Psychology Archipelago

Chess, Stress, And... Weight loss?

I just played in a chess tournament the other week. It was the first tournament that I was able to play in since the pandemic. I scored 4.5/6, and got a return on investment of -60 dollars (60 dollar prize and 120 dollar entry fee), not including hotel and food. But money wasn't the only thing that lost big that weekend. I lost 5 over 3 days. I just had no appetite whatsoever. 

As it turns out, this is not a unique phenomenon. The World Chess Championship in 1984 was canceled after the defending world champion, Anatoly Karpov lost 22 pounds. This can be attributed to a variety of factors. Despite taking up only 2% of body weight, the brain is estimated to use 20% of the calories consumed. Of course, thinking very hard by itself is not a very efficient method of losing weight, burning only a fraction of moderate exercise. Instead, most of the weight loss can be attributed to stress. In particular, it is known that acute stress can decrease appetite, increase heat production, and increase activity. 
These are symptoms of a “fight-or-flight” response. Although most known as a response to predators or other sources of immediate danger, acute stress has the same effect on the body. It prepares the body in the short term to either fight the enemy or run away. In such a dire circumstance, we do not need to worry about food because we don’t know if we’ll be living the next day anyway. While the connection between life and death and chess seems a bit far-fetched, the reality is that our bodies don’t know what the source of the stress is. Our bodies just know that we are stressed.

However, this is definitely not to say that being stressed out is a valid weight loss strategy. Chronic stress over a long period of time leads to the body breaking down. This actually has the opposite effect of weight gain, which makes sense from an evolutionary perspective. If there is a prolonged source of stress, that likely means that there may not always be a stable source of food. It then makes sense to store fat very conservatively, just in case we can’t get food the next day.

This is an important issue since both obesity and stress is on the rise. 
Can we get a physique like The Thinker just by thinking extra hard? Unfortunately, no.
While stress can lead to obesity, obesity itself can lead to a variety of other mental health issues such as depression and more stress, creating a vicious cycle. There is of course, the stigma of obesity, which can lead to mental health issues. However, there are also biological effects of obesity. According to an article from Nature, obesity leads to immune cells creating signaling proteins associated with inflammation. Some of these proteins are closely related to mental health issues, in particular, depression. Depression, in turn, makes one more susceptible to chronic stress. This creates a vicious cycle, which now leads to the continued rise of obesity and mental health issues. 
All in all, chess is a slightly niche example of the inseparable connection between the mind and the body. Although most people treat obesity as a physical condition, and depression and stress as a mental one, they are only pieces of the puzzle. Overall, we need more awareness of a more holistic approach to health, and not just band-aid solutions.