{"id":92431,"date":"2023-02-16T11:25:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-16T15:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=92431"},"modified":"2025-10-03T11:51:51","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T15:51:51","slug":"stress-and-metabolism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-and-metabolism\/","title":{"rendered":"Stress and Metabolism: How They&#8217;re Closely Connected"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>How are stress and metabolism connected? What does <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/long-term-stress\/\">chronic stress<\/a> do to your metabolism?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Robert Sapolsky, psychological stress has come to dominate the lives of many humans in modern society. In <em>Why Zebras Don&#8217;t Get Ulcers<\/em>, he explains the connection between stress and metabolism, including how stress negatively affects many other parts of your body and mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading to learn about how chronic stress affects the metabolism, according to Sapolsky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p><em>Editor\u2019s note: This article is part of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/hub\/personal-life\/health\/mental\/stress-guide\/\">Shortform\u2019s guide to stress<\/a>. If you like what you read here, there\u2019s plenty more to check out in the guide!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-stress-and-metabolism\">Stress and Metabolism<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In <em>Why Zebras Don&#8217;t Get Ulcers<\/em>,&nbsp;biologist and neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky explains the connection between stress and metabolism, arguing that <strong>chronic stress can cause a variety of metabolic issues<\/strong>. During intense physical stressors, your body doesn\u2019t need to digest food and store the energy for later\u2014it needs energy <em>now<\/em>. To get this energy, the sympathetic nervous system activates, decreasing the secretion of insulin, the hormone responsible for storing energy. Also, glucocorticoids are released to stop nutrients from being transferred to fat cells, which basically cancels out the effects of any insulin left in the bloodstream.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a result, your body has successfully blocked the energy storage function of your metabolic system, but it also needs to gain access to some of the energy that already is stored. Hormones are then released that transform the more complex proteins stored in fat cells into glucose, which can be converted into energy quickly. <em>After <\/em>a stressor, the body responds by releasing hormones that increase appetite in order to make up for the energy you just used. This is why many people eat a lot more when stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: Because of the effect of stress on your metabolism and the metabolic process, it can cause weight gain, as well. Several studies from the 2010s even show that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/blog\/the-athletes-way\/201601\/why-does-chronic-stress-make-losing-weight-more-difficult#:~:text=stress%20creates%20the%20desire%20to%20eat,abdominal%20fat%20and%20slow%20metabolism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">there is a feedback loop between chronic stress and body fat<\/a>. In 2015, researchers found that body fat sends signals to the brain that help regulate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-response-in-the-body\/\">the stress response<\/a>. Too much extra fat, however, can weaken the body\u2019s ability to turn off the stress response, resulting in a feedback loop: Too much stress can result in extra body fat, and extra body fat can cause even more stress.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like with the cardiovascular system, <strong>when the stress response is turned on too often, problems in the metabolism emerge<\/strong>. First, constantly turning on the metabolic stress response is inefficient. It takes energy to break down nutrients and transfer them between storage and usage, so when you do this too often, you lose out on potential energy. This can result in the fatigue many feel after stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: The kind of fatigue Sapolsky is referring to here is the everyday fatigue many people feel when mildly stressed, and researchers suggest that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2007\/01\/070131112341.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">we should pay more attention to fatigue<\/a> because it can cause us considerable harm. But it\u2019s also important to understand the difference between tiredness and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mayoclinic.org\/diseases-conditions\/chronic-fatigue-syndrome\/symptoms-causes\/syc-20360490\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">chronic fatigue<\/a>. Tiredness can be mitigated by rest, while fatigue occurs when the body is unable to keep up using normal recovery methods. Understanding the distinction is important because people often confuse the two, which can lead to inaccurate diagnoses that can make the problem worse.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another problem caused by placing constant stress on your metabolism and the metabolic stress response is that it increases the amount of fat and glucose circulating in your bloodstream. This can then clog your blood vessels and arteries, which can lead to hypertension. It can also make you more insulin-resistant, which can lead to and exacerbate the effects of diabetes. As stated above, when you\u2019re stressed, glucocorticoids are released to cancel out the insulin in your bloodstream so that you can use the energy from glucose. Do this too often, and you can build up an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/peter-attia-insulin-resistance\/\">insulin resistance<\/a> that characterizes type-2 diabetes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>How Evolution Has Lead to Hypertension and Diabetes<\/strong><br><br>Research suggests <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC3996172\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">further evolutionary links between insulin resistance and hypertension<\/a> beyond stress-related reasons. Throughout most of our evolutionary history, humans have required strong energy storage and salt-retention capabilities. To survive periods of famine or starvation, we needed to be able to store food efficiently. And, to survive the heat and laborious activities, which induce sweat, we needed to be able to retain sodium efficiently. Additionally, the foods available to hunter-gatherers were low in sodium and calories, further adding to our need for these traits.&nbsp;<br><br>However, these particular traits we\u2019ve inherited from our ancestors no longer serve a vast majority of people. We live a much more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-avoid-sedentary-lifestyle\/\">sedentary lifestyle<\/a>, and we have access to plenty of food with high sodium and caloric content. Because of our different lifestyles, and because our bodies have adapted to store energy and retain sodium, we\u2019re much more likely to develop hypertension, insulin resistance, and type II diabetes.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How are stress and metabolism connected? What does chronic stress do to your metabolism? According to Robert Sapolsky, psychological stress has come to dominate the lives of many humans in modern society. In Why Zebras Don&#8217;t Get Ulcers, he explains the connection between stress and metabolism, including how stress negatively affects many other parts of your body and mind. Keep reading to learn about how chronic stress affects the metabolism, according to Sapolsky.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":67966,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,9],"tags":[906],"class_list":["post-92431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-psychology","tag-why-zebras-dont-get-ulcers","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Stress and Metabolism: How They&#039;re Closely Connected - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How are chronic stress and metabolism connected? Biologist Robert Sapolsky explains the many metabolic issues caused by long-term stress.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-and-metabolism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stress and Metabolism: How They&#039;re Closely Connected\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How are chronic stress and metabolism connected? Biologist Robert Sapolsky explains the many metabolic issues caused by long-term stress.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-and-metabolism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-16T15:25:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-03T15:51:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/human-body-diagram-gut-organs-digestion.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Emily Kitazawa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Emily Kitazawa\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-and-metabolism\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-and-metabolism\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Emily Kitazawa\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e094024454c7d3334a149c0cf039bdeb\"},\"headline\":\"Stress and Metabolism: How They&#8217;re Closely Connected\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-16T15:25:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-03T15:51:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-and-metabolism\/\"},\"wordCount\":832,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-and-metabolism\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/human-body-diagram-gut-organs-digestion.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Why Zebras Don\u2019t Get Ulcers\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Health\",\"Psychology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-and-metabolism\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-and-metabolism\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-and-metabolism\/\",\"name\":\"Stress and Metabolism: How They're Closely Connected - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-and-metabolism\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stress-and-metabolism\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/human-body-diagram-gut-organs-digestion.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-16T15:25:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-03T15:51:51+00:00\",\"description\":\"How are chronic stress and metabolism connected? 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