The Secret Benefits of Massage
The Easiest Way to Combat Stress & Fight Fat
-- By Mike Kramer, Staff Writer
Just got a professional massage yesterday. First one ever. Swedish. Unbelievable relaxation. Took me out of my daily chaos and melted me right into the table. Sound faded into a shadowy haze. Muscles reawakened. Ability to speak--gone.
In other words, I liked it.
It's true what we're learning. Stress can cause you to store fat right where you want it the least--in the belly. And what fights stress better than a luxurious massage? It may be the single most enjoyable way to keep the weight off.
If you think adding massage to your lifestyle sounds too good to be true, let's look at how and why it works:
High Anxiety = Heavy Anxiety
Tension and stress lead directly to weight gain. Stress produces the cortisol hormone. Cortisol, besides causing major damage to tissue and nerves when stored up, also signals the production of insulin. Some extra insulin sounds harmless enough, except that it tells your body to store fat in the abdomen, as more and more studies are showing.
To fight this, you can either burn off the cortisol through exercise (still recommended by the way), or keep it from producing in the first place by staying relaxed. Like, say, through a massage.
