Can Stress Cause Weight Gain?

By James Wagner, DC

. http://mdweightlossdoc.com

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Can Stress Cause Weight Gain?

This is a great question. First off think about this: How can you keep the world’s woes from weighing you down? It’s not hard, but it certainly ain’t easy either. So, here’s how you should think about this.

Your job is hanging by a thread, and the credit-card bills are mounting. Your innocent teenager wants to quit school and become a professional snowboarder and move away. Or maybe it’s the increasing tensions at your job, possible layoffs, taxes are mounting, or you are learning all about the problems around the world… brought to you 24 hours a day on your TV screen, and they are finally… getting you down.

Regardless of the reason, stress is a way of life in the 21st century.

And for some people, the effects go beyond feelings of anxiety and discomfort.

For these people, (and I hope you’re not one of them) stress can mean facing each day ravenously hungry – and adding weight gain to their list of worries. You know some people eat because they’re under some stress and they don’t know what else to do but eat.

While the immediate response to acute stress can be a temporary loss of appetite, more and more we are coming to recognize that for some people, chronic stress can be tied to an increase in appetite – and stress-induced weight gain.

The problem lies within our neuroendocrine system – a brain-to-body connection that harkens back to evolutionary times and which helped our distant ancestors to survive. Though today the source of the stress is more likely to be an unpaid bill than a saber-toothed tiger, this system still activates a series of hormones whenever we feel threatened.

There are solutions if you’re under stress and gaining weight or just can’t lose it. Contact a health professional who specializes in weight loss if you’d like to schedule a private weight loss consultation.