Stress Leads to Weight Gain

Stress is pretty much unavoidable for most of us and, in moderation, it can be a positive force in our lives. In normal doses the stress hormone cortisol promotes the breakdown of fats into fatty acids and glycerol which can boost your ability to burn fat. You’d think, therefore, that the more stressed you are the skinnier you’d get - but it rarely works that way. In fact elevated cortisol levels actually make it significantly more difficult to lose weight.

Here’s why: Too much cortisol increases insulin resistance which reduces fat burning. Elevated cortisol levels slow down the metabolism and reduce testosterone levels - and this also douses the fat burning fire. There is a good possibility that if you are under extended periods of stress your sleep patterns will be irregular (another weight loss killer), and there is every chance that one of the stress management techniques you could turn to is emotional eating - and that isn’t good.