Stress & Weight Gain: The Link Explained

Stress and weight gain: put a stop to emotional pounds!
A hectic daily pace, pressure and tension at work, tight deadlines… Many aspects of our modern, active, hyper-connected lives are a source of chronic or temporary stress. This anxiety can have its upsides, but more often than not, stress and weight gain go hand in hand.

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What is stress?

It is a state of disruption caused by an attack or a threat, by thoughts that generate frustration or worry, by a state of exhaustion, or by a hostile or difficult environment. We may feel stressed after losing a job, just as we may go through a period of anxiety during a breakup or a sporting competition. Depending on each person’s psychology, the sources of stress vary.
Stress raises the level of cortisol in our body — cortisol being known as the stress hormone. This hormone provides the brain with the energy it needs to cope with unsettling situations, and plays a role in regulating cardiovascular and immune function as well as blood pressure. Too high a dose of cortisol is detrimental to sleep quality and overwhelms the brain, leaving it unable to regulate the body (1).

Stress and weight gain: when anxiety triggers emotional pounds

Based on research into the links between stress and excess abdominal fat conducted by Dr Elissa Epel at the University of California, San Francisco (2), we know that excess cortisol leads to fat storage in the abdominal area.
Women are more prone to linking stress and weight gain and to putting on weight around the belly. Stress therefore triggers a hormonal imbalance that manifests as excess weight around the waistline. Indeed, in a state of panic, the body tends to crave food, which gives us the short-term illusion of channelling negative emotions, depression, anger or fatigue.

Avoid stress-related weight gain: adopt a new healthy lifestyle

To prevent stress and weight gain, adopt a balanced lifestyle and a healthy diet (3). A balanced lifestyle is essential, as the problem must be tackled at its root.

1- Identify the causes of stress

Learn to identify the everyday sources of anxiety and to reduce or resolve them over the long term. Then, familiarise yourself with stress management through simple exercises and easy-to-use tools to help you feel calm day to day: breathing control, relaxing music, meditation, disconnecting from social media, etc.

2- Try anti-stress treatments

To relieve the body, turn to targeted treatments specially designed to help eliminate fat stored as a result of stress. When the body is stressed, it releases cortisol, which promotes fat storage. Cellublue has created a Slimming Serum with a patented complex based on red algae. These algae target fat cells by breaking down the cortisol that shields them, helping to eliminate fat.

3- Get moving

Take up regular physical activities — sport, dancing, hiking, yoga, etc. — which help you relax and release tension, bringing your cortisol levels back to normal.

4- Rebalance your diet

The quality of what we eat has a positive impact on our stress levels. After cutting out overly fatty and sugary foods from your cupboards, add foods that help the body regenerate and strengthen itself effectively. For example: magnesium-rich foods such as dark chocolate, nuts and seeds, seafood and wholegrains; animal protein (meat, fish, eggs) and plant protein (legumes and soy), nuts, as well as fruits and vegetables.

Sources and references:

(1) Stress, traumatismes et insomnies (2012), https://www.cairn.info/stress-traumatismes-et-insomnies–9782842541750-page-31.htm
(2) Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine, September/October 2000
(3) Apprivoiser le stress, « Les Grands Dossiers des Sciences Humaines 2011/6 (N° 23) https://www.cairn.info/magazine-les-grands-dossiers-des-sciences-humaines-2011-6-page-16.htmau

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Stress and weight gain: what’s the link and what are the solutions