Can stress cause belly fat?

Stop us if you've ever heard of it before: Stress causes belly fat. Or how about this one: stress makes you gain weight. It's not just stress, eating, who's the culprit. In fact, there is a chemical substance behind these mysterious pounds in your abdomen – and this is yet another major reason to tackle the root cause of your stress and eliminate it.

"Stress releases a hormone called cortisol," Erica Patel, MD, of the University of Southern California, told POPSUGAR. "[The release of cortisol] causes elevated blood sugar levels by promoting the breakdown of protein stores into glucose as fuel." Over time, high and persistent cortisol levels, badociated with stress, promote the storage of excess protein. glucose in the abdomen, thus causing belly fat. "

While cortisol is generally responsible for the creation and retention of stress-induced belly fat, it can also come from a stressed thyroid. "Stress can affect our master gland, the thyroid gland," said Habib Sadeghi, DO, author of The Clarity Cleanse . "The downregulation [or suppression] of thyroid function may contribute to the accumulation of adipose tissue [or fat] around the body, including at the abdominal region." leading to fat gain and retention – let's practice a little personal care, let's go