Okay...TGIF....work is almost over for the week. A long, difficult week in which you have seen your paper wealth dramatically drop as the stock market has been taking it's beating. Stress, frustration, some anger , etc. The temptation is to reach out for something that makes us feel better. On an immediate basis, the "things" that make us temporarilty feel better are "fun" things like alcohol, foods and sweets. It is very common to indulge in high-caloric foods when feeling stressed out. (Take our stress eating quiz at: http://www.stresseaterdiet.com/)
Remember that the food sources that may provide us an immediate "reward" ultimately are the ones that got us into a unfavorable weight situation to begin with and are NOT a true "treatment" for stress. Contrarily, these foods cause more weight gain which makes us feel even more stressed out.
Try to convert your stress feelings to more positive activites such as exercise and use this weekend to reflect on how you handle stress and what you can do to make your response more beneficial to your health.
Showing posts with label weight gain and stress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weight gain and stress. Show all posts
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
The Stress Hormone Effect on Weight
Linda and I are writing a book together entitled "The Stress Eater Diet". This should be out in about three months.
I am working on a section now that discusses the effects of stress on various body functions, and there is a large section focusing of course on the "stress hormones". I don't want you to wait several months for the book to come out and I also want to save you $14.95 so here is a brief snippet from the book. Hmmmm...maybe I ought to just give you a brief glimpse so you will spend the bucks in three months, so here goes...
The hypthalamus is a gland in the brain that makes a hormone called corticotrophin releasing hormone ("CRH"). This hormone, in turn, causes the pituitary gland to secrete ACTH, which then causes the adrenal glands to secrete cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine. These are called the "fight or flight" hormones. When they are released, this causes blood pressure and pulse to increase, muscles tighten, awareness increases and sugar is released into the bloodstream. In response to a threat, these actions will help the person respond better. In the more primitive days of mankind, when threatened by a wild animal or another attacking tribe, these hormones would serve to protect humans by making them either stronger to fight or faster to flee.
However, as we have evolved, these hormones can actually be detrimental to us, especially when the stress-inducing event is not acute and life-threatening. Being given an unreasonable deadline at work produces stress and will elicit this chemical stress reaction, but when over a long term, weight gain, hypertension, immune systme dysfunction and other deleterious effects can occur from the chronic release of these hormones. Clearly, when under an acute, body-threatening event, this hormone release is protective, but when the stresses are more chronic, these hormones can hurt us.
Okay, you gotta wait several months for more of this abs0lutely titillating discussion!
We will let all of our patients and friends know when the book is coming out, and we will most definitely have a really fun book signing event complete with HEALTHY food choices! (Okay, some alcohol and unhealthy choices too!)
I am working on a section now that discusses the effects of stress on various body functions, and there is a large section focusing of course on the "stress hormones". I don't want you to wait several months for the book to come out and I also want to save you $14.95 so here is a brief snippet from the book. Hmmmm...maybe I ought to just give you a brief glimpse so you will spend the bucks in three months, so here goes...
The hypthalamus is a gland in the brain that makes a hormone called corticotrophin releasing hormone ("CRH"). This hormone, in turn, causes the pituitary gland to secrete ACTH, which then causes the adrenal glands to secrete cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine. These are called the "fight or flight" hormones. When they are released, this causes blood pressure and pulse to increase, muscles tighten, awareness increases and sugar is released into the bloodstream. In response to a threat, these actions will help the person respond better. In the more primitive days of mankind, when threatened by a wild animal or another attacking tribe, these hormones would serve to protect humans by making them either stronger to fight or faster to flee.
However, as we have evolved, these hormones can actually be detrimental to us, especially when the stress-inducing event is not acute and life-threatening. Being given an unreasonable deadline at work produces stress and will elicit this chemical stress reaction, but when over a long term, weight gain, hypertension, immune systme dysfunction and other deleterious effects can occur from the chronic release of these hormones. Clearly, when under an acute, body-threatening event, this hormone release is protective, but when the stresses are more chronic, these hormones can hurt us.
Okay, you gotta wait several months for more of this abs0lutely titillating discussion!
We will let all of our patients and friends know when the book is coming out, and we will most definitely have a really fun book signing event complete with HEALTHY food choices! (Okay, some alcohol and unhealthy choices too!)
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