How Does Stress Lead to Belly Fat?

Often we hear people say that being overweight is mainly due to overeating and lack of exercise. However, another factor which can cause this problem is stress. Chronic stress causes your body to produce excessive amount of cortisol (stress hormone), which in turn increases the tendency to store fat. Sadly, our belly area has more amounts of cortisol receptors than anywhere else on our body. Therefore, high level of cortisol leads to excess body fat to accumulate around your waist and tummy. Moreover, it also reduces your metabolism and makes you easier to gain weight.


Belly fat, or in scientific term, Visceral or Abdominal fat, is dangerous to our body because it will be turned into cholesterol and travels through the blood, after being metabolized by the liver. Plaque may build up, consequently narrows the arteries. Heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and hypertension are some of the problems that people would suffer from this.

Note: Get some time off from your busy lifestyle especially on the weekends. Put aside things that have been bugging you for days. Let your mind and soul rejuvenate so that you will get back to work feeling refreshed and perform even better! Relax lah…