A new study suggests that hostilities in a person's marriage, paired with a history of depression, could lead to a higher obesity risk in adults.
The study reveals that these factors will lead to changes in how the body processes any high-fat food that the person consumes.
Men and women that have a history of depression and whose marriages are troubled with frequent, heated arguments with their spouses revealed to have several potential problems in their metabolism after consuming high-fat food.
The subjects of the study were not able to burn as many calories as they normally should, and possessed increased levels of insulin and triglycerides, which are kind of fat found in blood after consuming high-fat food, especially compared to people that do not possess the factors being tested.
After seven hours from eating the meal, the subjects of the study burned 118 less calories compared to their less-stressed counterparts. That amount of calories translates to the subjects gaining weight of as much as 12 pounds within a year.
In addition, the multiple metabolic problems can lead to metabolic syndrome, which is characterized as the condition of having three or more of the five factors that significantly increase a person's risk to diabetes and heart disease.
"These findings not only identify how chronic stressors can lead to obesity, but also point to how important it is to treat mood disorders. Interventions for mental health clearly could benefit physical health as well," said Ohio State University Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research director Jan Kiecolt-Glaser.
Glaser, who is the study's lead author, adds that the results could even be an underestimation, as the study only involves one meal. Most people have meals every four to five hours, and often eat with their spouses which could add another level of stress to their daily regimen.
The study was presented by Kiecolt-Glaser along with Martha Belury, an Ohio State University human nutrition professor and Kiecolt-Glaser's co-author, at the Science Writers 2014's New Horizons in Science briefings.
The researchers recruited 43 couples, with ages from 24 years old to 61 years old, to participate in the study. The participants were first assessed in terms of their satisfaction with their marriage, mood disorders in the past and symptoms for depression.
The participants were given a meal to consume, and then after two hours, were left alone and asked to talk to their spouse about an issue that researchers determined would most likely create conflict.
The discussions and arguments that followed were videotaped and studied by the researchers. The calories burned by the participants were also recorded, revealing that those with a history for mood disorder and a more troubled marriage burned 31 less calories hourly on average and had 12 percent higher insulin compared to participants that experienced low hostilities.
