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# Stress Raises Belly Fat, Heart Risks
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/150820090939_stress_raises_belly_fat_heart_risks/
- Published: 2009-08-15T09:38:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-15T12:25:29.000Z
- Description: Wake Forest researchers found socially stressed monkeys secreted more cortisol and carried more visceral fat than calmer ones, even at matching weight and BMI. Stressed females put on belly fat as readily as males, losing their usual relative protection from plaque buildup.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Lifestyle, Health News, #vivvo-import

By Rachel Stockton ([rachels@foodconsumer.org](mailto:rachels@foodconsumer.org))

A recent study assessing the correlation between socially stressed monkeys and cardiovascular disease may have important implications for humans. The research, conducted by Wake Forest University, focused on visceral (belly) fat, and its relationship to metabolic syndrome and heart disease.Previously, Dr. Carol Shively and her team discovered that monkeys that are chronically stressed have a greater incidence of plaque buildup in the arteries; the current study was intended to discover why this is the case.Stressed monkeys secrete an increased amount of the stress hormone, cortisol, just as their anxious human counterparts do. This higher cortisol level leads to increased visceral fat and larger fat cells. Remarkably, even the stressed monkeys who had the same BMI and weight as non-stressed monkeys had more visceral fat than their calmer compadres.Central adiposity, according to the American Heart Association, is particularly lethal because the fat covers the organs.Another interesting finding: while females are generally less likely to develop cardiovascular disease, stressed females were just as likely to develop visceral fat as stressed males. In essence, being female offers no protection from plaque buildup and metabolic disease.According to the AHA website, visceral fat is a much more powerful marker for cardiovascular risk than BMI. With each increase in waist circumference, heart health is in that much more jeopardy.