One of the possible strategies to control obesity is to decrease the stress. Therefore how is it possible?
People can react to a stressor in different ways. For instance, if an individual perceives the stressor as a challenge to his/her control of a situation, norepinephrine, the “fight ” hormone is predominantly released. And, if the stress arousal increases and a possible loss of control is felt by the individual, then epinephrine, another “flight/anxiety” hormone is released.
When the stress is prolonged and seen as hopeless, the individual becomes more distressed and feels defeated. This activates the hypothalamus in the brain. What follows is a cascade of hormonal pathways resulting in the final release of cortisol from the adrenal cortex (of the kidney).
The brain has the ability to selectively activate the fight, flight, or defeat responses . This usually occurs in day to day living when an individual perceives his/her hassles as a challenge to control or a loss of control. Although the stress pathways work together, they each can uniquely affect the function of bodily processes. For instance, the “fight” or “flight” stress responses cause the heart to beat faster and harder as well as release more free fatty acids (disassembled triglycerides) into the blood. The “defeat” response stress pathway can lead to enhanced lipogenesis (fat creation), visceral obesity (deep abdominal obesity), breakdown of tissues, and suppression of the immune system
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