Can Influence Changes In Weight, You Need To Know How To Manage Stress The Right Way

Illustration of the effects of stress and how to manage stress (Pexels/Victoria Borodinova)

JAKARTA – Changes in weight, up or down, can be influenced by the mind. Especially if you are under stress, in some people your body weight changes.

Stress affects many of the body's changing mechanisms. Sometimes it also affects changes in eating habits, you know. Those who experience stress, reported by Medical News Today, Monday, March 21, may start to overeat or, conversely, lose their appetite.

Prolonged stress can affect almost every area of the body. Well, when stressed, someone also doesn't think long about choosing healthy foods so that it contributes to inflammation and weight loss. This inflammation causes the activation of the vagus nerve, which affects the way the intestine processes and metabolizes food.

In addition to affecting digestion, body stress also affects the sympathetic nerves, triggering the release of epinephrine. This compound is also called adrenaline which is produced by the adrenal glands. The flow of epinephrine activates the fight-or-flight response. Epinephrine also causes the heart to beat faster and breathing to become faster. Burning more calories, intestines and blood glucose will also change under the influence of changes in epinephrine.

Illustration of the effects of stress and how to manage stress (Pexels/Andrea Piacquadio)

Stress can also cause gastrointestinal or GI symptoms by experiencing heartburn due to reflux, difficulty swallowing, flatulence, nausea, vomiting, increased or decreased appetite, diarrhea, constipation, and muscle spasms. Not to mention the effects of stress that affect sleep, low motivation, and triggered to eat unhealthy foods. So, how to manage stress properly?

Strategies to reduce stress, among others, by doing relaxation activities. Such as by learning and doing breathing techniques, meditation, and yoga or exercising. To help your body relax more, you can also listen to relaxing music, read a book, get enough rest, and engage in social activities to help others.

Plus, eating healthy foods can also help reduce stress. For example, consumption of omega 3 fatty acids to reduce stress hormones, vitamin C to maintain immunity, and complex carbohydrates to help lower cortisol levels.

When you have been doing activities to manage stress, but don't feel relaxed or really affect your health, it is advisable to get the best advice from a doctor. Especially when you have lost more than 5 percent of your body weight over 6-12 months and your appetite is getting worse.