Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011:2011:651936.
doi: 10.1155/2011/651936. Epub 2011 Oct 2.

Mindfulness Intervention for Stress Eating to Reduce Cortisol and Abdominal Fat among Overweight and Obese Women: An Exploratory Randomized Controlled Study

Jennifer Daubenmier  1 , Jean Kristeller, Frederick M Hecht, Nicole Maninger, Margaret Kuwata, Kinnari Jhaveri, Robert H Lustig, Margaret Kemeny, Lori Karan, Elissa Epel
Affiliations

Mindfulness Intervention for Stress Eating to Reduce Cortisol and Abdominal Fat among Overweight and Obese Women: An Exploratory Randomized Controlled Study

Jennifer Daubenmier et al. J Obes. 2011.

Abstract

Psychological distress and elevated cortisol secretion promote abdominal fat, a feature of the Metabolic Syndrome. Effects of stress reduction interventions on abdominal fat are unknown. Forty-seven overweight/obese women (mean BMI = 31.2) were randomly assigned to a 4-month intervention or waitlist group to explore effects of a mindfulness program for stress eating. We assessed mindfulness, psychological distress, eating behavior, weight, cortisol awakening response (CAR), and abdominal fat (by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) pre- and posttreatment. Treatment participants improved in mindfulness, anxiety, and external-based eating compared to control participants. Groups did not differ on average CAR, weight, or abdominal fat over time. However, obese treatment participants showed significant reductions in CAR and maintained body weight, while obese control participants had stable CAR and gained weight. Improvements in mindfulness, chronic stress, and CAR were associated with reductions in abdominal fat. This proof of concept study suggests that mindfulness training shows promise for improving eating patterns and the CAR, which may reduce abdominal fat over time.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram with abdominal fat as primary analysis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mean weight change and standard errors by group condition among overweight versus obese participants.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Scatter plot of correlation between changes in cortisol awaking response and changes in abdominal fat among treatment group participants.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Scatter plot of correlation between changes in emotional eating and changes in trunk to leg fat ratio among treatment group participants.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Després JP. Is visceral obesity the cause of the metabolic syndrome? Annals of Medicine. 2006;38(1):52–63. - PubMed
    1. Després JP, Lemieux I, Prud’homme D. Treatment of obesity: need to focus on high risk abdominally obese patients. British Medical Journal. 2001;322(7288):716–720. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Brunner EJ, Marmot MG, Nanchahal K, et al. Social inequality in coronary risk: central obesity and the metabolic syndrome. Evidence from the Whitehall II study. Diabetologia. 1997;40(11):1341–1349. - PubMed
    1. Brunner EJ, Chandola T, Marmot MG. Prospective effect of job strain on general and central obesity in the Whitehall II Study. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2007;165(7):828–837. - PubMed
    1. Rosmond R, Björntorp P. Occupational status, cortisol secretory pattern, and visceral obesity in middle-aged men. Obesity Research. 2000;8(6):445–450. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources