Can stress make us fat?
Posted on 11 September 2009
Published September 11, 2009 . Filed under: Weight Loss, Women's Health
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Can stress exacerbate factors involved in weight gain?
Resounding agreement here !! !!
September 11, 2009 @ 11:28 pm
Thanks John yet again, for flagging up the science which backs up our observation and experience.
What would be really interesting is to see whether SRO individuals are able to lose weight more easily with interventions known to reduce cortisol such as falling in love, meditation or Autogenic Training, laughter, good life coaching, getting a pet, exercise (as a stress balancer rather than a calorie burner ), help to stop worrying, adrenal supporting herbs such as Rhodiola, ginseng, gotu kola, licquorice…
In my personal and professional experience (I’m a Mctimoney chiropractor) these are usually the critical factor.
Jane Lorimer
September 12, 2009 @ 9:37 pm
Is there any indication whether such stress-related weight gain is reversible, and if so, how this might be achieved?
September 14, 2009 @ 12:56 am
The implication may be to address ones’ stress levels.
The paradox is sometimes one achieves more by attempting less. Paul McKennas book, ‘I can make you thin’ is based, perhaps, upon the psychology of addressing life-stress and arguably also upon the way stress may impinge upon dietary and eating habits.
Dr Briffa has touched upon the benefits of ‘mindful eating’ recently.
Books such as Dr Briffas ‘True You Diet’ and Dr Barry Sears ’7-day Zone Diet give direction as to why and how to address the ‘industrial disease’ of hyper-insulinemia and consequentially are pivotal direction for achieving weight-loss.
Is it really necessary to go to such lengths to re-educate ones mind and dietary habits? In my own case as a type-2 diabetic I can suggest a myriad of reasons why that’s the case and suggest 7-million more why the same may apply to (some) other people.
The beer mat calculation is that 7 million new diagnoses of diabetes will be made in the period 2009-2015.
September 14, 2009 @ 2:07 am
I’d be interested to know here what the definitions are of ‘stress’ and ‘stressful event’ as these terms are not very precisely defined. So-called ‘stress’ can have positive benefits.
And then what should we make of the probably more prevalent observation that people will also tend to lose weight when dealing with ‘stressful’ situations.
The phrase in the above article – “…stress might make some people fat” – is a giveaway. Equally as valid is the phrase: “…stress might make some people thin”.
Nothing to see here, just move along, I feel.
September 14, 2009 @ 2:28 pm
The cortisol connection is interesting, it’s a factor in increasing insulin resistance even on a diurnal basis (“Dawn Phenomenon”) so probably the answer would be “the type of stress that chronically elevates cortisol makes you fat”
September 14, 2009 @ 9:24 pm
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September 23, 2009 @ 3:46 pm