Abstract
Stress-related cortisol secretion has been linked to increased appetite and subsequent food intake in overweight individuals. The present study addresses this relationship in a repeated-measures randomized controlled laboratory experiment. Nineteen obese women were compared to 36 normal weight controls with respect to stress-induced salivary cortisol and laboratory eating behavior, measured by a universal eating monitor. The trier social stress test served as stressor. Stress-induced cortisol levels were significantly higher in the obese compared to the normal weight controls. Unexpectedly, a corresponding increase in laboratory food intake was not detected. The results are interpreted and discussed with regard to restrained eating, which was found to be present to a significant degree in the obese women.
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All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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Lorig, F., Kießl, G.R.R. & Laessle, R.G. Stress-related cortisol response and laboratory eating behavior in obese women. Eat Weight Disord 21, 237–243 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-015-0190-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-015-0190-3