How Stress Hijacks Your Body and Packs on Pounds!

Dec 30

Do you find yourself waking up with the weight of your weight on your mind? Does guilt accompany every bite of so-called "unhealthy foods"? And is the number on the scale holding the power to define your entire day? If you're nodding along, you might be unwittingly trapped in the grip of fight-or-flight mode. Your body, operating in high-stress gear (aka high cortisol), could be the silent culprit behind that persistent and stubborn weight, all happening without any extra calories to blame. Can stress make you gain weight, without increased calorie consumption? Absolutely!

The Stress Duo: Eustress vs. Distress.

Think of stress as a duo: Eustress, a positive booster, and Distress, a destructive force from life's challenges.

Eustress is considered to be a short-term positive stressor that improves performance, increases the heart rate, heightens awareness, prepares us for danger, mobilizes nutrients, and activates the immune system. A good example of eustress is exercise, which causes micro tears in the muscle tissue. The body then begins the repair or anabolic process of rebuilding muscle tissue.

On the other hand, distress can be extremely destructive and it occurs from severe, prolonged, or very demanding circumstances. There are three different types of distress: physical stress (e.g.: accidents, traumas, injuries), chemical stress (bacteria, viruses, toxins in food), or emotional stress (grief, loss of a loved one, traffic jams). The commonality of all different types of stress is that they bring your body out of balance, by activating the stress response, which is the body's natural attempt to return itself back into balance.

When the stress response is triggered, the so-called fight-or-flight nervous system - a kind of emergency system - is activated, which mobilizes enormous amounts of energy and vital resources in order to adapt to the stress in the environment. This happens at the expense of a suppressed sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for relaxation, regeneration, and metabolism.

Blood Sugar and the Stress Tango

Contrary to belief, stress, not just eating, spikes blood sugar. Persisting stress stores this excess sugar as fat, leading to weight gain. Elevated cortisol releases stored sugar from your liver and induces a temporary state of insulin resistance in order to keep the body's blood sugar levels high (= the term for this is gluconeogenesis) as glucose serves as fuel for a fight or to run. Cortisol also redistributes fat, storing it around organs and breaking down muscle in arms and legs, impacting body composition.

It is a scientific fact, that 70% of people are living in a constant state of stress: may it be a demanding job or relationship issues and disrupted sleep on top of that. In such or similar cases attempting to lose weight via dieting, intermittent fasting, or (over-)exercising is considered by the body as an additional stressor, to which it responds as a protective mechanism with weight gain or even weight loss resistance.

Stress-management techniques like yoga, meditation, calming herbs, spending time in nature, or temporary supplementation may help to counteract the high cortisol levels and activate the parasympathetic nervous system. In holistic functional medicine, addressing stress from all angles, including diet and lifestyle, is key to long-term success. If weight gain or weight loss resistance is experienced regardless, it is an indicator that hidden stressors in the body are present, that are contributing to the weight, like:

gut dysbiosis
parasitic infections
heavy metal toxicity
yeast overgrowth and biofilm
hormonal imbalances
leaky gut
inflammation in the body
heavy metals

Remember, lasting relief from weight struggles lies in addressing the root causes. However, navigating this path becomes considerably more challenging when trapped in constant fight-or-flight mode. Working with a functional medicine practitioner can help uncover hidden stressors in the body that contribute to weight struggles. Balance your stress response along the way to shed those stubborn stress pounds. Discover my favorite supplements in the PDF.