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Fighting Stress-Related Fat

Posted by onepieceswimwear on Aug 11th, 2009 | no comments

Body Image and Body Fat

Do you think that pioneer women suffered from poor body image? Probably not, since heavy clothing hid the female form and there was no mass media to stream it into their consciousness. They may have had their own stressors, but worrying about the economy, a nuclear missile attack and how flat their abs looked in a bikini certainly weren’t among them.

Stress has become a major medical problem for men, and especially women, in the U.S. today. Our fast lifestyle and information overload has many of us worried sick, literally.

For most of this decade scientists have been unraveling the effects that modern day stress has on our health and body shape. Cortisol, the chemical that our bodies produce in response to stress and fear, has been directly associated with an increase in visceral fat.

Visceral fat forms around the organs, particularly the stomach and intestines, and can increase the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Sometimes visceral fat is visible, and other times it can accumulate in people who to the eye, look to be of normal weight.

Destressing

Yoga and meditation are strongly recommended to reduce stress and the amount of cortisol produced in the body. Exercise is also very effective at reducing the effects of stress. The physical stress of exercise actually “eats up” some of the cortisol that we produce through mental stress, worry or fear. Soothing baths in sea salts (see All About Ujena) has also been shown to reduce mental and physical stress.

Even if you aren’t a gym person, increasing your daily activity can make a difference. Try adding a walk in the evening, or just increasing the amount of energy you put into things you already do—walk a little faster, squat down a little deeper and start your day with some stretches and ab work. Your abs can benefit from as little as 5 to 10 minutes a day!

New Studies

A new study suggests that stress may also stimulate obesity by unlocking the body’s fat cells. Researchers found a molecule the body releases when stressed called NPY (neuropeptide Y). NPY appears to unlock certain receptors in fat cells, causing them to grow in both size and number.

In a study published in Nature Medicine, researchers fed stressed and unstressed mice either a standard diet or a high-fat, high-sugar “comfort food” diet.

As expected, the mice on the high-fat, high-sugar diet gained fat while those on the standard diet did not. But researchers found the stressed mice on the high-fat, high-sugar diet developed more body fat than the unstressed mice fed the same diet.

Those results prompted researchers to look for the difference in how the stressed mice utilized and stored fat, leading them to the Y2 discovery.

The good news is that by blocking those Y2 receptors, researchers say they may be able to eventually develop new drugs to combat stress-related obesity.

They found that when they blocked the Y2 receptors for two weeks, the stressed mice lowered their abdominal fat deposits by 40%. In addition to becoming thinner, adverse metabolic changes linked to stress and diet, which include glucose intolerance and fatty liver, became markedly reduced.

Stop Stress from Turning to Fat

Developing a pharmaceutical block for Y2 receptors is still years away from reaching the public. In the meanwhile, while we may not be able to avoid stress, we can at least practice ways to manage it.

These include a healthy, balanced diet that is high in fresh fruits and vegetables. Diets high in sugar and fat increase the effects of stress. Always stay well hydrated and the best beverage to drink is water. Exercise always does a body good, especially when done on a regular basis. Practicing relaxation techniques, such as measured breaths, Tai Chi, Yoga and meditation are also highly effective at putting your body back in balance.

About the Author: Laura Dayton is the author of several books and one of the country’s leading authorities on women and exercise. Her newest book WOW: Women Only Workouts is completely revised for 2009 and can be purchased at (www.slimandfit.com). She contributes to UjENA Bikini Body Fitness on a weekly basis.

Disclaimer: The information on this site is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, or for medical diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician, or a qualified health care provider before starting a new diet, treatments or exercise programs – or consult with your physician about questions regarding a medical condition. If you are pregnant, always seek the advice of your physician before starting a new diet, treatments or exercise program.