Stress and Abdominal Fat in Women
Key Points:
- Women who get stressed out tend to have more abdominal fat than those who don't
- Women with higher blood pressure during stress tend to have more abdominal fat than those with lower blood pressure.
- Exercise is a must for women with midsection fat who have high stress.
- Lowering blood pressure during stress is vital for women.
New research from University College in London demonstrates a clear link between key weight loss and cardiovascular markers and stress in women.
Women who respond to stress with increased blood pressue and circulating leptin tend to have more abdominal fat than those who do not.
Leptin is a key hunger hormone released into the bloodstream during food intake to signal the hypothalamus to discontinue eating.
What this research indirectly infers is that during stress, some women lose their desire to eat while experiencing elevated blood pressure, and this pattern results in increased abdominal fat.
This indirectly suggests a few easy to implement ways to combat this problem.
Suggestions:
- If you are a woman who tends to get easily stressed, periodic intense exercise is vital for you. Intense exercise has been shown to produce the exact opposite metabolic results of those measured in this study.
- Yoga has been clearly demonstrated to positively impact blood pressure. In times of stress, a few minutes of your favorite Yoga moves certainly won't hurt.
- Supplementing with EPA & DHA has been shown to lower cortisol and improve well being and mood. Give our Eicosoid70 a try. It's extremely potent and concentrated in EPA and DHA.
Reference:
Stress-induced cytokine responses and central adiposity in young women
L Brydon1, C E Wright1, K O'Donnell1, I Zachary2, J Wardle3 and A Steptoe1
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