How Your Troubled Marriage May Cause You to Gain Weight

Marriage troubles and depression could be contributing to the risk of obesity. Scientists have found that these factors can alter how the body processes high-fat foods and can cause adults to gain weight.

In order to better understand what factors may impact obesity, the scientists recruited 43 healthy couples between the ages of 24 to 61 who had been married for at least three years. The participants completed a range of questionnaires that included assessment of marital satisfaction, past mood disorders and depressive symptoms.

The researchers then had the volunteer couples eat a high-fat meal that consisted of eggs, turkey sausage, biscuits and gravy; this totaled 930 calories and 60 grams of fat and was designed to mimic common fast-food options.

After the meals, the researchers tested the participants' energy expenditure, which is the number of calories burned by converting food to energy. Blood samples were also drawn several times after the meals in order to measure glucose, insulin and triglycerides.

The researchers found that participants with both a mood disorder history and a more hostile marriage burned an average of 31 fewer calories per hour and had an average of 12 percent more insulin in the blood when compared to low-hostility participants. This, in particular, shows that these stress factors can contribute to the storage of fat.

"These findings not only identify how chronic stressor s can lead to obesity, but also point to how important it is to treat mood disorders," said Jan Kiecolt-Glaser, the lead author of the new study, in a news release. "Interventions for mental health clearly could benefit physical health as well."

The findings reveal that stress can greatly impact a person's health. This, in turn, shows how important it is for people experiencing stress to seek help. Not only that, but the scientists estimate that this study actually underestimates the health risks, since only one meal was analyzed.

"Meals provide prime opportunities for ongoing disagreements in a troubled marriage, so there could be a longstanding pattern of metabolic damage stemming from hostility and depression," said Kiecolt-Glaser.

The findings were present during the New Horizons in Science briefings at ScienceWriters2014.