When you're constantly stressed but not exercising, your body releases stress and sugar-regulating hormones that together make you store more fat around your belly.
Evidence from Studies
Supporting (1)
Community contributions welcome
When people are stressed for a long time without exercising, their body makes too much of a stress hormone called cortisol, which tricks the body into making more insulin and storing fat around the belly — and this study shows that’s exactly what happens.
Contradicting (1)
Community contributions welcome
Effect of chronic psychological stress on insulin release from rat isolated pancreatic islets.
The study found that stressed rats had less insulin, not more, and didn’t measure belly fat at all — so it doesn’t support the idea that stress raises insulin and causes belly fat.
Gold Standard Evidence Needed
According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.