Australian researchers discover a link between stress and weight gain – Xinhua

SYDNEY, April 26 (Xinhua) – While overworked and under pressure people often turn to high-calorie foods to cheer themselves up, a team of Australian researchers warned Friday that "comfort foods" can have a positive impact . An even greater impact on weight gain than scientists had previously thought.

In a study of mice, the Garvan Institute of Medical Research found that a high-calorie diet badociated with stress resulted in greater weight gain than the same diet in a stress-free environment.

According to the lead author of the study, Dr. Kenny Chi Kin Ip, this is explained by the fact that a molecular pathway in the brain that controls insulin, called NPY. , leads to additional weight gain in times of stress.

"Our study showed that when they were stressed for a long time and that high-calorie foods were available, mice became obese faster than those who consumed the same high-fat food in a stress-free environment." , he explained.

"We discovered that when we stopped producing NPY in the amygdala (brain weight gain) was reduced."

"Without NPY, the weight gain of a high-fat diet with stress was the same as that taken in a stress-free environment.This shows a clear link between stress, obesity and NPY."

Under normal circumstances, the body produces insulin immediately after a meal, thus helping cells to absorb glucose in the blood and send a "stop eating" signal to the brain.

However, in times of chronic stress and in combination with a high calorie diet, it was found that the mice had insulin levels 10 times higher than those of the other mice placed in a stress-free environment.

The study showed that with these high and prolonged insulin levels, the nerve cells desensitized rapidly, thus increasing their NPY level, which encouraged the urge to eat and reduced the ability of mice to burn energy.

"Our results revealed a vicious circle in which high and chronic insulin levels, linked to stress and a high-calorie diet, increasingly favored food," said Professor Herbert Herzog, who is responsible for from the Laboratory of Food Disorders at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research.

"This really reinforces the idea that if it's bad to eat junk food, eating high calorie foods under stress is a double whammy that promotes obesity."