Stress Can Nullify Benefits Of A Healthy Diet

A new study suggests that stress can override the benefits of healthful eating.

According to the paper published in Molecular Psychiatry, researchers recruited 58 women who completed surveys to assess the kinds of stress they were experiencing while participating in a “meal challenge,” one in which “they were each given two different types of meals to eat, on different days,” reports Allison Aubrey.

The findings, says study author Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, director of the Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research at Ohio State University add to growing evidence that “stress is a powerful player when it comes to influencing our health.” Kiecolt-Glaser’s previous work has also demonstrated that “stress can promote weight gain by altering metabolism and slowing down calorie-burning,” says Aubrey.

Read more at NPR