How Is Metabolism Affected By Stress

Metabolism is a complex process whereby the body processes the food that we eat. It converts this food into energy, nutrients and other products that rejuvenate the body and keep it running smoothly.

The process begins when the first morsel of food enters your mouth where saliva and chewing help to break the food down to make it easier to digest. As it enters the stomach various enzymes work on it to break it down further. Once it is absorbed from the stomach to the rest of the body , like the bloodstream, various enzymes and hormones are secreted to regulate and distribute the by-products to parts of the body that need it or use it.

Many of the body's systems are involved in the process of metabolism, not least, the intestine, the endocrine system and the circulatory system. This article will discuss how stress can interfere in this process or how metabolism is affected by stress.    

Stress is often a hard thing to define. The truth is that we are always under stress. Stress is good to the extent that it motivates us to strive for things or challenge ourselves. It is bad when this challenge is too much for us and we have no way of dealing with it or avoiding it.

Stress in small doses is good and the body is conditioned to respond to stress. It does this by releasing the hormones adrenaline and cortisol. This has been dubbed the 'fight or flight' response as it prepares the body for sudden exertion and possible injury.

In short, adrenaline makes the fat cells more efficient at turning fat into energy. Adrenaline also increases the metabolism.

Cortisol has the effect of increasing the amount of glucose in the blood and creating more energy.

Whilst these changes in the body's metabolism are good for an incident where you have to flee from a would be mugger, despite what we think, it is relatively rare that we will be mugged.

It is rare by comparison to everyday pressures like long working hours, long commuting journeys, meeting mortgage payments, dealing with technological changes in our jobs. These are everyday occurrences that are stressful to some people (and most people, if they are extreme). And because they are seen as a part of life, most people don't resolve these issues but put up with them.

These kinds of stresses or stressors have the same affect as an unlucky meeting with a mugger. They stimulate the release of adrenaline and cortisol but unlike the mugging, they are constant and the two hormones are constantly being released. If the person does not resolve the original stressor or do some activity to release the energy created by the stress the entire body, including the metabolism can become affected.

Chronic stress  will cause cortisol to create excess glucose. This will cause excess energy that may not be used. This will eventually end up being stored as fat. Adrenaline will continue to be secreted but the body and the fat cells, in particular, will become less sensitive to it. This means that the fat cells won't be converted to energy and thus reduced, whilst cortisol will be increasing there quantity. This means an increase in weight.

In short, stress makes the metabolism more efficient but if the stress is chronic it will cause the metabolism to be constantly efficient or run fast. If this goes on for too long, the body assumes that this is the norm for the metabolism and the body gets fatter or the metabolism starts to breakdown because it is being overworked. Both of these situations are undesirable to the overall health of the body.   

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