SubscribeHow Stress Gives You a Fat Gut
When I first saw this research - it seemed almost farcical: stressed out mice, eating junk food got fat.
Did the mice work 60 hour weeks - stopping by the McDonald's drive-thru on the way back to the lab? Did they manage to force two cohabiting mice to get a divorce? Or maybe moving from one mouse house to another was enough stress?
Not so farcical - almost all major media outlets around the world heralded this as "landmark" research" heralding a new way to lose fat without surgery.
What stress and junk food does to a mouse
The research showed this:
Mice who were stressed AND who were also eating a high-sugar high-fat diet got fat: they tended to gain more visceral abdominal fat.
What was strange was that it was only the combination of the above factors that produced the result. Stress and a good diet was okay. No stress and a junk food diet was okay.
The scientists concluded that the stress and bad diet increased amounts of a brain chemical called neuropeptide-Y - which resulted in more fat cells in the abdominal area.
Incredibly - many news reports immediately focused on possible pharmaceutical developments.
Here's an idea: Change your lifestyle to reduce stress and don't stop by Mickey-D's on the way home.
And exactly how did they stress those mice? For an hour a day over 2 weeks they got the rodents to stand in a puddle of cold water - or to be in the presence of an "aggressive alpha mouse".
Poor mice. They didn't even have a jar of Prozac to dig into.
Staning in cold water for an hour a day would surely lead to fat increase due to the body trying to keep warm and laying down insulation. Not sure about why get fat in the presence of an 'aggressive alpha' though, perhaps to be bigger and more able to stand up to him during a wrestle?!...
ReplyOther studies have shown that in response to stress the body produces certain hormones, one of which is cortisol. Cortisol causes cravings of high calorie foods such as ice cream, cake, etc. – to replenish the energy the body thinks was depleted during stress.
ReplyI have figured out that "craving," as opposed to hunger, is my problem. Don't know if it's caused by stress or what, and how does one know he/she is stressed out if there's no obvious stressful condition/situation? I've heard something about aroma therapy to satisfy craving. Anybody have any ideas about that?
ReplyHi Jim, cravings can be tricky to deal with and are sometimes from a chemical imbalance. Check out RadiantRecovery.com It sheds some light on why people have "cravings".
On another note. Poor little mice. Makes me think of Remy from Ratatolli.
ReplyI want to add on to this post too. Over stressed people will also lose lots of vitamin B. Stress will quickly used up Vitamin B in our body.
And Vitamin B is one of the most important component in burning fats and convert fatty acids to energy.
Vitamin B also support lots of chemical reaction and activities in body. When all these activities stop, there will be extra energy in our body and will turn into fats.
ReplyStress and junk food diet is really a bad combination. We can't expect anyone to be fit with that kind of lifestyle.
ReplyI thought I was the only one who called it Mickey D's!
How'd they stress out the mouse? An optical illusion of cheese? I really want to know.
ReplyI know that when I quit a high-stress job (pre-school teacher, if you can believe it), I stopped wanting junk to eat. I actually swung the other way and started craving fruit and salads. But the one day I filled in for a class, I was back to snarfing chocolate like an anteater!
I have no doubt about a link between stress and eating.
ReplyThis study is dead on right as far as I'm concerned. I have been under tremendous stress for years and despite lots or regular running, have quite a disproportionate amount of abdominal fat for my size. And whenever I really indulge my sweet tooth (say Easter or a family birthday) I gain 2-3 pounds that week-end...even if I've run 10 or 12 miles.
ReplyThere's no doubt about that. Two negative factors will really make a big difference. I hope that those factors will not join forces in my lifestyle.
ReplyFascinating study! Thanks for posting this. I'm wondering what might be suggested to those who know they are under a great amount of stress, not eating junk, and working out throughout the week, but having a hard time loosing stomach fat.
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