Your husband can’t find his shorts, the kids need a ride to school, your boss has just scheduled an online meeting, and your best friend desperately needs your help…and you don’t know what to do first. Today, we live under constant stress. Healthy eating is a great way to relieve stress.
If you find life is getting more stressful with a hectic lifestyle, watch the temptation to substitute good nutritious meals with quick fast-food items. Someone reduces stress through sports, some through work and someone through food. Very often when someone is under stress it doesn’t eat at all or get overeating. I guess you know that more frequent are the second ones.
Continuously are appearing many stressful situations, which are affecting on our body and metabolism. Also stress is resulting in the collapse of our immune system.
Each individual handles stress differently. If we look at preventing stress (rather than reducing it once it has already occurred), there are many more potential food-related options.
Practical tips
Here are a few practical tips that can help you any time and almost anywhere – to reduce the tension in your life and with healthy eating to reduce stress, and also will help you to get through the stressful days.
Eat balanced meals. Try to include some lean protein – like fish, egg whites, poultry low-fat dairy, lean meats, or soy products – with each meal. Protein satisfies hunger and also helps keep you mentally alert. Round out your meal with fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
Eat regularly and don’t skip meals. When you’re stressed it’s easy to put meals off – or even skip them altogether. Keep a balanced meal plan that consists of breakfast, lunch and dinner with at least two snacks. Don’t skip meals! Try eating smaller amounts of food more often during the day.
How to start the day
Every morning start your day with 5 nuts. They contain large amounts of B vitamins which are essential for the nervous system.
Citrus fruits
Then drink naturally squeezed orange or grapefruit juice with one tablespoon of honey. Citrus fruits contain vitamin C. Vitamin C plays a role in fighting stress because it’s an antioxidant that fights the free radicals that get released when you’re stressed.. Honey contains 63 micro elements that contribute for stress relaxation and relieving. After this morning ritual, drink chamomile tea. It has been proved that chamomile protects the body from stress. It is balancing the secrete of the hormone that causes stress.  Sometimes when you have bad periods, and when you are really stressed, it’s recommended to drink this tea three times per day.
Consume more complex carbohydrates
When we talk about food that helps us to relieve stress we will give priority to complex carbohydrates. First on the list I would mention potatoes. When you prepare potatoes remember do not peel the potatoes. Also sweet potatoes can be particularly stress-reducing because they can satisfy the urge you get for carbohydrates and sweets when you are under a great deal of stress. On this list we can also add: carrots, celery, and all sorts of cabbage.
Legumes are also very important because they are an excellent source of complex carbohydrates. From all legumes the best choices are: peas, beans, lentils and green beans.
According to the latest research avocado is an excellent choice when it comes to foods rich in carbohydrates. Avocado contains specific carbohydrate called mannoheptulose. This sugar that is found in avocado does not stimulate pancreatic secretion of insulin hormone, but on the contrary, slows its secretion.
Next is soy, which is excellent food to help in reducing stress. It contains phosphatidylcholine which strengthens our nerves. Soy is also rich in vitamin E which helps in stress relief.
Phosphatidylcholine also can be found in olives, corn and herbal oils, so when you are under stress is good to consume these foods.
For stress relief are recommended foods that contain selenium like seafood (fish, shellfish), nuts and cereals. It’s good to know that products which are containing folic acid, like leafy vegetables, relax the nervous system.
Fruits and Vegetables
In your daily diet, if you want to reduce stress, you need to consume fresh enzymes that mean you must consume fruits and vegetables. The daily consumption of fresh fruits refreshes and “renew” our body, that is exhausted from the continual fight against the stress.
The most important fruits that will keep your stress away are: kiwi, pineapple, cherries, strawberries, pears and watermelon. And from vegetables the best stress relief foods are: winter radish, carrots, celery and ginger. Also broccoli, kale, and other dark green vegetables are powerhouses of vitamins that help replenish our bodies in times of stress.
What should avoid
We must mention products that encourage hypersensitivity of our body so that are creating the ideal conditions for the development of stress. The products that we should avoid are: coffee, sugar, alcohol, and all caffeine drinks.
Avoid or limit caffeine – Coffee, tea, some soda pop, and chocolate contain caffeine. Many of us deal with a stress-induced lack of sleep by turning to coffee, tea, and colas. Unfortunately, caffeine stays in our systems longer than many realize. Caffeine causes you to feel “wound up,” which can make stressful situations seem more intense. Cutting back on caffeine can help with both sleeping problems and jitters.
Sugar: As a carbohydrate, sugar tends to calm us. The problem with sugar is that it’s a simple carbohydrate so it enters and leaves the bloodstream rapidly, causing us to, in effect, “crash.”
Drink alcohol in moderation – limit yourself to 2 drinks per day for men and 1 drink per day for women.
So, consuming healthy foods will help you in stress relief. Make your life better, be happy, smile everyday, exercise regularly, and follow these healthy eating tips that will help you to reduce the stress, and the most important is to believe in yourself, forget about the stress and he will forget you. Start today, I MADE IT, AND YOU CAN DO IT !
Care for your health, Eat Healthy !