How Stressful Situations Can Influence Our Eating Habits
Stressful situations can trigger different reactions in people, including appetite change. While some may lose their appetite, others may turn to comfort eating, which involves consuming high-calorie, sweet, or savory foods to ease feelings of anxiety, worry, fear, or sadness. According to a study by the Garvan Institute for Medical Research, chronic stress combined with a high-calorie diet can lead to increased food intake, a preference for sweet and tasty foods, and excessive weight gain, particularly among mice models. This article provides insights into the findings of the study and how stress can throw off healthy energy balance.
From Stressed Brain to Weight Gain
The study by the Garvan Institute for Medical Research investigated how different areas of the brain responded to chronic stress under varied diets. The researchers found that the “lateral habenula” area in mice, which is responsible for turning off the brain’s reward response, was active in mice on a short-term high-fat diet to protect the animal from overeating. However, when the mice were chronically stressed, this part of the brain remained silent, allowing reward signals to remain active and encourage pleasure eating, no longer responding to regulatory signals of satiety.
“We found that stressed mice on a high-fat diet gained twice as much weight as non-stressed mice on the same diet,” said Dr. Kenny Chi Kin Ip, the first author of the study. The researchers found that the NPY molecule, which the brain naturally produces in response to stress, was at the heart of the weight gain. When researchers blocked NPY from activating brain cells in the lateral habenula in stressed mice on a high-fat diet, the mice consumed less comfort food, resulting in less weight gain.
Comfort when Driving Eating
To test the preference for sucralose (artificially sweetened water), the researchers performed a “sucralose preference test,” allowing mice to choose between water and artificially sweetened water. The researchers found that stressed mice on a high-fat diet consumed three times as much sucralose as mice on a high-fat diet alone, suggesting that stress not only activates greater reward eating but also generates a craving for sweet and tasty foods. Conversely, the preference for sweetened water was not observed among stressed mice on a regular diet.
Stress Throws off Healthy Energy Balance
According to Professor Herzog, a visiting scientist at the Garvan Institute and lead author of the study, “In stressful situations, it’s easy to use up a lot of energy, and the feeling of reward can calm you down—this when an energy boost through food comes in handy. But when experienced for long periods of time, stress seems to change the equation, fueling eating that is bad for the body in the long run.” Stress can compromise healthy energy metabolism and override the brain’s natural ability to balance energy needs. Professor Herzog emphasized the need to avoid a stressful lifestyle and eat a healthy diet, cutting out junk food.
Additional Piece – The Impact of Stress on Mental and Physical Health
Stress is part of life, and everyone experiences it at some point. However, chronic stress can trigger physiological, emotional, and behavioral changes that can lead to a host of mental and physical health conditions. Stressful situations can wreak havoc on the body in many ways, including weight gain, insomnia, anxiety, depression, heart disease, digestive problems, substance abuse, and impaired immunity, among others.
Brain Function
As the Garvan Institute study has shown, chronic stress can affect brain function by inhibiting the lateral habenula area, leading to increased cravings for comfort food. Stress can also reduce the production of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a neurotransmitter that helps regulate mood and anxiety. In addition, stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline, can alter brain structure and function, affecting the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex, as well as impairing memory, concentration, and decision-making abilities.
Cardiovascular Health
Stress can also take a toll on the heart and blood vessels by increasing blood pressure, heart rate, and cholesterol levels. Chronic stress can lead to the development of atherosclerosis, a condition where plaque builds up in the arteries, restricting blood flow and increasing the risk of heart attack, stroke, or peripheral artery disease. Stress can also trigger arrhythmias, such as atrial fibrillation, and increase inflammation, which can damage the heart muscle and contribute to heart failure.
Digestive Health
Stress can compromise digestive health by affecting digestion, absorption, and elimination of nutrients and waste products. Stress can lead to acid reflux, ulcers, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a chronic gastrointestinal disorder that causes bloating, cramping, diarrhea, or constipation, or both. Stress can also alter the gut microbiome, which can lead to dysbiosis, or an imbalance of beneficial and harmful bacteria, which can cause inflammation, abdominal discomfort, and impaired immune function.
Immune System Health
Stress can weaken the immune system by reducing the production of antibodies and other immune cells, as well as increasing the susceptibility to infections, allergies, and autoimmune diseases. Chronic stress can lead to chronic inflammation, which can contribute to the development of cancer, autoimmune diseases, and other chronic health conditions. Stress can also impair wound healing and delay recovery from injuries or illnesses.
Conclusion
Stress is a powerful force that can impact our mental and physical health in various ways, including our eating habits. Chronic stress combined with a high-calorie diet can lead to increased food intake, a preference for sweet and tasty foods, and excessive weight gain, as shown by the study above. To prevent these adverse effects, it’s essential to adopt healthy coping strategies, such as exercise, mindfulness, social support, and adequate sleep, and eat a nutritious and balanced diet. By doing so, you can manage stress better and improve your overall well-being.
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When you’re stressed, a high-calorie snack can seem like a comforting option. But this combination has an unhealthy drawback. According to the Sydney scientists, stress combined with high-calorie “comfort” food creates changes in the brain that prompt people to eat more, increase cravings for sweet and very tasty foods and lead to excessive weight gain.
A team from the Garvan Institute for Medical Research found that stress overrides the brain’s natural response to satiety, leading to continuous reward signals that promote the consumption of tastier foods. This occurred in a part of the brain called the lateral habenula, which when activated generally dampens these reward signals.
“Our findings reveal that stress can override a natural brain response that decreases the pleasure gained from eating, meaning that the brain is continually rewarded for eating,” says Professor Herzog, lead author of the study and a visiting scientist at the Garvan Institute. .
“We show that chronic stress, combined with a high-calorie diet, can lead to increased food intake, as well as a preference for sweet and very tasty foods, which promotes weight gain and obesity. This research highlights how crucial a healthy diet is in times of stress.”
The research was published in the journal Neuron.
From stressed brain to weight gain
While some people eat less during times of stress, most will eat more than usual and choose high-calorie options that are high in sugar and fat.
To understand what drives these eating habits, the team investigated in mouse models how different areas of the brain responded to chronic stress under various diets.
“We found that an area known as the lateral habenula, which is normally involved in turning off the brain’s reward response, was active in mice on a short-term high-fat diet to protect the animal from overeating. However, when the When mice were chronically stressed, this part of the brain remained silent, allowing reward signals to remain active and encourage pleasure eating, no longer responding to regulatory signals of satiety,” explains first author Dr. Kenny Chi Kin Ip, of the Garvan Institute.
“We found that stressed mice on a high-fat diet gained twice as much weight as non-stressed mice on the same diet.”
The researchers found that at the heart of the weight gain was the NPY molecule, which the brain naturally produces in response to stress. When the researchers blocked NPY from activating brain cells in the lateral habenula in stressed mice on a high-fat diet, the mice consumed less comfort food, resulting in less weight gain.
Comfort when driving eating
Next, the researchers performed a ‘sucralose preference test’, allowing the mice to choose to drink water or artificially sweetened water.
“Stressed mice on a high-fat diet consumed three times as much sucralose as mice on a high-fat diet alone, suggesting that stress not only activates greater reward eating, but also specifically generates a craving for sweet and tasty foods,” says the professor. Herzog.
“Crucially, we did not see this preference for sweetened water in stressed mice that were on a regular diet.”
Stress throws off healthy energy balance
“In stressful situations, it’s easy to use up a lot of energy, and the feeling of reward can calm you down—this is when an energy boost through food comes in handy. But when experienced over long periods of time, stress seems to change the equation, fueling eating that is bad for the body in the long run,” says Professor Herzog.
The researchers say their findings identify stress as a critical regulator of eating habits that can override the brain’s natural ability to balance energy needs.
“This research emphasizes how much stress can compromise healthy energy metabolism,” says Professor Herzog. “It’s a reminder to avoid a stressful lifestyle, and more importantly, if you’re dealing with long-term stress, try to eat a healthy diet and cut out junk food.”
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230608120905.htm
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