Video narration
Can stress choose where your body stores fat? After a rough week of poor sleep or disrupted meals, you may feel hungrier, move less, or notice your weight shifting. That doesn't mean the emotion itself is stored as fat. When stress keeps disrupting routines, it can affect appetite, activity, and body signals involved in weight. Effects vary; stress doesn't guarantee weight gain. Cortisol helps your body respond to stress. Insulin helps regulate blood sugar and how your body uses and stores energy. Different jobs; neither is a switch directing fat to one spot. Here's the key: ordinary stress doesn't reliably send fat to your belly or face. Prolonged excess cortisol from some illnesses or steroid medicines can cause characteristic body changes-a different situation from ordinary stress. So, can stress choose? No-not reliably. A rough week can shift your sleep and appetite, but it can't tell fat to settle on your belly or face.