Overweight and worried? Control your stress levels

Shruti Patnayak, 27, had been eating a lot of junk food like burgers, chips, chocolates etc. and before she knew it, she had put on a whopping 10 kg in two months. On visiting a nutritionist, she was told that she was suffering from stress eating disorder. The funniest thing about the affair was that she wasn’t aware of it. Could stress really lead to weight gain?

Bombay Hospital clinical fitness specialist Namita Jain said, “When the mind is under stress, one tends to eat a lot, especially comfort foods like pastries, chocolates and all. One also happens to eat in excess quantity, which has an adverse effect on the digestion system. The food doesn’t get digested properly, resulting to sudden bloating.”

According to experts, what actually happens is that serotonin, which is the happiness chemical that the brain secretes, is not adequately utilised by it, thereby causing a person to feel low.

Sweet or fatty food just gives temporary satisfaction and quick release of dopamine which calms the person. However, this doesn’t deal with the problem at a permanent level, and the concerned person just gets a temporary relief from stress.

Clinical psychologist Desiree Manuel said that the excess weight thus gained further causes low self-esteem, which eventually leads to stress again.