This paper explores how long-term stress, measured through cortisol and cortisone levels in hair, affects long-term eating behavior in people with obesity. Specifically, we used data from 108 adults with obesity to see if higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol and its inactive form cortisone were linked to increased hedonic eating tendencies. We also investigated the role of psychological stress in this association.
Key findings include:
- Biological stress: We found that higher levels of hair cortisone (but not cortisol) were associated with stronger food cravings.
- Psychological Stress: Participants who reported higher psychological stress also showed increased food cravings and emotional eating tendencies.
- Combined Effects: Those experiencing both high hair cortisone and psychological stress had the highest levels of food cravings and emotional eating, indicating that biological and psychological stress might add to each other with potential negative effects of eating behavior.
Overall, our study highlights the complex relationship between stress and eating, suggesting that managing stress could be crucial for effective weight management in individuals with obesity.
Our results suggest that patients with obesity may be more susceptible to hedonic eating tendencies if they have higher long-term hair cortisone levels and/or long-term psychological stress. Biological and psychological stress seem to be differentially linked to eating behavior, as they correlated with eating behavior independently of each other.
Created in BioRender. van Rossum, E. (2024) https://BioRender.com/b69c059.
Long-term hair cortisone and perceived stress are associated with long-term hedonic eating tendencies in patients with obesity. Kuckuck, S., van der Valk, E.S., Lengton, R., März, J., Hillegers, M.H.J., Penninx, B.W.J.H., Kavousi, M., Boon, M.R., van den Berg, S.A.A., & van Rossum, E.F.C. Psychoneuroendocrinology 171 (2025)
