Stress and Weight Gain

Stress has been strongly correlated to weight gain with increasing evidence to support it. It is important to understand that there are different levels of stress as well as different types of stress. Acute stress (stress that lasts only for a short period of time) will activate adaptive responses (responses to maintain balance and performance of the body) which suggests could be useful for the body as it may increase motivation and performance. However, a second type of stress, chronic or prolonged stress, may compromise this adaptability and create dysfunction within the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis) – also known as our stress response.

Harding et al. (2014) reported that psychosocial stress was positively associated with weight gain and Mouchacca J et al. (2013) also showed that increased social stress in women was associated with an increased risk of having a higher BMI, and of being obese. In addition, Mouchacca J et al. (2013) also suggested that chronic stress decreased motivation and reduced daily movement, again adding to the risk of weight gain, an increased BMI and being obese..

It has been well documented that early trauma, in a person’s life, has a substantial impact on weight gain and obesity. Hemmingsson (2018) showed that childhood social environment including low self-esteem, insecurity, emotional turmoil and stress play an important role in weight gain. These stresses led to self-medication with junk food. Barcin-Guzeldere and Devrim-Lanpir, (2021) also showed that negative emotions trigger overeating of high-fat and sugary foods and a reduced ability to follow healthy eating patterns.

When looking at the biochemical changes within the body that continuous stress creates, the ever-increasing levels of cortisol need to be considered. Cortisol is an important hormone, produced by the adrenal glands, that affects almost every organ and tissue in the body. It will regulate the body’s stress response as well as playing a role in our metabolism and how the body utilises carbohydrates, fats and proteins.

If cortisol levels stay high and do not get the opportunity to drop, it can lead to insulin and leptin resistance as well as cortisol resistance. This creates the following scenario whereby your body is unable to respond well to insulin, therefore cells in the body cannot take up glucose from the blood. If blood glucose levels are elevated, the body starts to store the excess glucose (as fat), leading to weight gain. .

Another effect cortisol has on the body is to stimulate appetite and encourage an intake of highly palatable foods such as salty, fatty, or sweet foods. This can then lead to cravings and an uncontrolled eating behaviour (Chao et al., 2017).

In addition, the continued stress (and therefore increased cortisol levels) stimulates the breakdown of fat and carbohydrates, creating a rush of energy in the body, increasing appetite further (Lee, 2016). With appetite being stimulated but motivation and movement decreasing, an increased BMI, weight gain and risk of obesity is likely to happen.

As previously mentioned, continuously high cortisol levels can lead to leptin resistance. Leptin is our satiety hormone, created in our fat cells, it indicates to the brain when we are full and can stop eating. If we have more fat cells, then we have more leptin. Leptin resistance will reduce the ability of leptin to suppress appetite leading to weight gain (Liu et al., 2022).

Furthermore, it is likely that stress (signified by high levels of cortisol) will reduce the quality of sleep by increasing the time it takes to fall asleep as well as creating a broken sleep. If we are sleeping less then this will further activate our body’s stress response, again increasing cortisol levels, which will further disrupt sleep. Chaput et al. (2022) demonstrated that sleeping less than 5 or 6 hours a day has a 38% increased risk of obesity compared with those who slept more.

When looking at how we can help with this issue, Schultchen et al. (2019) demonstrated that physical activity leads to reduced stress and increased mood but that increased stress and decreased mood lead to less physical activity. He suggested that in order to “break the cycle of inactivity, stress, and negative affect” it is important to focus on improving physical activity habits. However, van Strien, T (2018) suggests that you should focus on developing skills to regulate emotion first, look at lifestyle behaviours, a support network as well as understand the potential for genetic susceptibility.

It seems clear that a multi-staged approach is needed in tackling weight gain caused by stress, as stress can be caused by so many varied factors. Considering environmental factors such as where people live or work, social behaviours and support networks as well as genetic susceptibility, is important. In addition, working on any previously undealt with trauma or emotional stress plus physical activity habits all need to be included. This can be followed by improving dietary habits - blood sugar balancing, balancing macros as well as looking at food timing, sleep patterns and circadian misalignment.

Biography

Barcın-Güzeldere, H.K. and Devrim-Lanpir, A. (2021) “The association between body mass index, emotional eating and perceived stress during COVID-19 partial quarantine in healthy adults,” Public Health Nutrition, 25(1), pp. 43–50. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/s1368980021002974.

Chao, A.M. et al. (2017) “Stress, cortisol, and other appetite-related hormones: Prospective prediction of 6-month changes in food cravings and weight,” Obesity, 25(4), pp. 713–720. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.21790.

Chaput, J.-P. et al. (2022) “The role of insufficient sleep and circadian misalignment in obesity,” Nature Reviews Endocrinology, 19(2), pp. 82–97. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-022-00747-7.

Harding, J.L. et al. (2013) “Psychosocial stress is positively associated with body mass index gain over 5 years: Evidence from the longitudinal Ausdiab Study,” Obesity, 22(1), pp. 277–286. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.20423.

Hemmingsson, E. (2018) “Early childhood obesity risk factors: Socioeconomic adversity, family dysfunction, offspring distress, and junk food self-medication,” Current Obesity Reports, 7(2), pp. 204–209. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13679-018-0310-2.

Lee, M. (2016) Feeding feelings: Stress and weight gain, FX Medicine. Available at: https://www.fxmedicine.com.au/infographic/feeding-feelings-stress-and-weight-gain (Accessed: March 15, 2023).

Liu, J. et al. (2022) “Leptin signaling and leptin resistance,” Medical Review, 2(4), pp. 363–384. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1515/mr-2022-0017.

Mouchacca, J., Abbott, G.R. and Ball, K. (2013) “Associations between psychological stress, eating, physical activity, sedentary behaviours and body weight among women: A longitudinal study,” BMC Public Health, 13(1). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-828.

Schultchen, D. et al. (2019) “Bidirectional relationship of stress and affect with physical activity and healthy eating,” British Journal of Health Psychology, 24(2), pp. 315–333. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12355.

van Strien, T. (2018) “Causes of emotional eating and matched treatment of obesity,” Current Diabetes Reports, 18(6). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-018-1000-x.