Eating to avoid stress

I often get asked, can a healthy diet cure stress?...

Well there's no basis to think that stress can be cured by eating certain types of food...as stress has so many causes, however these tips may help reduce or prevent symptoms...

  1. Don't overeat - many people reduce feelings of stress by comfort eating, often reaching for unhealthy High GI foods that send their blood sugar all over the place. This in itself can bring on feelings of stress as your metabolism speeds up.
  2. Avoid the GI rollercoaster - eat Low Gi foods that sustain your energy meaning that you don't get the big downs after the big highs. Foods like Porridge oats, broccoli, peas, cherries, plums, butter beans, hummus, mushrooms, red peppers, onions...
  3. Avoid lots of caffeine- a stimulant that we use to bring us up and artificially 'stress' us is bound to give us unwanted feelings and have longer term impact on our immune system.
  4. Avoid foods that can be allergy producing - you may not be allergic but even a slight intolerance can cause metabolic stress. The big eight are: milk, wheat, eggs, peanuts (groundnuts),nuts from trees (including Brazil nuts, hazelnuts and walnuts), fish, shellfish (including mussels, crab and prawns) and soya. At Nutrichef our meal plans are wheat-free and dairy-free as these are the most common intolerances.
  5. Eat dark green leafy vegetables - kale, cabbage, spinach, watercress deliver the B-complex vitamins that appear to be particularly important in preventing stress in the body.
  6. Eat whole grains - again they contain the B-complex viatmins; try: Barley soup, Brown rice, Millet, Quinoa, Spelt.  ALl are core ingredients on a Nutrichef meal plan.
  7. Drink water - tiredness can be a common cause of stress and one of the most common causes of feeling tired is dehydration. So drink plenty of fluids during the day making sure that most of that is water.
  8. Avoid alcohol - like caffeine, alcohol is a stimulant that will give you a high, but also delivers the low...
  9. When do you eat? - eating late won't necessarilly make you put on weight, but it will effect your sleep patterns. Skipping meals, such as breakfast and lunch when you're busy and on the go will cause your body nutritional stress on top of the fact that you may well be psychologically stressed. You will lack the nutrition to sustain activity so, eat the most when you're going to do the most!
  10. Relax and enjoy your food - the simple act of sitting down on your own, with family or friends, focussing on your food and enjoying what you are eating is in itself a great stress-buster!
On National Stress Awareness Day, here's some diet tips that might just help you avoid the curse of the 21st century.

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