PROMOTER 3: Stress
It is common to hear people say, “Stress makes
me eat.” ere is, in fact, a physiological basis for
this feeling and related eating activity. Psychosocial
stress causes the stomach to release the hunger
hormone ghrelin. Interestingly, ghrelin release
helps to engage the brain’s dopamine system to
reduce depression, which was quite advantageous
when high-calorie foods were not available
and vigorous activities (e.g., exercise) were
required to maintain human existence. Exercise
is known to reduce stress, depression and hunger,
so in past times, we easily dealt with the hungerpromoting
ghrelin.1,2
A problem we have today is that we are a
“stressed” society. To combat stress and related
weight-gain physiology, exercise is probably the
most important tool we have. e exercise should
be vigorous, and the level of difficulty needs to be
tailored to each individual’s level of tolerance.