• About
  • Doctors
    • Dr. Maha Abboud
    • Dr. Terri Washington
  • Expertise
    • Diabetes
    • Men’s Health
    • Osteoporosis & Bone Health
    • Thyroid Disorders
    • Weight Loss & Health
    • Women’s Health
  • Weight Loss
  • Locations
    • Burr Ridge, IL
    • Elmhurst, IL
    • Oak Lawn, IL
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Request Appointment
Visit us in any of our three locations near you!
(630) 532-5821
Diabetes, Osteoporosis, Obesity, IncDiabetes, Osteoporosis, Obesity, Inc
Diabetes, Osteoporosis, Obesity, IncDiabetes, Osteoporosis, Obesity, Inc
  • About
  • Doctors
    • Dr. Maha Abboud
    • Dr. Terri Washington
  • Expertise
    • Diabetes
    • Men’s Health
    • Osteoporosis & Bone Health
    • Thyroid Disorders
    • Weight Loss & Health
    • Women’s Health
  • Weight Loss
  • Locations
    • Burr Ridge, IL
    • Elmhurst, IL
    • Oak Lawn, IL
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Request Appointment

Why Stress Leads to Weight Gain

Home Weight LossWhy Stress Leads to Weight Gain
woman pulling out hair because stress leads to weight gain

Why Stress Leads to Weight Gain

October 1, 2015 Weight Loss
We all know that stress takes it’s toll on our daily lives, but many of us don’t take the time to realize the significant impact that stress can have on our body. Specifically, we don’t pay attention to the impact that stress can have on the way our body functions, especially when it comes to weight.

It’s important to remember that external factors cause internal responses and if you’re dealing with excessive amounts of stress, realize that your body is working hard to respond to that stress.

When dealing with stress, our body’s make short term adjustments in order to optimize it’s ability respond to a variety of threats. However, one thing the body is not very good at is making plans to deal with chronic stress over a long period of time, which is how many of us live our daily lives – under significant amounts of stress.

Below are a few ways that your body actively responds to stress and how that response could be impacting your weight.

Stress and Weight: How and Why Stress Leads to Weight Gain

Our mind and body are very good at quickly processing and reacting to significant threats. It’s arguably one of the main reasons our species has survived and continues to thrive. Our ability to react and respond to stress have evolved and improved over time, however, our bodies are not as good at maintaining reactions to stress over sustained periods of time.

The “Fight or Flight” Hormone Response

adrenaline-hormonesWe’ve all heard of the “fight or flight” response where our mind and body quickly evaluate a threat and then make a decision whether to stay and fight, or run and live to fight another day.

While we typically think of this reaction as a response to physical threats, like being chased by a large animal, our body has a much more difficult time making the distinction. Our body responds to mental threats, like dealing with difficult co-workers or actively stressing over a deadline at work, the same as it does to physical threats.

Whether dealing with physical or mental stressor, the body’s response is controlled by it’s ability to regulate hormones, like Adrenaline, in order to improve awareness and specific functions of the body. While most responses are great in the short term, increased hormonal responses over long periods of time can have significant impacts and long-term effects on the body.

Increased Adrenaline and Cortisol

Our body responds to acute, short-term stress by increasing production of the adrenaline hormone into the bloodstream. This response has an immediate impact on the body; increasing heart rate and blood pressure,  expanding air passages, increasing blood flow to the muscles, enlarging pupils, and much more. Basically, the body is preparing for anything and everything, impacting every major system in your body.

Adrenaline also increases cortisol in the body. Cortisol is a hormone that regulates energy in the body, including blood glucose. This is important because during increased periods of stress (short and long term), the body adjusts it’s cortisol levels to ensure the body has enough energy to survive the threat. Then, the body naturally looks for ways to refill energy that’s been lost to increased adrenaline, even if there’s been little to no energy loss.

Imagine that your body is preparing to deal with a significant physical threat (running from a dog). Even if your stress is due to a work deadline, which will require significantly less energy output than running from a dog would require, your body will respond the same and begin looking for ways to refill it’s energy reserves.

The body’s need to restock it’s energy reserves results in increased food cravings, even if it’s not really hungry or calorie deficient. Unfortunately, as we deal with continuous stress on a daily, weekly, and even monthly basis, our body continues to respond by storing energy as fat even though the needs and responses to most of our daily stressors aren’t physical.

Losing Weight With Hormone Therapy

In addition to increased fat storage, stress has other significant impacts on the body and it’s many systems, including your metabolism, digestion, blood glucose, cholesterol, fertility, and more. As you can see, understanding your body and how it works makes it much easier to identify the issues that could be causing you to gain weight and/or hindering your ability to lose weight. Working with an endocrinologist will help you identify and address these issues that are impacting your short and long term health.

Ask about our Weigh Less for Way Less complete weight loss program.

Next week we’ll discuss 5 Daily Tips To Reduce Stress and Cortisol Levels.

You also might be interested in

Diabetic Healthy Holiday Eating Tips

6 Healthy Holiday Eating Tips for Diabetics

Nov 17, 2015

The Holiday Season is one of the happiest times of[...]

Our Guide to Hyperthyroidism symptoms

Our Guide to Hyperthyroidism Symptoms

Jan 27, 2016

Hyperthyroidism is a serious health condition in which the thyroid[...]

Common Hyperthyroidism Treatment Options

Common Hyperthyroidism Treatment Options

Feb 18, 2016

Hyperthyroidism is a medical condition in which the thyroid gland[...]

Trying to Lose Weight But Not Seeing Results? View Our Weight Loss Program

As endocrinologists, we specialize in how hormones affect the body’s many functions. Many of our patients live with diabetes, both type 1 and 2, are overweight, have hormonal imbalances, and more. Our approach is unique because we use various treatments depending on the needs, lifestyles, and feedback of our patients.

We work directly with you to help you feel better and achieve hormonal balance. We recognize that every patient and every case is unique which is why we’ve focused our practice on helping patients find the missing piece of the puzzle.

OUR LOCATIONS

Burr Ridge

410 Village Center Dr.
Burr Ridge, IL 60527

Now Open! Click to view hours

Elmhurst

1200 S York St, Suite 3150
Elmhurst, IL 60126

Click to view hours

Oak Lawn

9629 Southwest Highway
Oak Lawn, IL 60453

Click to view hours

PATIENT RESOURCES

Patient Portal

FAQ’s

Patient History Form H&P (English)

Patient History Form (Spanish)

Patient Registration Form (English)

Patient Registration Form (Spanish)

General Patient Portal Consent Form

How to prepare for my doctors visit?

Please remember that this website is for non-urgent communications only. If you have an emergency needing clinical care, please dial 911.
This website is for information purposes only and is not intended to take the place of medical treatment.
Copyright © 2022: Diabetes, Osteoporosis, Obesity, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Endocrinologists
Websites for Doctors by Conversion Strategies, Inc.

  • Patient Portal
  • FAQ’s
  • Patient History Form (English)
  • Patient History Form (Spanish)
  • Patient Registration Form (English)
  • Patient Registration Form (Spanish)
  • General Patient Portal Consent Form
  • How to prepare for my doctors visit?
Prev Next