How to Keep Stress from Sabotaging Your Weight
Are you finding it harder to control your weight since turning 40? You are not alone. A study published in the Journal of Obesity involving nearly 14,000 Americans found that women gain an average of 13 pounds, or 10% of their total weight, between the ages of 40 and 50. Considering that this gain is on top of the excess pounds that nearly three-quarters of women are carrying before age 40, it’s no wonder that weight loss is such a challenge.
Diet and exercise obviously have a significant influence on weight, but more subtle factors, including genetics, cultural background, nutritional deficiencies, and medical conditions, also play a role.
Stress is another common but overlooked contributor to weight gain, and it’s one that is particularly prevalent among women who are busy raising families, working, volunteering, and juggling other responsibilities. To make matters worse, as women enter their 40s the stressors of everyday life are compounded by hormonal changes that also affect weight.
Let’s look at how stress and hormonal changes can hinder your weight loss efforts and how natural therapies can help you get back on track.
High Stress = High Cortisol
Stress is the body’s response to difficult or demanding circumstances. When faced with any perceived threat, physical or psychological, real or imagined, the body’s “fight-or-flight” stress response is activated.
The adrenal glands release cortisol and other hormones that trigger immediate changes throughout the body. Heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen intake increase, and more blood is directed towards the muscles and vital organs. Blood sugar is mobilized to provide a burst of energy, and focus, attention, and reflexes sharpen. After the threat passes, cortisol levels return to normal.
The stress response is a survival mechanism that gets us ready for action. Although most of the stressors we encounter today—demanding schedules, tiffs with loved ones, disturbing news, etc.—don’t require physical action, they still elicit the same cascade of stress hormones. And if you are under unrelenting pressure, besieged by anxieties and worries, the stress response is continuously activated, and cortisol levels remain high.
The Cortisol-Weight Gain Connection
Cortisol is an essential hormone, but persistent elevations are hard on the body. Excessive cortisol raises blood pressure. It impairs immune function and increases inflammation. It disrupts the body’s natural circadian rhythms and has adverse effects on sleep, mood, memory, and cognitive function.
Excess cortisol triggers the release of glucose and impairs insulin secretion, resulting in elevated blood sugar. High concentrations of cortisol also promote weight gain in other direct and indirect ways:
- Increased appetite and food cravings: Stress eating is a real deal. Cortisol increases appetite and food cravings, especially for sweets and other fast-burning carbohydrates that provide a quick burst of energy. Overeating and excessive alcohol are common methods of coping with chronic stress.
- More belly fat: Cortisol affects where fat is deposited. High cortisol levels are linked with increased visceral fat, which is stored deep within the abdominal area and around the organs. From a health perspective, this is the least desirable fat distribution as it is associated with increased risk of a variety of health concerns.
- Sleep deprivation: Chronic stress and high levels of cortisol disrupt sleep-wake cycles and interfere with sleep. Many studies have found relationships between poor sleep duration and quality, resulting in increased eating and weight gain.
- Reduced physical activity: Fatigue, mood changes, and other adverse effects of chronic stress can sap your energy and motivation, making exercise a real chore. Although exercise is an excellent stress reliever, chronic stress is associated with reduced physical activity.
Changes in Estrogen Also Affect Weight
Female hormones also influence weight. Many women report that weight gain, especially belly fat, becomes particularly noticeable as they approach their 40s and 50s, when levels of estrogen and progesterone decline.
Hormonal fluctuations are notorious for causing mood swings, hot flashes, night sweats, sleep problems, and other symptoms, and any woman who has dealt with them will agree that they can be tremendously stressful. Increased stress is one reason why weight management becomes more challenging during this time of life.
But there are other reasons. Hormones affect the distribution of fat in the body. Estrogen encourages fat to be stored on the hips and buttocks, and as estrogen levels decline, fat deposition tends to shift to the belly. This can happen even in women who don’t have a weight problem. Visceral fat in the abdomen is a risk factor for diabetes, heart disease, and other health challenges.
Drops in estrogen also speed up the loss of lean muscle mass. Women begin losing muscle mass in their 30s, and much of this loss is driven by age-related declines in hormones. Your metabolic rate is largely determined by your lean body mass. As muscle is lost, metabolism slows, and you burn calories at a lower rate. If you don’t modify your caloric intake and exercise to maintain muscle mass, you will gain weight.
Ashwagandha Helps You Adapt to Stress
If chronic stress is bogging you down and undermining your efforts to tackle your weight problem, adaptogens can help. Adaptogens are plant compounds that enhance your resistance to stress and help your body deal with the adverse effects of cortisol.
For women in their 30s, 40s, and 50s who are coping with work, family, and personal responsibilities, ashwagandha is the best of all adaptogens. Extracted from an evergreen shrub, ashwagandha has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years. It has also been shown in clinical trials to lower cortisol and improve a range of stress-induced symptoms.
Ashwagandha boosts energy, improves mood, reduces anxiousness, promotes sleep, and fosters a sense of well-being. All these improvements in stress-related symptoms can help reduce food cravings and increase your desire to take charge of your health.
There is also direct evidence that ashwagandha may promote weight loss, as demonstrated in a study that included individuals ages 18 to 60 who were under chronic stress. They were randomly divided into two groups, which took either 300 mg of ashwagandha extract or a placebo twice a day for eight weeks. At the study’s conclusion, the group taking ashwagandha not only had lower levels of cortisol and other markers of stress but also fewer food cravings and a reduction in weight and body mass index.
The researchers concluded ashwagandha extract is a promising therapy for weight management in adults under chronic stress. Although this is a small study and more research is needed, taking a standardized ashwagandha root extract is a worthy adjunct to any stress-reduction and weight-loss program.
5-HTP Modulates Levels of Serotonin
5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) is another natural compound that can have positive effects on stress and appetite. This amino acid is converted in the body into serotonin, a “feel-good” neurotransmitter that influences mood, sleep, appetite, and pain. Symptoms of low serotonin include depression, anxiety, sleep problems, and changes in appetite, while optimal levels help you feel calmer, less stressed, and more focused.
A natural way to modulate serotonin levels is supplemental 5-HTP. Derived from the seeds of a plant native to Africa called Griffonia simplicifolia, it increases levels of serotonin. Rather than targeting cortisol and the stress response directly, 5-HTP addresses the problems that develop as a result of chronic stress.
Supplemental 5-HTP is especially effective for improving depression and sleep problems and promoting weight loss. Studies have shown that 5-HTP helps suppress appetite, reduces binge eating, and increases feelings of satiety or fullness in overweight women.
The recommended starting dose of 5-HTP is 30 mg per day. This may be increased gradually as needed.
Siberian Rhubarb for Natural Hormone Balancing
Restoring balance to female hormones is also helpful, especially if your weight loss efforts are derailed by the troublesome symptoms of hormonal changes. Some women elect to use hormone replacement therapy during this time of transition, but these drugs are not without risks. Hence the growing interest in herbs and other natural remedies.
You will find numerous supplements for easing hormone-related symptoms, but more and more women are turning to Siberian rhubarb (Rheum rhaponticum), also known as rhapontic rhubarb. This herbal supplement has been shown to improve a range of symptoms related to hormone deficiencies, including sleeplessness, anxious thoughts, low mood, hot flashes, and low sex drive.
A 2021 study examined the effects of Siberian rhubarb on hot flashes, sleep problems, and other hormone-related symptoms in women ages 45–55. After 12 weeks of taking Siberian rhubarb extract, they reported a 67% average reduction in overall symptoms. The dose of Siberian rhubarb shown to be beneficial in clinical trials is 4 mg a day.
Don’t Ignore the Basics
Addressing chronic stress, elevated cortisol, and hormone imbalances can help jumpstart your weight loss efforts—but you can’t ignore the basics.
You must be mindful of what you eat. Metabolism slows with age. Women in their 50s may burn 200 fewer calories a day compared to those in their 30s and 40s. If you continue to eat like you’ve always eaten, weight gain is inevitable.
Exercise is also essential. In addition to burning calories, physical activity reduces levels of cortisol and stimulates the release of mood-lifting endorphins. Make sure to include strengthening activities as well as cardio. Muscle-building exercises help counteract the loss of lean muscle mass that slows metabolism.
Sleep matters as well. Sleep deprivation increases cortisol and alters levels of ghrelin and leptin, hormones that control hunger and appetite. In a study of overweight young adults, those who were able to increase their sleep duration by 1.2 hours a night reduced their daily caloric intake by an average of 270 calories.
Recap
Stress, elevated cortisol levels, and fluctuations in female hormones can sabotage your
weight goals, especially after age 40. Making positive lifestyle changes and addressing
excess cortisol and hormonal imbalances with ashwagandha, 5-HTP, Siberian rhubarb,
and other supportive supplements can lead to significant changes in your weight, sleep,
mood, and peace of mind.
The busyness and demands of life may make it hard to even think about getting started
on such a program. But that’s reason enough to get serious about devoting a portion of
your time and energy to yourself and your health. As the saying goes, you have to take
care of yourself if you’re going to take care of others. The improvements in your fitness,
energy, and quality of life will make it all worthwhile.