p5-Stress Physiology: Trying To Lose Weight and Nothing Is Working…WHY!?

How frustrating it is when you workout regularly, eat as healthy as you can and no matter what you do; you don’t lose a DAMN POUND!

I had to figure this out for myself family and in my research on stress physiology: Systemic Racialized Trauma and Its Contribution to Weight Gain in Black People: A Review, I elucidate on how stress physiology plays a crucial role in how racial trauma and other chronic stressors can lead to weight gain, obesity, and other health issues. The body’s response to stress is not just psychological—it triggers a cascade of physiological reactions that affect metabolism, appetite, fat storage, and overall health. When stress is chronic, as it often is in the context of racial trauma and systemic oppression, these physiological responses can significantly contribute to weight gain and other health problems. Here’s how it works:

1. The Stress Response: The Fight-or-Flight Mechanism

When the body perceives a threat, it activates the sympathetic nervous system and initiates the fight-or-flight response. This involves the release of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, which prepare the body to respond to immediate danger. This response is helpful in short bursts, but when the stress is chronic, as in cases of ongoing racial trauma, it becomes harmful.

Adrenaline: In the short term, adrenaline causes an increase in heart rate, blood pressure, and energy availability. However, it is cortisol, the long-term stress hormone, that plays a more significant role in weight gain.

2. Cortisol: The Key Player in Stress-Induced Weight Gain

Cortisol is the body’s primary stress hormone, released by the adrenal glands in response to stress. Its main role is to regulate energy by making glucose (sugar) available to the brain and preparing the body for physical exertion. However, under conditions of chronic stress—such as from racial trauma or continuous microaggressions—cortisol stays elevated for long periods. This leads to several negative health effects, including:

Increased Appetite and Cravings: Cortisol increases appetite, particularly cravings for high-calorie, sugary, and fatty foods. This is because the body, under stress, seeks quick energy sources to prepare for action, even when the stressor isn’t physical. This explains why people under chronic stress often turn to comfort foods that are calorie-dense and nutrient-poor.

Fat Storage: High cortisol levels promote fat storage, especially around the abdomen. This is because cortisol helps the body store energy for future stress events. Abdominal fat, also known as visceral fat, is particularly dangerous because it is linked to increased risks of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other health issues.

Metabolism Changes: Chronic stress can slow down the metabolism, making it harder to burn calories efficiently. This is because cortisol conserves energy in the body by making it more difficult to lose weight, especially fat, even if a person is eating a healthy diet and exercising.

3. Racial Trauma and Chronic Stress

Racial trauma leads to chronic stress, which triggers this harmful cortisol cycle repeatedly. Unlike acute stress, which is short-term and resolves after the stressor is gone, racial trauma creates persistent stress. For Black individuals, this might come from daily encounters with microaggressions, systemic discrimination, violence, economic inequality, and historical trauma. These stressors:

Activate the fight-or-flight response repeatedly, keeping cortisol levels elevated.
Drive individuals toward emotional eating as a coping mechanism.
Disrupt normal metabolic processes, making it harder to maintain a healthy weight.

4. Stress-Induced Insulin Resistance

Chronic stress, particularly from prolonged racial trauma, also affects the body’s ability to regulate insulin, the hormone that controls blood sugar levels. When cortisol is consistently high, it can lead to insulin resistance, a condition where the body’s cells become less responsive to insulin. This forces the body to produce more insulin, which contributes to:

Increased Fat Storage: Insulin resistance makes it harder for the body to burn fat. Instead, the body stores excess glucose as fat, particularly in the abdominal area, leading to weight gain and increasing the risk of obesity.

Higher Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: Over time, insulin resistance can lead to type 2 diabetes, a condition that disproportionately affects Black communities, partly due to the chronic stress from racism and socioeconomic factors.

5. Impact of Stress on Sleep

Chronic stress and high cortisol levels also disrupt sleep patterns, leading to insomnia or poor-quality sleep. Lack of sleep further exacerbates weight gain and stress-related health issues:

Sleep Deprivation and Hunger Hormones: Sleep deprivation affects the balance of ghrelin and leptin, the hormones that control hunger and fullness. When sleep is insufficient, ghrelin (the hunger hormone) increases, while leptin (the hormone that signals satiety) decreases. This leads to increased appetite and cravings, particularly for high-calorie foods.

Weight Gain: Poor sleep also slows down metabolism and contributes to weight gain, particularly in individuals experiencing chronic stress, like those impacted by racial trauma.

6. Racial Battle Fatigue and Physical Wear and Tear

Racial battle fatigue, a concept coined by Dr. William A. Smith, describes the physical and mental exhaustion that Black people experience from continuously dealing with racial microaggressions and systemic racism. This chronic fatigue takes a toll on the body, leading to:

High Blood Pressure: Stress from racial trauma increases the risk of hypertension (high blood pressure), which is also linked to weight gain and higher risks of heart disease.

Chronic Inflammation: Persistent stress causes chronic inflammation in the body, which contributes to a range of health problems, including obesity. Chronic inflammation disrupts normal metabolic processes and makes it harder to maintain a healthy weight.

7. Psychological Effects and Coping Mechanisms

Beyond the physiological effects, racial trauma also drives unhealthy coping mechanisms that contribute to weight gain. For many, food becomes a source of comfort or escape in the face of stress and trauma.

Emotional Eating: As mentioned earlier, chronic racial trauma often leads to emotional eating as a way to cope with stress, depression, or feelings of hopelessness. This can lead to overeating, particularly of unhealthy foods, and eventual weight gain.

Body Image and Self-Worth: For individuals who experience both racial and body shaming, negative self-talk can drive unhealthy behaviors, such as binge eating or neglecting physical activity. The emotional toll of constantly feeling devalued or marginalized can lead to self-sabotaging behaviors that result in weight gain.

Conclusion

Stress physiology plays a central role in how racial trauma can lead to weight gain and obesity. The body’s chronic stress response—primarily through the hormone cortisol—affects appetite, metabolism, fat storage, and emotional health, creating a cycle that makes it harder for individuals to maintain a healthy weight. For Black communities disproportionately affected by systemic racism, this chronic stress is compounded by other structural factors, such as food insecurity, limited healthcare access, and economic inequality, all of which increase the risk of obesity.

Addressing this issue requires understanding the deeper physiological and emotional effects of racial trauma and implementing culturally sensitive, trauma-informed interventions that support both mental and physical health. Healing from racial trauma means tackling the underlying stress response, promoting self-care, and creating systemic changes that alleviate the constant pressures of living under racial oppression.

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