Stress could make it harder to lose weight, new study finds

A new study has found a link between chronic stress and difficulty in losing weight.

The research by a team of British researcher looked at levels of cortisol, a “stress hormone” naturally produced by the body, as stored in hair samples from test subjects.

“We found levels of cortisol in the hair to be positively and significantly correlated to larger waist circumference and higher body mass index or BMI,” lead researcher Sarah Jackson of the Institute of Epidemiology and Health at University College London said, CBS News reported. “These results provide consistent evidence that chronic stress is associated with higher levels of obesity.”

The study does not establish a causal link and further study with younger test subjects may be warranted.

The study had nearly all white participants and was conducted among an older population, significant because age and race are factors in cortisol levels, CBS reported.

“As indicated in the paper, measurements of hair cortisol reflect exposure over the past several months,” obesity researcher Susan Fried, who did not work on the study, told CNN in an email. “But the obesity in the people studied likely developed many years earlier. Thus, these high hair cortisol values may simply reflect social or biological stress associated with being obese.

“It is possible, for example, that the social stigma that people with obesity often endure may cause mental stress and hence high cortisol levels,” Ms. Fried added.