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Effect of a Lifestyle Program on Holiday Stress, Cortisol, and Body Weight
Author(s) -
Talbott Shawn M,
Christopulos AnneMarie,
Richards Erin
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.20.4.a581-a
Subject(s) - mood , waist , medicine , weight gain , stress management , weight management , calorie , appetite , weight loss , obesity , perceived stress scale , endocrinology , physical therapy , gerontology , body weight , stress (linguistics) , clinical psychology , linguistics , philosophy
Cortisol overexposure is well‐known in the scientific literature to increase appetite and promote fat storage in the abdominal area. The holidays are often cited as a stressful time of the year (Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day), and a time during which many people gain weight. Our hypothesis was that a comprehensive lifestyle program would attenuate stress and weight gain in this group of “stress‐eaters.” We recruited 50 self‐reported “high‐stress” volunteers with historical holiday weight gain to participate in an 8‐wk program of stress management, nutrition intervention, exercise, and dietary supplementation. Subjects followed a moderate calorie‐restricted diet based on resting metabolic rate (RMR), plus a moderate exercise program (5 d/wk with aerobic/strength), stress management techniques (daily) and an experimental anti‐stress dietary supplement (daily). We measured body weight (BW), RMR, body fat (BF by BIA and skinfold), waist circumference (WC), cortisol and alpha‐amylase (CORT and AA by salivary enzyme immunoassay), and stress levels (MOOD by Profile of Mood States) before and after the 8‐week lifestyle intervention. Results show that the lifestyle program led to significant changes in BW, BF, WC, CORT, and MOOD score (all p<0.05 by ANOVA compared to baseline values). RMR and AA were unchanged. These findings show that even “high‐stress” subjects can derive significant stress‐control and weight‐control benefits from a comprehensive lifestyle program initiated during this stressful time of year. Funded by TalMark Nutrition and TreeHouse Athletic Club.