Recently I’ve embarked on personal pilgrimage into trauma, and post recovery I am deep in research about how how mental health conditions can impact your health. In this article we are exploring specifically how PTSD can influence your health, and also your weight, throughout your lifetime.

Having had PTSD for a very long time, I’ve always battled with my physical health. It’s actually the key reason why I began working in this field, and why I amassed so many extra qualifications on top of my Personal Training and Nutrition certifications – because I was trying to find a solution to my health, body image, and weight issues.

I’ve battled food sensitivities, insomnia, anxiety/depression, poor gut health, and chronic inflammation for all of my life. In order to maintain a healthy weight I have found I need to eat much ‘cleaner’ than your average person, and I still put on weight really easily if I stray. I’ve noticed my clients with mental health diagnosis always struggle to stick with plans more than those without, and even when they do they tend to achieve results slower.

So, I knew there was a link in there somewhere! Amazingly, modern research is surfacing around the long-term impact of trauma and PTSD on health, so I’m about to share some of it with you!

What is PTSD?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a well-known mental illness, which is caused by various stressors, including memories of past physical assaults and psychological pressure. Someone with PTSD is ‘haunted’ by traumatic memories, and these memories put strain on the nervous system as it tries to repress them.

PTSD often coexists with other conditions, both mental and physical, as it impacts (and alters) your brain and nervous system, and the nervous system is essentially your body’s operating system. So it extends way beyond your ‘mental’ health.

Recent research is highlighting the impact of PTSD on the metabolism, hunger and satiety hormones, as well as the immune system and inflammatory responses. Let’s explore the various ways in which PTSD can change your behaviour, your body and your mind, and how it might be making your health journey much more difficult.

PTSD disrupts your circadian rhythm. 

The body works on a ‘clock’, which is aligned with the sun. In very simple terms, as the sun rises our body produces adrenaline to give us energy, and as the sun sets it produces melatonin, which prepares us to unwind and go to sleep. 

There are many modern day stressors which disrupt this cycle (and these are things you can change, like reducing blue-light exposure at night, avoiding caffeine in certain times of the day – you can read more about this here), but research has now shown how the circadian rhythm is disturbed by PTSD, regardless of your behaviours. 

When your circadian rhythm is disturbed, sleep is more difficult, hormones are disrupted, digestion can become impaired, and your body just doesn’t really know what time of day it is. So that’s a pretty powerful impact. There is some research which suggests that dysregulation in the circadian rhythm can cause weight gain and insulin resistance as well. 

PTSD is associated with increased risk of various chronic health issues 

PTSD is associated with increased risks of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, ovarian cancer, and obesity, and unhealthy behaviours, including physical inactivity and TV viewing. As PTSD impacts your nervous system, the downstream effects are pretty huge. 

PTSD is associated with less healthy dietary choices

In one large prospective study of US women, PTSD was associated with changes in diet quality over up to two decades of follow-up. When compared to women with no trauma, those with the most PTSD symptoms showed less improvement in diet quality over time, and the more symptoms they had, the worse the outcome was. 

One mechanism which is suspected in this link between PTSD to poorer diet quality includes stress-induced eating, where psychologically distressed individuals tend to seek highly-palatable comfort foods to relieve or soothe adverse psychological reactions. I have had this experience myself, and support many clients with it. A highly-stressed person is always going to seek more comfort, and the simplest and fastest way to do this in a busy world, is to eat yummy dopamine-releasing foods.  

Additionally, increased impulsivity and poorer emotional regulation associated with PTSD could affect your decision-making processes, resulting in decreased engagement in beneficial behaviours including healthy eating (as what’s the instant pleasure in that!?) Essentially, we tend to be more impulsive!

PTSD impacts your metabolism. 

Through the nervous system is a cascade of gene transcription changes that primarily control energy utilisation, so shifts in function of the HPA axis and its associated pathways will ultimately impact metabolism. The healthier your metabolism, the healthier your body composition. 

Additionally, the changes in the HPA axis and stress on metabolism can exacerbate hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) and insulin resistance, which are both present in weight and obesity-related issues. PTSD is also linked with high inflammation, which is also an issue when it comes to weight control and chronic health conditions.

As you can see, PTSD is a condition that can absolutely impact your health in a big way. From self-soothing behaviours, managing triggers, disruption in the circadian rhythm, gut and nervous system, as well as chronic inflammation, it’s no wonder we can’t maintain a healthy weight. 

In my personal experience, working on PTSD with a licensed therapist, whilst at the same time fighting as hard as I can for a healthy whole-food diet, has led to amazing health outcomes overall. Movement like walking and weight lifting is really powerful too. 

If you have PTSD, be kind to yourself! It’s not an easy path to be on, but health is within your reach. 

Jen X