When stress peaks or becomes difficult to manage, more serious, long-term health-related consequences can occur. 

Depression, high blood pressure, insomnia, heart disease, anxiety, and obesity are all linked to untreated chronic stress.The risks associated with weight gain include: 

- Higher blood pressure 

- Diabetes 

- Heart disease 

- Stroke 

- Reproductive problems 

- A decrease in lung and respiratory function 

- An increase in joint pain

Additionally, there’s evidence of a connection between obesity and certain cancers such as pancreatic, esophageal, colon, breast, and kidney cancer.Finally, your mental health can take a hit. An increase in anxiety or depression can also happen when you unintentionally gain weight.

In many cases, you’ll feel the effects of stress right away. But there are other ways your body responds to stress, such as weight gain, that may take time to notice.

According to Dr. Charlie Seltzer, a weight loss physician, your body responds to stress by increasing levels of cortisol, which gets the body ready to “fight or flee.” Cortisol, a stress hormone released by the adrenal glands, increases in response to a threat. When you no longer perceive a threat, cortisol levels return to normal. 

But if stress is always present, you can experience an overexposure to cortisol, which has been shown to increase appetite and drive cravings for junk food, and make it so much easier to accumulate belly fat.

We’ve known for some time that stress is connected to weight gain, but now, an Ohio State study shows that stress may also result in burning fewer calories. Yikes! 

In a study, stressed individuals burned less fat and 104 fewer calories the next day than non-stressed individuals, which is almost a weight gain of 11 pounds in a years time!I understand that reports like this can be discouraging, but knowing this info actually offers a huge advantage.

Even if you can’t fix the causes of your stress, you can make small changes to offset the effects.