STRESS EATING

Stress eating results in more fat, especially belly fat. Yes, that’s right. There is now strong scientific evidence that reaching for the cookies and ice cream when you’re under stress will put fat right there in your belly.

Stress causes the release of cortisol and epinephrine by the adrenal glands. These are the chemicals released when you are in an emergency situation like being chased by a bear.

These chemicals cause your heart rate and blood pressure to increase. When you reach safety your blood pressure and heart rate return to normal.

However, if the stress is constant or is faced on a very regular basis, the cortisol production never shuts down.

Instead your body ramps up its production of cortisol and goes into a HIGH ALERT STATUS.

The result is a feeling of anxiety and hyper alertness. This condition is known as atypical depression.

Stress eating actually is your body’s attempt at rescuing you from the pit of depression. How? Again, it’s all about some chemicals.

Your brain and gut get their full and satisfied feelings because of two neurotransmitter chemicals called serotonin and dopamine. These are in short supply during atypical depression.

Foods that are rich in carbohydrates such as cream puffs and chocolate bars trigger a rise in serotonin and dopamine. Sounds great doesn’t it? Well, there’s a problem.

The extra cortisol and epinephrine get to your gut first. In addition to increasing the pleasure of stress eating foods high in sugar, starch, and fat they also activate fat receptors in the cells of your belly fat. Extra fat is then deposited in these cells.

But there’s more......

Cortisol also diminishes the effect of insulin on our brain. Insulin signals our brain when we’ve had enough to eat. So, when we are stressed we have more cortisol, a less satisfied feeling, more eating, and more belly fat.

You look down at your belly fat, get more depressed, get stressed, produce more cortisol, and the cycle never ends.

There is even another chemical, ghrelin, that gets involved. This chemical sends hunger signals to the brain. The fatter you are the less this chemical gets suppressed. The result is that the fatter you are, the more you “stay hungry.”

Enough with the chemistry lessons. You want to know......

What can I do about MY STRESS EATING?

1. Identify the source of your stress. Take some time and try to get to the root cause of your stress. Realize that you are neither helpless nor hopeless to change most situations. At the bare minimum you can change your attitude about any circumstance in life.

2. Remove the obvious sources of stress in your life. Wake up a few minutes earlier so you aren’t rushed in the morning. Leave for work earlier. Avoid negative, complaining people. Don’t watch so much news.

3. Drink plenty of water. Eliminate ALL sweetened beverages.

4. Remove all unhealthy snack food from your kitchen. If it isn’t there, you can’t eat it.

5. Snack on crunchy, healthy food such as carrots, celery, and apples. Keep plenty of healthy fruits and vegetables on hand. You can also snack on nuts in moderation.

6. DO NOT go on any fad diet. Develop healthy eating habits and forget about quick fix diets. None of them work and the end result is, more stress, more stress eating, more fat, and the cycle continues.

These are only a few of the simple things you can do to eliminate stress eating from your life.

Personal coaching can help you identify the sources of stress in your life and develop a lifetime wellness plan for more energy and less fat.

Return from STRESS EATING to ELITE NUTRITION