Researchers determined that long-term stress could lead to obesity. There is a tendency to overindulge in ‘comfort’ foods when stressed. The stress hormone cortisol adds to the problem by influencing the way the body metabolizes the food and stores fat. A recent study measured long-term cortisol levels in hair samples and found that people with higher cortisol levels usually measured larger around the waist. Further studies are needed but it seems that hair cortisol would be an easy and cheap method to determine if a patient has chronically high levels of cortisol.
Long-term stress linked to higher levels of obesity