Nervous breakdown: how stress hormones affect weight and what to do about it?

It is no secret that stress has a negative impact on health. It can provoke insomnia, because of it the condition of the skin and well-being in general deteriorates. In addition, excessive worries can cause excess weight. Natalia Kozitskaya, nutrition consultant, member of the National Association of Clinical Nutrition, partner of the International Festival of Health and Sports SN PRO EXPO FORUM, tells us why it happens and how to cope with it.

Emotional overeating

Stressful overeating has several physiological causes. One of them is a habit that has been established over hundreds of generations.

Over many years of evolution, humans have developed one of the universal adaptogenic mechanisms – chewing movements cause us a feeling of stability and calmness: if there is food, everything is already good! Therefore, many people, without realizing it, experience this ancient way of the body’s fight against stress.

Hormonal changes

However, there are also deeper causes. The body responds to any change in internal or external factors with hormonal changes. The endocrine system plays an important role in the vital activity of the body and regulates almost all processes in it. If all organs are visualized as an orchestra consisting of musicians with a variety of instruments, the endocrine system will act as a conductor.

The endocrine system responds to stressors by increasing the production of some hormones and decreasing others. For different types and levels of stress, this “hormone set” will be different.

Thus, in response to a short-term extreme situation, the adrenal glands produce a whole bunch of hormones, chief among which is adrenaline. This “invigorating” biologically active substance when it enters the bloodstream causes a surge of strength, increased blood pressure, rapid heartbeat and complete lack of appetite. Such feelings are experienced, for example, when a person jumps from a parachute or runs away from danger. Such a state is also called “hit or run”.

Adrenaline, cortisol and metabolism

Adrenaline briefly speeds up the metabolism, as energy is needed for skydiving or running fast.

It is believed that periodically experiencing adrenaline surges is even useful, of course, if they are accompanied by positive emotions. So we say yes to extreme episodes like skydiving, river rafting or an exciting first date.

However, frequent and prolonged stay in stress leads to the fact that the “hormonal set” can change. The body, realizing that the extreme is delayed, decides to connect to the fight against it “heavy artillery”, where the main weapon becomes the stress hormone cortisol. This hormone itself and in small doses is also not bad, but its prolonged production leads to negative results.

One of the most unpleasant “side effects” of cortisol is an increase in appetite and a severe slowing of metabolism. Metabolism is largely subject to the cruel laws of the primitive period, when any danger was associated with problems with sustenance. That is why, experiencing prolonged “cortisol” stress, metabolism inappropriately turns on genetic memory and begins to store energy in store. And the reserves are deposited in the form of the most energy-consuming substance – fat.

That’s how we start to gain kilograms quite imperceptibly during prolonged unjustified stress. And they are stored in the most unpleasant places: around the waist and abdomen, around the internal organs. If you leave such internal – visceral – fat without attention, in the near future it will lead to serious health problems.

Before going on rigid diets, analyze whether the extra pounds in the waist area have not appeared due to prolonged stress? Is not the increase in appetite provoked by troubles at work, anxiety for loved ones, chronic sleep deprivation or emotional overload? But do not overdo it with diets. Frightened by interruptions in nutrition, the body can gain even more reserves on the waist and buttocks. Therefore, weight loss should be approached wisely.