
If you're under chronic stress and want to protect your immune system, you may want to consider adding a stress reduction supplement.
5. Build Strong Friendships: Because stress can lead to feelings of depression and even isolation, keeping a network of social ties can help to reduce those negative feelings and boost your mood. Says Psychologist Elissa Epel of the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, "Building strong friendships and developing new goals and priorities often can help curb stress.”
Relieving stress is important, so try not to stress about it. As Hans Selye, the man who first developed the theory on the influences of stress, said, "Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one."
More Tips to Ease Anxiety and Tension
Whenever you’re feeling anxious or depressed, you may be tempted to reach for food to help you cope. It’s also important to ease your stressful feelings so they don’t contribute to your weight on a hormonal level.
So it’s imperative that you set aside time each day to relax. This may sound easy, but how many of you reading this actually schedule time into your day to relax and enjoy life? It's essential to do so, because without adequate down time, it will be near impossible to soothe your stress woes away. Relaxing can take on many forms, like:
- Meditation
- Yoga
- Prayer
- Gardening
- Reading
- Journaling
- Soaking in a bath
- Hiking, biking or swimming
The body and mind know how to relax - we just need to give them "permission" to do so.
If you’re already eating healthy and exercising regularly, taking the time to relax and soothe your nerves may be just what you need to shed extra pounds and improve your sense of well-being ... all at the same time.
Sources
BMJ 2009:339:b3765
USAToday.com
American Psychological Association
eMedicine Health
The American Institute of Stress
Times Online
