Weight gain, even as slight as only two kilograms, can create a hormonal imbalance which, in turn, can worsen the symptoms of re-entry syndrome by actually lengthening its duration. “If the beneficial effect of holidays seems to disappear quickly, the restoration of routine for about half of Italians, especially women, is associated with stress and worries,” said Annamaria Colao, president of the Italian Society of Endocrinology (SIE) and Full Professor of Endocrinology at the Federico II University of Naples.
It is the so-called re-entry syndrome, not a pathology that we find in medical textbooks, but to all intents and purposes a real condition that many experience after a more or less long vacation period, especially in summer. It is a psycho-physical response, characterized by anxiety, insomnia, irritability and fatigue, which is felt when returning to a different normality from the relaxing and carefree one of the holiday.
“According to SIE estimates, up to 45% of the population suffer from it with a frequency that is 2 to 3 times greater in women than in men – specified Colao – A fatigue that is growing also due to the long-covid that it has profound fatigue as its main symptom. Re-entry syndrome is generally short and transient in nature and lasts from a couple of days to a week, ”Colao stressed.
“But even a few extra pounds taken during the holidays can extend its duration up to a few weeks. In particular – he continued – the inflammatory state caused by even a slight weight gain, can create a hormonal imbalance by sending haywire the system that transforms progesterone into allopregnanolone, the hormone of well-being and increasing the levels of cortisol, the hormone of stress. This, predisposing to anxiety and fatigue, as well as worsening the symptoms of the re-entry syndrome, in particular fatigue, can lengthen its duration “.