Anxiety can cause you to be overweight, according to several scientific studies

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Obesity and overweight are two of the great health problems facing the world population today. They are defined as an abnormal or excessive accumulation of fat that can seriously harm health.

In other words, the problem of overweight and obesity is that they are two of the most important risk factors for the development of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, musculoskeletal disorders and some cancers.

Fortunately, we have been able to detect many of the causes, which in the long term can lead us to reduce its prevalence. One of the risk factors for weight gain that has been discussed the most in recent years is the anxiety.

Anxiety and stress: are they the same?

Stress and anxiety are words that we sometimes use synonymously because they both refer to psychological and physiological states that alter our mood and our activity in general.

Stress can have a positive side (the English term for this is "eustress", or eustress in Spanish) that helps us to be able to respond to the demands of the environment, and flee or adapt according to the situation. Thus, stress is the broad physiological state, which can have different manifestations and its presence can vary regularly.

But when stress is a constant state, it is not helping us to respond adequately to external demands, and it begins to give us the feeling of being out of control, then it may be turning into a pathological picture closer to anxiety.

Depending on the level at which it occurs, anxiety is characterized by a series of psychological and physiological experiences such as palpitations, tachycardia, sweating, insomnia, feeling short of breath, constant movements, lack of concentration, anguish.

Anxiety is a more specific condition than stress and is accompanied by important physiological changes, such as the secretion of corticosteroid hormones at very high levels and for a long time, which in turn makes our body and our mood not adaptive, but rather contrary.

Although its causes are very varied, some of the most common are lifestyles related to work or academic conditions, or more personal experiences that cause vulnerability, such as abuse, harassment, feeling of uncertainty, the loss of a loved one, among others.

Why can anxiety cause you to be overweight?

The main cause of overweight and obesity is increasing your intake of high-calorie foods that are high in fat. In turn, this increase can occur due to many factors, for example, due to reduced physical activity, food processing and distribution, unbalanced diets or the lack of policies that support the sector Health.

Apart from the above, some recent research has suggested anxiety is another risk factor for the development of overweight and obesity, mainly for the following reason: when we feel anxious we eat more (and worse).

When we find ourselves in situations that cause us anxiety, a whole series of chemical changes occurs in our brain. In these moments, something that gives us a feeling of calm and satisfaction are the foods that have a greater caloric concentration, which are also less satiating, so we need to eat in large quantities.

In addition, constant stress and anxiety often cause insomnia, which means that on a daily basis we have the need to eat a greater quantity of food, generally also with a high caloric content.

Specifically, excessive consumption of sugar activates the brain system responsible for metabolizing glucocorticoids, which are the hormones that metabolize carbohydrates, and that are also activated in response to stressful situations, causing a sensation of euphoria. The latter is adaptive and important to maintain homeostasis at moderate secretion levels, but in excess it can be problematic.

Some tips to reduce anxiety

Anxiety, in addition to being related to obesity, is related to sedentary lifestyle and high consumption of psychoactive substances such as alcohol or tobacco, which in turn, causes greater overweight and obesity. In addition, both overweight and anxiety are two problems that affect children in a significant way.

The good news is that some research suggests that indeed, a stable reduction in anxiety states favors a decrease in body mass index. For that reason it is important to know some ways to avoid it.

Because the causes are quite nonspecific, some of the more general recommendations that we can make are based on modifying habits; A matter that may seem quite complicated, but it can also be simple if you have a proper follow-up.

1. Detect times when we feel stressed or anxious

Stress and anxiety can be caused by very different situations, for example, a conflict that we have not been able to talk or solve at work, at school, with a partner, with friends or with the family; It can also happen that they do not have a clear cause, or that a difficulty is related to setting limits to others.

In the beginning it is important to have clues about the situations that may be causing us stress constant, so that it is possible to modify them or modify our positions and decisions before they.

2. Look for alternatives

Something that we must be clear about is that habits do not change from one day to the next, just as anxiety does not disappear overnight. the morning, so it is important to learn to find relaxation through more functional things than excessive intake of calories.

For example, learning to disconnect and rest, or at the level of interpersonal relationships try to set limits to others and to our own demands. Likewise, and according to our interests, we can choose to do physical exercise, go for a walk, visit someone, read a good book, have tea, watch a movie ...

3. Establish routines that incorporate healthy habits and pleasant experiences

It is about ensuring that our day to day is composed of some basic things such as having a balanced diet, in sufficient quantity and as natural and fresh as possible; do moderate exercise, have moments of rest, share with our peers, and try to do activities that we produce motivation and personal satisfaction, which can be from a hobby to maintaining long-term professional aspirations term.

In any case, it is also important to ask for specialized help if we need it. A visit to a psychologist, psychiatrist or neurologist can also be very useful to reduce our anxiety levels and improve our response to stressful situations.

Bibliographic references:

• World Health Organization. (2017). Obesity and overweight. Retrieved April 25, 2018. Available in http://www.who.int/es/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight
• Tryon, M., Stanhope, K., Epe, E. et al. (2015). Excessive Sugar Consumption May Be a Difficult Habit to Break: A View From the Brain and Body. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 100 (6): 2239-2247.
• González-Ramírez, T., Monica, G. & Pompa-Guajardo, E. (2011). Decreased anxiety and body mass index in overweight and obese children after multidisciplinary treatment. Anxiety and Stress, 17 (2/3): 211-219.
• Strine, T., Mokdad, A., Dube, S. et. al (2008). The association of depression and anxiety with obesity and unhealthy behaviors among community-dwelling US adults. General Hospital Psychiatry. 30(2): 127-137
• Tapia, A. (2006). Anxiety, an important factor to consider for the proper diagnosis and treatment of overweight and obese patients. Chilean Journal of Nutrition, 33 (2): 325-357.