Eat To Beat Stress – Must Have Foods
Feeling stressed? Rather than turning to the pantry and grabbing that box of double chocolate chunk cookies that’s calling your name or resorting to the fattiest, juiciest burger from any fast food joint, turn to smarter choices.
While the above foods may temporarily help take your mind off whatever is stressing you, they aren’t a long term solution. And what’s worse is that they’ll all have negative impacts on your body composition, so that in itself can also increase your stress as well.
It’s important that you do take stress seriously because too much stress can have an extremely negative impact on your health and can set you up to experience a number of degenerative diseases.
Those who are highly stressed out are going to be releasing more cortisol in their body. Cortisol is not a hormone that you want free flowing throughout your tissues as it can increase your risk of stomach fat accumulation, while also boosting your risk of heart disease and eventually stroke.
Fortunately, with the right diet techniques, you can overcome these problems. Let’s have a quick peek at some of the top foods that help combat stress.
Foods That Fight Cortisol
The first food to eat to help reduce cortisol is salmon. Essential fatty acids are a must for proper hormone support and salmon is one of the best sources. Other good foods with essential fatty acids include walnutsand flaxseeds, so be sure to get them in as well.
In addition to essential fatty acids, also nosh on foods rich in vitamin C from time to time as well.
This includes foods such as oranges, bell peppers, as well as kiwi’s, all of which can help defend against cortisol release.
Foods That Fight Stress
In addition to eating foods that help reduce your cortisol levels, it’s also important to consider other foods that combat stress as well. Sweet potatoes are a good one to select due to their beta-carotene content, as well as their complex carbohydrate composition. They’ll help to improve the level of serotonin release you experience, which can instantly promote a sense of calmness in the body.
Turkey is another good stress-busting food to consider. It contains tryptophan, which is an amino acid that can help you feel more relaxed, putting you into a mental calm state. Plus, the protein rich nature of it will help you control your blood sugar, so you don’t experience a crash which can leave you feeling more stressed and anxious.
Finally, include plenty of green vegetables in your diet such as broccoli, kale, as well spinach as all of these will contain vital nutrients and antioxidants that you need to combat the damaging effects of stress on the body.
So there you have some key stress busting eating strategies to make sure that you remember as you go about your diet plan. Eating balanced meals at regular intervals throughout the day will also help combat stress as it’ll keep your energy level on an even keel so you’re ready to deal with whatever comes your way.
What are your favorite Stress-busting foods? Let us know right below
