Stress plays a major factor in creating body fat. The midsection is especially vulnerable to increased fat commonly referred to love handles. Stress affects the effectiveness of losing love handles and developing muscles in the abdominal region of your body. We want to look at the science behind what stress does to your body and the compelling evidence that you must pay attention to.

Stress causes your body to produce more of a specific hormone called cortisol. Cortisol is called the stress hormone. Cortisol has its good points and has to be included in your body's make up, but what it does when increased in production is actually the exact opposite of what you want to happen.

Cortisol increases the breakdown of your muscle mass especially when increased levels are present over a long period of time. What's more, it also helps the placement of fat around your mid section, and therefore helps to create those love handles that you want to avoid.

Abdominal exercises and drastic diet plans will not address the overriding effects of cortisol. The good news is there is real help available to you once you understand the cause and affect of cortisol on love handles or abdominal fat.

There are two things to concentrate on here. You should work to reduce the amount of stress that you deal with on a regular basis. Strive daily to remove stressful situations from your life. Taking deep breaths when you feel the levels of anxiety increasing works great. By giving you time to de-stress, the levels of cortisol will remain lower. You should incorporate time for yourself to do enjoyable activities, even though you may think that you just don't have the time or energy to do that.

Exercise is an incredible outlet for relieving stress. Ask your co-workers or neighbors about the athletic high they feel when returning from the gym or other workouts. This is actually the significantly reduced stress levels that you may have not felt for a long time. Your body is clean of the stress component that causes us to overeat and gain weight.

What's more, the other aspect to consider in fighting cortisol is to include an herbal compliment to your diet. The herb Relora is ideal for improving stress hormone levels. Consuming it daily can help you to reduce your stress levels as well as help you to reduce your love handles. You can purchase this in a supplement form that can easily be consumed daily. Another herb to look into is phosphatidylserine. It can help your muscles to overcome the effects of cortisol and helps to improve the brain's reaction to stress in general. Overall, these can help you to overcome stress in your life.

While removing all stress from your life is not likely to be an easy job to do, we owe it ourselves to start now. Stress causes many physical ailments that most of us may not recognize immediately. Increased love handles or abdominal weight is simply one outcome of increased stress levels. Start now by walking at lunch. Take the stairs up a building. Park your car as far away as possible and walk to the stores. Your body will love you for it and the handles will slowly go away.