Office workers are under great pressure and are prone to obesity

(Text/Yang Qilin)

Stress increases body fat percentage and leads to obesity

Obesity is a disease of civilization. In addition to the changes in lifestyle in modern society, reduced activity, and refined diet, stress is also an important reason.

In my clinic, I often encounter cases where stress causes abnormal changes in body weight and body fat index. For example, in one case, a female office worker’s body fat rate soared by 2% and her weight increased by two kilograms within a week.

When I saw this number, I immediately asked about my diet in the past week. What did I eat? Do you have many social gatherings and dinners? The client was also very surprised by her physical data. She said that during this period, not only had her activity level increased, but she had also eaten less. She even suspected that the data was inaccurate, so we measured it again and the result was the same.

So I learned more about her life that week. It turned out that she was dealing with a legal dispute and had to go to the law firm almost every day (the case identified this as an increase in activity), and was often so busy that she forgot to eat.

To successfully manage your weight, knowing how to eat and understanding how to eat accounts for 70%, knowing how to move and understanding how to move accounts for 20%, and the remaining 10% is facing up to stress, being aware of the existence of stress, understanding the impact of stress on the body, adjusting diet and daily routine in response to stress, and further relieving stress.

Stress-induced obesity

Many foreign studies have confirmed the relationship between stress and obesity. For example, a research report from the University of Oxford in the UK concluded that mental stress caused by "money" is an important factor leading to obesity in countries such as the UK, the US, Canada and Australia.

In addition, American Dr. Charles Elder also published a research report in the International Journal of Obesity, tracking 472 obese people and requiring them to eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly. After six months, they lost an average of 6. Three kilograms. The main reason for those who perform below average is stress, and an important symptom of stress is lack of sleep.

Swedish scholars also conducted a sleep experiment on 14 male college students. The researchers asked these students to experience different states of sleep, such as normal sleep, shortened sleep and no sleep over a period of time, and observed their food intake, metabolic rate, blood sugar levels, hormone concentrations and other indicators during this period.

The results showed that even just one night of sleep deprivation can lead to a slowdown in metabolism the next morning. Once sleep was interrupted, the subjects' blood sugar, appetite-regulating hormones such as ghrelin, and stress hormones such as cortisol appeared higher the next morning.

This article is excerpted from Benshi Culture Publishing (http://www.books.com.tw/exep/prod/booksfile.php?item=0010580943)