How does stress affect weight loss and overall health?

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  A Dr. Andrea Pennington, MD , Integrative Medicine, answered

  The hustle and bustle of life naturally creates a certain amount of pressure that actually helps us function. Constant stress, however, can wreak havoc on your emotional as well as physical health. Aside from causing anxiety, depression and sleep deprivation, stress can lead to hypertension, unwanted weight loss or gain, and an increased vulnerability to colds and infections. To help combat stress, practice yoga, meditation and other relaxation techniques. Take at least 15 minutes out of each day for you time. You deserve it.
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  A Mrs. Marjorie Nolan Cohn , Nutrition & Dietetics, answered on behalf of Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

  Stress can make weight loss more difficult for many people for several reasons. First, stress causes many people to stress eat. Stress eating is a type of emotional eating, which contributes to excess calories and when done often enough causes weight gain. In addition, the types of food people crave when stressed are usually high fat and sugar. Second, stress causes the body to produce more of the hormone cortisol. Cortisol is a stress hormone that promotes body fat and makes it harder to lose weight, especially around the stomach. Third, when someone is stressed they generally sleep less. Less sleep, chronic fatigue causes the hormone ghrelin to rise. Ghrelin is the primary hunger hormone, and causes someone to feel hungry even when they don’t need to eat.

  For other people, stress causes weight loss, but not in a good way. For those people that lose their appetite weight loss is unhealthy and can cause dehydration, weakness, and suppresses the immune system. Overall health is negatively affected.

   

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