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A Stressed Life May Mean a Wider Waistline [Consumer.Healthday.com]

 

Days filled with stress and anxiety may be upping your risk of becoming overweight or obese, British researchers say.

The researchers said they found a link between high levels of the stress hormone cortisol and excess weight.

"We don't know which came first, the greater body weight or the higher cortisol," said researcher Andrew Steptoe. He's the British Heart Foundation professor of psychology at University College London.

For the study, Steptoe's team analyzed levels of cortisol in a lock of hair about three-quarters of an inch long, cut as close as possible to the scalp. This hair sample reflected accumulated cortisol levels over the previous two months, the researchers said.

Cortisol is the body's primary stress hormone, triggered when you have a "flight-or-fight" response to danger. It benefits you to escape danger, but if cortisol levels stay chronically high, it is linked to depression, weight gain, anxiety and other problems, according the Mayo Clinic.



[For more of this story, written by Kathleen Doheny, go to https://consumer.healthday.com...aistline-719883.html]

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