Facts about stress:

• Stress and fatigue have been show to be the top complaints presenting at doctor’s offices.
• Stress has been shown to worsen a variety of disease such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity, depression, headaches, accelerated aging and gastro intestinal complaints.
• A recent gallop poll showed that 50% of all North Americans feel a significant source of stress during their day.

Why does stress cause weight gain?

When you are stressed you raise the level of the stress hormone called cortisol. Cortisol and insulin are “best friends” when one is up, so is the other. When these two hormones are elevated they promote blood sugar fluctuations, over eating and cravings for salt, sugar and fat. In addition, an excess of cortisol production will result in an excess of belly fat storage.

Unfortunately these days too many people are chronically stressed which has become a maladaptive response. Instead of short bursts of stress (i.e. an increase in adrenaline if a bear was chasing you) long term moderate to high stress is leading to elevated levels of cortisol and adrenal fatigue which contribute to weight gain.

What can I do?

1. Eat foods lower on the glycemic index to avoid a blood sugar bounce
2. Go high in omega 3 fats walnuts, cold water fish and a capsule of liquid fish oil  daily.
3. Eliminate caffeine and alcohol switch to a decaf if you love the taste of coffee or a dandelion tea option
4. Ditch the tech. Too much sedentary screen time can definitely contribute to stress and anxiety. Make yourself some tech rules and stick to them. You have no idea how nice a tech vacation feels.
5. Switch temperatures research has shown there are benefits to hot (i.e. sauna) or cold (i.e. cold showers). As a very easy start have the last 30 seconds of your shower be on the cool side. Cold temperatures have been shown to boost immune system function and improve mood.
6. Get outside simply changing your environment changes your state. Nature has natural healing abilities to lower cortisol.
7. Sweat it out high impact cardiovascular activity is very beneficial for lowering your cortisol response.
8. Examine your quality of sleep. Sleep is one of the keys to proper repair and restoration of the body. If you are having trouble falling asleep try some herbal sleep inducing natural teas such as chamomile or teas with valerian root. Magnesium and melatonin (time released) are also options.

Read more from Joey Shulman about the glycemic index here!