Do You Gain Weight When You're Stressed, or Get Stressed When You Gain Weight?

In seeking an explanation for the worldwide obesity epidemic, human biologist Brynjar Foss of the University of Stavanger thought that poor diet and lack of exercise couldn't account for everything. In addition, he argues, stress plays an important role in the weight we gain and whether we can lose it.

Stress and its primary chemical agent, cortisol, have long been implicated in the gaining of weight. Higher levels of cortisol encourage food calories to be stored as fat, rather than remaining available in the bloodstream. On the other hand, the FDA, the World Health Organization, and others have blamed obesity on foods high in fat, salt, and sugar, and on reduced physical activity.

Foss claims that the data show that both sides of the argument are partly right, and that weight loss and stress likely form a self-reinforcing pattern. A person might experience stress in life that leads to overeating, an increase in cortisol, and weight gain. These things work together, in turn, to increase levels of stress.

By measuring levels of cortisol in patients across a number studies, Foss found cortisol at much higher levels in persons whose weight gain was largely the result of stress and not other causes. In addition to supporting prior research into the effects of cortisol, it also highlights a dilemma for dieters: reducing caloric intake can also act to spike cortisol levels, making it more difficult to lose the calories already stored as fat.

Foss says that for dieting to be successful, dieters must first eliminate as much cortisol-producing stress from their lives as possible. Otherwise, they may just end up sabotaging themselves.

Source: Medical Hypotheses