Stress and weight gain – they’re often linked, but is the connection really about biology, or behaviour?
According to Dr. Caroline Apovian, director of the Nutrition and Weight Management Center at Boston University Medical Center, the idea that stress itself causes weight gain isn’t quite accurate – but it’s not entirely false either.
“Stress can lead to weight gain,” she explains, “but it’s not because stress changes your metabolism in a way that directly makes you gain fat.”
Instead, it’s because stress changes how we eat.
When we feel under pressure – whether it’s a looming deadline or emotional overwhelm – our bodies release stress hormones, including cortisol. Cortisol boosts your heart rate and puts your body into “fight or flight” mode, originally designed to help us escape danger.
But when the “threat” is emotional or mental, like a stressful job or family conflict, that energy has nowhere to go.
“You don’t have to run from anything,” Apovian says, “but your body still wants to do something.”
Often, that “something” is eating – especially foods high in sugar or fat, which light up the brain’s reward pathways and offer quick emotional relief.
In the short term, comfort food helps you calm down. But if stress eating becomes a habit, it can lead to overeating and, eventually, weight gain.
While cortisol is often blamed for making people “store belly fat,” Apovian says this is a myth:
“Cortisol doesn’t directly stop you from losing weight,” she explains. “If you return to your normal eating habits after a stressful period, you’re likely to lose the weight you gained.”
The issue arises when stress becomes chronic and so does the overeating. Over time, your body’s weight set point (the range it naturally maintains) may shift upwards, making it harder to drop the extra pounds.
Anna Downs, health and wellness coach in Bangkok works with women through pregnancy, postnatal recovery and menopause. She argues that stress isn’t just about comfort eating – it has a real impact on the body.
“High and prolonged cortisol levels can interfere with sleep, blunt recovery from exercise and even accelerate muscle loss in midlife.”
This makes it harder to maintain strength and metabolic health, which is particularly important as we age and for women in peri and post-menopause, when hormone shifts are already making muscle and bone harder to protect.
“Movement, breathwork and resistance training are some of the most effective tools we have to buffer the effects of stress – helping not only to manage weight, but also to build resilience, protect muscle, and support emotional wellbeing,” Anna says.
If you’re going through a stressful phase, the key is to find non-food outlets for relief.
Dr. Apovian recommends:
exercise – moving your body burns off stress and resets your mood.
mindfulness practices – techniques like meditation or deep breathing can help you process tension without turning to snacks.
awareness – simply noticing the difference between emotional hunger and physical hunger is a powerful first step.
Stress doesn’t make you gain weight directly – but it often leads to eating in ways that can. Instead of punishing yourself, focus on managing stress in healthier ways, and your body (and mind) will thank you.
MoveWell with Anna: Anna Downs has worked one-on-one with well over 1,000 women, helping them to improve mobility and recover from chronic pain through intelligent, progressive movement.
