How Wearing a Stress-Monitoring Bra Might Curb Your Overeating

   By SheSpeaksTeam  Jan 03, 2014

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If you’re looking for a bra to give you more than just a lift, you may be interested in the new stress-detecting bra Microsoft is developing. The bra, which is said to monitor vital signs and moods, is designed to help women who tend to overeat when they are feeling stressed out.

Reuters reports about the stress-monitoring bra that uses sensors to track the wearers heart rate, respiration, skin conductance and movement. The women who have tried out the bras also recorded what their moods were like throughout the day on their smart phones while researchers collected the data from the bra and the phones. After compiling all the data, scientists tried to find physiological links between eating and stress.

The point of wearing the bra for someone who tends to overeat is to make them aware of the situations they are in when they overindulge. The heart rate monitor and other sensors can detect stress and alert the wearer that they should deal with the problem at hand rather than turn to food.

Cognitive psychologist and senior researcher in visualization and interaction at Microsoft, Mary Czerwinski, explains why she thinks the stress-monitoring bra can be a benefit to many women. She says, “It's mostly women who are emotional overeaters, and it turns out that a bra is perfect for measuring EKG (electrocardiogram). We tried to do the same thing for men's underwear but it was too far away (from the heart).”

What do you think of the new stress-monitoring bra now in development?

Do you think a bra like this could be a useful for someone who tends to stress-eat?