Far-fetched? Not really. Check out the two articles below.

The first one reiterates what we have known for a long time. Stress increases adrenal hormones, and not just Cortisol as noted, but all “Glucocorticoids,” or hormones that mess up how we process sugar.

Stress hormone may be linked to obesity, study suggests

“USA Today (2/23, Rossman) reports that research suggests “long-term exposure to the stress hormone cortisol” may be linked “to increased levels of obesity and wider waists.” Investigators “collected years of hair samples of about 2,500 people.” The researchers “found obese participants had significantly higher levels of cortisol…than people who were normal weight or overweight.”

CNN (2/23, Lamotte) reports that “the release of cortisol…says” lead author Sarah Jackson, “is triggered by receptors that are densely located in visceral fat tissue, the type that surrounds our organs, which may explain its association with weight gain and loss.” The findings were published in Obesity.”

ANY stress can do the above, whether it is physical, mental, or spiritual, or SOCIAL. As previously documented by many studies, social media tends to be not only about superficial relationships that often motivate people to compete, show off and other behaviors that are not conducive to peace and quiet.

Social media increasing stress levels in Americans, study says

“Blomberg News (2/23, Shanker) reports that last week the American Psychological Association “released a study inding that Americans were experiencing the first statistically significant stress increase in the survey’s 10-year history.” Bloomberg explains that “in January, 57 percent of respondents of all political stripes said the U.S. political climate was a very or somewhat significant source of stress, up from 52 percent who said the same thing in August.” Meanwhile, “on Thursday, the” group “released the second part of its findings,” which indicated “43 percent of Americans say they are checking their e-mails, texts, or social media accounts constantly. And their stress levels are paying for it: On a 10-point scale, constant checkers reported an average stress level of 5.3.”

Of course, inactivity, and eating poorly, activities often fomented by immersing in social media a little too much are the main drivers of obesity.

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