Everyone knows stress can make you overeat — but a new study confirms that people who find themselves repeatedly stressed may develop a dependency on bad-for-you comfort foods.
Researchers published in the journal neuron Said that stress may overwhelm the components of the brain that process sweets and junk food as a casual reward – We have to yearn for them every day.
“We showed that chronic stress, combined with a high-calorie diet, can lead to greater food intake as well as a preference for sweet, highly palatable foods, thereby promoting weight gain and obesity,” said. Senior Writer Herbert Herzog Garvan Institute of Medical Research.
“Our findings suggest that stress may overreact to a natural brain response that reduces the pleasure we get from eating – meaning the brain is constantly rewarded for eating… when over a long period of time.” When experienced, stress appears to change the equation, causing harm to the body long term.”
Specifically, the scientists focused on the brain’s lateral habenula, which controls food reward signals.
In a study with rats, the lateral habenula was “activated” and prevented over-consumption of a high-fat diet over a control condition.
“However, when the rats were chronically stressed, this part of the brain remained silent – thereby activating reward signals and encouraging food for pleasure, no longer responding to satiety regulatory signals,” said study author Dr. Kenny Chee Kin Ip said.
“We found that stressed mice on a high-fat diet gained twice as much weight as mice on the same diet that were not stressed.”
A special molecule called NPY, produced by the brain during times of stress, is also responsible. When NPY was blocked from reaching the lateral habenula in test rats, they opted for less comfort food and gained less weight.
Another test using water artificially sweetened with sucralose proved that the brain also has a tendency to dip into its proverbial sweet tooth reserves.
“Stressed rats on a high-fat diet consumed three times more sucralose than rats on a high-fat diet alone,” Herzog said.
This suggests, he said, “Stress not only activates greater reward when eating but also increases cravings, particularly for sweet, tasty foods.”
Nutritionists urge that eating mindfully and truly appreciating your food is the most effective way to deal with chronic stress and its effects on the body.
“Ideally, you should sit down and enjoy your food, and focus on the taste, smell, and feel of it, even if it’s just for five minutes,” says Ginger Hultin, a registered dietitian nutritionist. told fortune,
