Stress' effects on your metabolism and weight

Getting regular exercise and sufficient sleep and incorporating meditation and relaxation and breathing techniques into your daily routine could help you avoid up to 11 pounds per year!  These routine practices can help you deal with the daily stressors you encounter which may be having an effect on your daily metabolic rate.  We all know that we tend to binge eat and gain weight when we are stressed.  The subsequent weight gain is much more complex than just packing on extra calories.

A study at Ohio State found that you actually burn fewer calories when eating under stress than someone who eats the exact same thing but isn't stressed out. A group of 58 women, average age 53, participated in the study. They were provided with three standardized meals. The test meal provided 930 calories, including 60 grams of fat, and consisted of eggs, turkey sausage, biscuits and gravy, the caloric equivalent of a fast food meal of a two-patty burger and an order of fries. They were asked to fast for 12 hours before they returned to the Clinical Research Center. They then reported on any stress they had encountered in the past 24 hours. After the standardized meal, measurements of the women's metabolic rate (how fast they burned the calories) showed that the participants who reported the most stress burned 104 fewer calories than the others.  This study simply confirms the importance of stress management as a main pillar of health in your lifestyle.

Karolyn Boyd

Nutritionist

Ottawa Holistic Wellness

Keicolt Gaser, Janice et al.  Daily Stressors, Past Depression, and Metabolic Responses to High Fat Meals:  A Novel Path to Obesity.  Biological Psychiatry.  Published online July 13th, 2014.  In Press.