What really happens in our bodies when we feel stress? When something stressful occurs in our lives, the pituitary gland in our brain releases the adrenocorticotropic hormone, which sends a signal to the adrenal glands located above the kidneys to release cortisol and adrenaline. Adrenaline increases our breathing and our heart rate, tenses our muscles, and raises our blood pressure preparing you for “fight or flight.” Cortisol triggers the release of glucose or sugar into the blood stream. The increased concentration of blood sugar becomes available for our brain to think faster and for quick power in our muscles.

How our bodies react to stress has not changed since the caveman days. In our modern day society, stress acts on our bodies the same way it did during prehistoric times. What has changed as we have evolved over time are the actions we take in response to stress. In the days of old, stress was caused by events such as being pursued by wolves and having to constantly hunt for our next meal. Currently, stress is caused by bombarding emails, bills, deadlines, and phone calls. While running from wolves was great at removing the extra glucose or sugar from the bloodstream, today there is no way for this removal to occur while at the office. Extra glucose in your body produces elevated sugar in your bloodstream and if this glucose is not used up, it will result in fat deposits around the waistline.

Excess cortisol also increases our appetite, which is why many people tend to eat during stressful situations. It has been proven that fat consumption decreases cortisol which is why you tend to crave fatty foods when you feel stressed. The fat literally helps you calm down.

Another problem caused by excess cortisol, is the reduction of the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin, also know has “happy hormones.” Carbohydrates increase your levels of dopamine and serotonin, so it is natural for your body to crave carbohydrates (like cookies) when levels of these neurotransmitters are low. Like fats “comfort foods” help relieve stress. Comfort foods include carbohydrates such as pasta and potatoes. Carbohydrates increase serotonin levels in our body which helps to regulate feelings such as pain, sleep, anger, and bad moods.

We often use these comfort foods as a way to cope with stress. This results in the learned behavior of overeating when stressed and it is very important to break this cycle. The first step is to become aware of why we want to consume these “comfort foods” and to learn the difference between hunger and emotional food cravings.

Steps to Help Prevent Stress Eating

• Eat smaller and more frequent meals to help avoid eating excessive amounts in one sitting.
• Drink more fluids. Many times we think we are hungry, but we are really just dehydrated. Keeping a bottle of water around helps to quench thirst.
• Do light exercise or stretches. When stress rears and adrenaline levels rise, stretching loosens muscles, which promotes relaxation.
• Get enough sleep. When we are well rested, we automatically start the day with a little less stress on our shoulders.
• Distract yourself. If you are stressed and want to eat, figure out another solution to coping with the stress instead of grabbing that donut. One distraction could be squeezing a stress ball or taking a one minute break.
• Remember to breathe! When we are stressed out, our breathing can become irregular. A few deep, meditation breathes can help to calm us down and relax.