Kelsey Marksteiner: That’s a really interesting question. I would say that really the only way that would alter my recommended calorie targets would be that I would just view that as a constant stressor. Even as I’m thinking about it, it’s hard to quantify that, too. How much do you increase calories based on someone being under a lot of stress? We don’t really know. But I would consider that they really need to be aware that stress … stress puts a stress on the body, of course, but honestly it does. Whether that changes the caloric needs a ton, I’m not totally sure, but if you’re trying to get someone to recover from being under constant stress, upping calories can be a helpful way to do that, especially if they’re undereating. You don’t want them to overeat, necessarily, either. I guess what I’m trying to say is if they are currently eating an adequate number of calories and they’re just constantly worried or they’re working really hard in terms of mental activity, I probably wouldn’t increase calories. I would work with them to find ways to reduce their mental stress as much as possible because, again, that’s a stressor on the body and that’s going to alter the HPA axis in a negative way over time, which we don’t want.
If they’re undereating, of course, I’m going to have them increase their calories. I guess what I would be worried about with a lot of mental activity going on, especially if it’s coming from worrying or overthinking, that kind of stuff, it would just be that that would eventually lead to HPA axis dysfunction. So if they’re undereating already and also having this additional stress, that’s two stressors instead of just one: undereating and mental stress, whereas if they’re eating an adequate number of calories and they’re just stressed out in their mind, that’s only one stressor. Of course, the more stressors you have on the body, the more likely HPA axis dysfunction is going to happen. I wouldn’t say it changes it enough that if you have someone who is worried or using their brain a lot in their work or anything like that that you would increase their calories for any reason, unless they’re already undereating, which in case, of course, we’re going to increase calories to an adequate amount.
I hope that makes sense. It’s an interesting question. I’ve never had that kind of question before. If I didn’t answer it to your liking, let me know, and if you have any more specific questions on it, hopefully I can answer that.