It's quite frightening how stress affects our health and well-being, one of the ways it affects us is through potential weight gain. Studies are linking high obesity rates to stress as one of the causes. Here are some key points as to how and why stress causes weight gain;
- prolonged stress can alter your blood sugar levels, causing mood swings, fatigue, and conditions like hyperglycemia
- stress affects where we store fat; higher levels of stress are linked to greater levels of abdominal fat
- stress not only causes changes in the short-term from over-eating, but causes metabolic changes in the long-term that contribute to obesity
- fewer and larger meals promotes the gain of fat mass and can increase triglycerides, lipids and cholesterol independent of total caloric intake.
- weight gain can be prevented by consuming smaller, more frequent meals