Stress Less, Weigh Less?

by Liz Plosser


Can't seem to get the scale to budge? Before you blame your workout routine or meal plan, consider your stress level. We all react to pressure differently, but many of us find that we reach for a bag of chips or a candy bar when we're feeling anxious about something. And even if you don't typically make a stress-induced trip to the vending machine, your frazzled body naturally releases a hormone that can lead to the storage of fat in the belly, which is a real threat to your health.

The urge to turn to food in trying times dates back to the earliest humans, according to researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, who have published several studies on the stress and eating connection. When our ancestors faced a stressful situation, the body released the hormone cortisol, preparing its muscles for action. It just so happens that cortisol prompts people to crave comfort foodsóanything with sugar or fat, according to the study authors. Back then, such a response made sense: "Stress" meant drought or famine, among other life-threatening disastersóand sugary, fatty foods supplied the energy needed for survival.

But today, of course, we aren't fighting famineóour daily stressors tend to be things like unreasonable bosses, never-ending to-do lists, piles of bills, loneliness, lack of support and fights with loved ones. Yet we're still hard-wired to seek out fatty, sugary foods because they activate the brain's pleasure centers and tell our body that we have plenty of energy stores and that we're feeling good. It's no wonder that in the state of constant stress that so many of us live in, and despite our best efforts, it's challenging to melt away pounds.

The effects of stress go beyond the scale, though. Frazzled folks tend to store fat in their midsection thanks to cortisol, says assistant psychiatry professor at UCSF and study co-author Elissa Epel, Ph.D. "We think that both outside abdominal fat, which is a type of subcutaneous (right under the skin) fat, and inside abdominal fat (visceral) are affected by stress," says Epel, who notes that visceral fat also poses long-term health risks, including an increased chance for developing heart disease and diabetes. In one study, the UCSF scientists looked at the eating habits of overweight women and found that those with apple-shaped bodies (a bigger midsection) ranked themselves highest when it came to bad moods and job and life stress.

Unfortunately, stress can also interfere with the body's ability to metabolize fat efficiently, suggest a study from Ohio State University in Columbus. The researchers measured levels of triglyceridesóblood fats associated with heart attack and strokeóin a group of people that simply rested and another group that was given stressful tasks, such as writing and giving a speech or performing difficult word or math problems. It took those who were under pressure 15 percent longer to clear the triglycerides from their bloodstream, allowing these harmful fats to do more damage in the body.

While it's virtually impossible to live stress free, you can do a few things to cope better with everyday pressures. While researchers are studying which relaxation strategies aid weight loss and help shed abdominal fat, feel free to try them all out to see which ones work best for you. Exercise, yoga, meditation, hot baths or showers and even sex may help break the stress-eating connection because they activate the same feel-good spots in the brain that make us crave comfort foods. Spending time with friends and enlisting help so that you're not overwhelmed may also help break the stress-eating habit. And don't wait until you're mid-meltdown to give these strategies a whirl. The UCSF experts say that relaxation techniques may even reduce the psychological perception of stress. "We can't always change the stressful situations in our life, but we can improve how we manage or cope with them," Epel says.