How Stress Causes Obesity
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Emotional Stress and Obesity
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How a person feels and what's going on around them affect what they eat. People learn to eat as a way to cope with stress. Eating in response to stress is a learned behavior that starts in infancy: When we are babies, we associate feeling safe and cared for with eating. A mother's love and care is directly linked to feeding her baby. This association is healthy and normal, but it can become troublesome if our emotional needs are not met. When that happens, we sometimes respond by trying to fill an emotional void with food. Since many people are stressed without realizing it or without knowing what is stressing them, they are unable to stop the cycle of emotional eating.
Physical Stress and Obesity
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Several physical factors also contribute to weight gain and obesity. Not sleeping enough makes it difficult for the body to rejuvenate. The body becomes stressed due to fatigue, which causes levels of the hormone cortisol to be released at higher levels than normal. Cortisol regulates our blood sugar and appetite. Elevated levels of cortisol encourage overeating, which leads to weight gain.
Lack of sleep also leads to decreased immune system function, which leads to more frequent illness. Illness requires the body to use more energy than normal to heal itself. This further depletes energy and contributes to fatigue and stress. -
Breaking the Cyle
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If there is no intervention, the cycle of stress and weight gain will continue to contribute to obesity and poor health. Learning to identify stressors, release stress, get adequate sleep and eat a balanced diet will restore the body to its preferred balanced state and stop the cycle of stress-related weight gain.
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