Stress & Weight Loss - Can Former Affect Latter?

Stress is a very common problem in today’s world. There can be various reasons for stress like relationship problems such as interpersonal relationship difficulties, problems in handling social relationships, poor financial conditions, health issues, problems of coping with hurdles at the workspace and so on. Due to stress, our body can undergo a lot of chemical and physical changes. There can be an imbalance in the hormonal levels which may trigger physical changes such as weight loss.

So, due to the complications in this hectic world, each person is suffering from some amount of stress. We cannot escape from the common day to day problems and this may lead to an adverse effect on our health in the long run.

One should note that stress is not always bad, sometimes, it is important to experience stressful situations to increase the motivation to bring out the best in you. But in cases of stressful situations, the cortisol and adrenaline-like hormones are released. But when the stressful conditions are prolonged, the body release stress hormones more frequently and this may lead to the inflammation in the body at various location and lead to the weakening of the immune system.

Effect of stress on body weight-

• Stress creates a lot of impact on the body weight and metabolism of our body. You can actually gain weight due to stress. It is because the adrenal glands stimulate the brain to release cortisol in a continuous manner to produce more glucose in the liver to keep your energy state high.
• The stress leads to an increase in calorie intake as the person likes to eat a lot of fatty food and due to this, abdominal obesity increases. This can cause a greater risk for diabetes, heart diseases and weight issues.
• Also, the excess production of cortisol hormone can interfere with the production of testosterone and other hormones essential for the regulation of metabolism. The lower level of testosterone causes loss of muscles, strength reduction and gain in weight. Males who face the problem of deficiency of testosterone, may face a higher risk of getting enlarged breasts, erectile dysfunctioning and depression.
• Also, the catabolic rate increases under the influence of cortisol. This will lead to the loss of muscle strength and reduction in protein synthesis lead to difficulty in building mass.
• Therefore, chronic stress can cause disruption in the functioning of hormones and decreases the testosterone levels which in turn can lower down the metabolism. It leads to an increase in appetite and you may end up in eating junk food and this overeating can cause an increase in weight.
• It is really very important to have control over stress by eliminating the unnecessary tension by following certain ways. You can first identify what leads to stress and then the reasons responsible for the triggering of stressful situations. You can also opt for medications and other breathing techniques to keep yourself calm. You should always find time to exercise and it will help in reducing stress.