High stress levels can make you fat

23 April 2011: Forget that punishing exercise regime or elaborate diet. The key to losing weight could be as simple as putting your feet up and relaxing.

 

 

Scientists have found a gene that makes us crave sweet and fatty foods and pile on the pounds when under stress.
The `comfort eating gene` has also been linked to type 2 diabetes - the form of the disease that usually occurs in middle-age and is related to obesity.

 

Weight problem: Stress activates a gene which affects the metabolism and contributes to our cravings for sweet, fatty foods, according to a new study.

 

It is hoped that studying the gene will lead to new diabetes drugs as well as weight loss pills.

 

But it seems finding time to relax could also do us the power of good.

 

Researchers find out why so many people reach for the biscuit tin when under pressure at home or at work.

 

Produced in the brain, the protein has profound effects throughout the body, affecting organs including theheart, muscles, liver and pancreas.

 

 

Doctors say `Stress is good when you have to cope with an event, like when you meet a lion.

 

`Your metabolism is changing, you consume more sugars and more glucose goes to the muscles to help you escape the lion.

 

`But the stress response needs to be a tightly-regulated system. The genes need to kick in at the right time. If they are not working properly it can lead to psychiatric and metabolic disorders.`