Belly Fat and Stress
Do you want a good indicator of how stressed you are? Look down and check how much belly fat you have. Genetics certainly play a role in how you will store fat, but stress often plays a bigger role and exacerbates genetic tendencies.
When I worked as a researcher and was particularly stressed I would often haul myself to the vending machine for my favorite treat: Butterfingers. Was it that I had no willpower or was there more at work in my body? I certainly spent enough time denigrating myself and feeling like an undisciplined sloth, but still, those Butterfingers were bought – often on the sly.
I’m not alone in that approach. A study by the American Psychological Association, in which more than 1,800 people were surveyed, showed that over 43 percent of respondents reported overeating or eating unhealthy foods in response to stress. Listen up ladies: women are more apt to do this than men.
It wasn’t until I read the book, Fit After Forty by Pamela Peeke, that I realized the role the hormone cortisol plays in the storage of body fat.
The body maintains balance in the midst of threatening and rapidly changing situations by signaling the adrenal glands to release the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol. Adrenaline provides instant energy so you can get out of harm’s way. You feel the effects of cortisol about an hour or so later, when it fulfills its main function and makes you ravenous. Scientists call this the most potent appetite signal we have and some research suggests that it interferes with the signals that control appetite (ghrelin) and satiety (leptin).
Stress and cortisol may also cause our brains to find more pleasure in sweets. It’s never a nice plate of steamed broccoli I crave when stressed, but rather chocolate cupcakes. This should be counter-intuitive because I know the calories in cupcakes are empty calories and will go straight to my “menopot.” The bottom line is cortisol confuses our brain’s normal reward system. More calories might have been good when we used a ton of calories hunting woolly mammoths and needed to replenish ourselves. Now sources of stress are busy schedules, taking care of families, supporting elderly parents, job related issues, and more. There is no physical need to eat like a hog after a particularly stressful meeting at work or after learning that your parent has Alzheimer’s (a situation I was recently confronted with).
How does cortisol encourage our bodies to store fat in the belly? It all has to do with the omentum. The greater omentum sits in front of the stomach and the lesser omentum covers the liver. Both are easy repositories for fat storage. During chronic stress, your body needs a way to deal with the higher levels of cortisol released by your adrenal glands. The omentum clears cortisol from your system with receptors that bind to cortisol and remove it from the bloodstream. As a steroid, cortisol also increases the omentum’s ability to store fat. When the greater omentum is especially large the abdomen appears stiff and distended, bringing to mind the term “beer belly.”
We all know it is basically impossible to avoid life’s big and small stressors. So, what to do? Here are some tips.
- Sleep. A person who gets eight hours of sleep can have up to 50 percent less cortisol in their body in the evening than someone who gets five or six hours of sleep and therefore store less fat in their omentum (speak belly) overnight. A study in the journal Sleep showed seven or eight hours are sufficient and anything less can lead to weight gain.
- Wait before stuffing yourself silly. Like all hormones, cortisol doesn’t linger in your blood. Avoid the urge to stuff yourself silly for the two or three hours it takes cortisol to leave your system by doing something you enjoy.
- Move. At least 30 minutes of physical activity during the day can help you avoid the negative effects of cortisol.
- Treat yourself. Budget two or three small treats during the day instead of avoiding them entirely. That way you won’t feel deprived and go overboard when your willpower snaps in response to saying you’ll never eat so and so again (in my case, cupcakes and Butterfingers).
