A research conducted at the Georgetown Medical Center in the United States has been able to link weight gain to stress. The research was conducted on two set of mice. One under stress and the other set stress free. It was discovered after three months that the set of mice under stress increased x 2 in weight in comparison with the other set even when their calorie intake were actually the same. When this is applied to human beings, it shows that consuming the same quantity of food as you do at present but by being under greater stress than you were before could actually result in weight gain. I say "could" because it is not everybody that actually gains weight when under stress. The thing is when you have the tendency to be fat when stressed up, you could gain weight. Otherwise, you would not.

So what is Stress and how is it linked to weight gain? Stress is your body's way of reacting to external demands. When you are stressed up, chemicals are released into your blood and these chemicals provides your body with energy and strength which could be desirable particularly when the stress is as a result of physical danger. However, if the stress is emotionally linked it becomes undesirable because there will be no outlet for the extra energy and strength. The chemicals released into the blood stream when under stress are adrenaline and cortisol. They both prepare us for emergencies. When faced with danger, they provide us with alertness with which to fight off the danger. In a situation whereby the stress is mental and emotional, the body will respond the same way. The heightened cortisol secretion could cause some dysfunction in your body consequently leading to abdominal fat being created and stored.

The quantity of cortisol secreted varies from one person to another. Studies have shown that those who secretes higher level of cortisol tend to eat more and in most cases carbohydrate based foods. Stress has also been found out to reduce rate of metabolism and when this happen tendency to gain weight increases. You might be full but you still feel hungry and consequently crave more and more food but your body's rate of conversion rate is impacted. This consequently results in the calories being converted to fats. Stress also affects the kind of food you crave. When you are under stress, your intake of foods high in salt and sugar is heightened.

When you are under less tension however, you secrete less cortisol and your craving for foods high in carbohydrate, fats, salts and sugar is lessened. You are therefore advised to avoid stress at all cost. If not, you are indirectly playing with your live.