Stressed ones eat more comfort foods: New research on calories and comfort

When you live a stressful life, you might feel like reaching for delicious high-calorie comfort foods, but a study from Sydney suggests this isn't a healthy choice.

Stress combined with different calorie-rich comfort foods can affect your brain and lead to noticeable overeating, cravings for sweet and fat foods, and also weight gain.

Let's find out more about the study and the correlation between stress and gaining extra weight.

An experiment on stress and eating preferences

Researchers have revealed that stress can disrupt the brain's ability to recognize when it's full, leading to ongoing signals that encourage overindulging in delicious foods.

This phenomenon occurs in a specific region of the brain, which typically helps regulate these signals.

The research demonstrated that when repeating stress is combined with a pretty high-calorie diet, it can result in greater food consumption, a preference for sugary and tasty foods, and ultimately lead to weight gain and often even obesity.

This experiment once again shows the importance of maintaining a generally healthy diet, particularly during the most stressful periods.

Furthermore, stressed lab mice on a high-fat diet displayed a strong preference for additionally sweetened water, indicating that stress not only amplifies the enjoyment of eating but also intensifies cravings for sweet and delectable treats.

Why it's vital to know

Overall, the experiment shows that stress can disrupt the body's ability to regulate energy and eating habits, emphasizing the importance of managing stress and maintaining a healthy diet to avoid unhealthy eating patterns and weight gain.
 

• Related news:
• research
• food
• comfort
• stress
• obesity
• 25 September 2023

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