Stress at home, stress on the job, stress in your relationships. Regardless of the source, stress can have a negative impact ( 影响 ) on your health and well- being. One of the many physical problems stress can cause is weight gain. In an October, 1998 issue of the International Journal of Obesity ( 肥胖 ), researchers published a study that revealed that high stress is a “predictor for major weight gain”. In a January, 2006 article in the same publication, researchers found that stress can cause both weight loss and weight gain in men, depending on their initial body mass index ( 指数 ). Many people will find themselves reaching for unhealthy foods when they’re stressed. The stereotype ( 刻板印象 ) of curling up with a quart ( 夸脱,液体容量单位 ) of ice cream at the end of a bad day isn’t far from the truth. People often seek emotional comfort from foods when they can’t find it elsewhere. In addition to craving snack foods or sweets, some people experience an increase in appetite as a reaction to stress. Doctors have learned that although the initial reaction to stress, driven by adrenaline ( 肾上腺素 ), can decrease appetite, the lingering ( 拖延的 ) effects of another stress hormone, cortisol ( 皮质醇 ), can increase appetite. A 2001 study in Psychoneuroendocrinology ( 《神经心理内分泌学》杂志 ) indicates that women may be particularly susceptible to this type of stress eating. Our bodies are designed to react to stress in a fight or flight manner. Our bodies produce adrenaline to help us deal with the immediate stress. After that initial burst of energy, our bodies produce cortisol to increase appetite and replenish ( 补充 ) our food stores. The problem arises in the fact that we seldom output enough energy in the fight or flight stage to warrant the extra calories we take in during the replenishment stage. The end result is weight gain. While stress can make you overeat, it can also cause you to neglect your health in other ways. Many times people fail to take time to exercise, get enough sleep, or eat right when they’re under stress. All of these can contribute to weight gain. The weight gain, and the health issues it causes, can then become another source of stress in its own right. For these reasons, it’s imperative to reduce stress and avoid the problems that it brings.