How does stress affect fat gain?

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How does stress affect fat gain?
How does stress affect fat gain?
Anonim

Stressful situations pursue a person everywhere and negatively affect the body. Find out how stress affects fat gain. The human body has a very complex mechanism for dealing with stressful situations. It starts at the moment of any stress, be it a danger to life or trouble with a financial situation. Throughout the history of evolution, this mechanism has been improved so that humans can survive. Stressful emotions negatively affect all body systems.

Scientists have discovered special enzymes that are synthesized when stress occurs. They mobilize the entire body by increasing metabolism. If in our ancestors such a reaction led to an increase in the chances of survival, then a modern person can earn heart disease, obesity and high blood pressure. Let's take a look at how stress affects fat gain.

Effects of stress on the body

Explaining the effects of stress on the body
Explaining the effects of stress on the body

The body always strives to maintain the balance of all its systems. Athletes know this like no one else. With high loads on the muscles, the body starts adaptive processes, which leads to an increase in muscle volume. When a person's life is threatened, a number of chemical reactions are activated that help to survive.

Your blood pressure increases, which leads to improved tissue nutrition, the nervous system begins to work with greater intensity, for additional energy, and strength indicators increase. But in everyday life, if a person finds himself in stressful situations often, this can lead to the development of a number of diseases.

Under stress, both emotional and physical, the brain performs a series of actions aimed at combating stress. At this moment, the symptomatic system is activated, which triggers the synthesis of adrenaline and norepinephrine. These hormones affect specific areas of the brain, thereby causing feelings of fear. Also, the adrenal glands actively produce cortisol, which increases the amount of energy received by the body.

Effects of stress on fat metabolism

The girl is weighed
The girl is weighed

If you find yourself in stressful situations very often, then the level of cortisol is always high. This hormone is able to increase insulin resistance and trigger insulin production. This, in turn, leads to an increase in blood pressure and triggers the mechanisms for creating fat stores in the abdomen.

In addition, high levels of insulin and cortisol in the blood can lead to blood clots, changes in the balance of fats in the blood and an increase in blood pressure. When it comes to the balance of blood fats, it is about the ratio of bad to good cholesterol. If the level of the former is higher, then this can cause diseases of the heart and vascular system, as well as diseases of the brain and cancer.

Body fat under the influence of cortisol can increase in two ways: by increasing the amount of stored fat or by affecting appetite. If the first method is the same for almost all people, then in a state of stress, someone's appetite may decrease.

This situation led to the fact that scientists for a long time could not understand the mechanisms of the relationship between the deposition of fat and cortisol. This is because many overweight people have no problem with high stress hormone levels. Then it was found that under stress, cortisol is synthesized in everyone in different quantities. Here is the answer to the question: how does stress affect fat gain?

Dealing with stressful situations

Girl sitting at a table with vegetables and fruits
Girl sitting at a table with vegetables and fruits

Experiments have shown that the reaction of people to the same stress is strictly individual. Some may hardly notice it and their anti-stress defense mechanisms are not activated. But others are very susceptible to stressful situations and at the slightest excuse, the level of adrenaline and cortisol literally goes off scale. It is the second group of people who have health problems.

Exercise is one of the most effective ways to deal with stressful situations. This is due to the fact that during physical exertion, processes dangerous for the body slow down sharply. Exercise helps to optimize insulin metabolism and decreases cortisol production.

With regular exercise, insulin resistance, blood pressure decreases, the balance between good and bad cholesterol is normalized, and the amount of subcutaneous fat is reduced. Without a doubt, a proper nutrition program can help in the fight against fats. People who are highly sensitive to stressful situations consume large amounts of simple sugars. This leads to a sharp jump in insulin levels and, as a result, to the creation of new fat stores.

By reducing the amount of saturated fat in meat and milk in your diet, you can reduce the damaging effects of stress. There are also special stress management systems, since not every stressful situation can be harmful to the body. Here are some tips you can use to manage your stress:

  1. Try to avoid unexpected stressful situations.
  2. Avoid socializing with people you dislike.
  3. Learn to manage your time properly, as there are many stressful situations associated with it.
  4. Try to be more organized and sociable.
  5. When stress arises, create a support group of people close to you.
  6. Learn relaxation techniques and techniques.

You can now find a large number of print and video sources on all kinds of stress management systems. Use them, but still try to reduce the likelihood of stress. Of course, in modern life this is quite difficult to do, but you should still strive. Your health is in your hands, don't miss it.

Learn more about the effects of stress on the human body in this video:

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