What do you do when your stress eating over the holidays carries on into January, February… and you find yourself wanting more of the chocolate and sugary treats to get you through gray, cold winter days? The New Year resolutions to turn to healthy eating may be a real challenge when you find yourself stuck inside in a wintery wind storm. It’s for sure tough to follow through with plans to eat better and work out more on days when there’s not much sunshine and the long hours of darkness are getting you down. You may find yourself doing emotional eating because needing treats and comfort are real for all of us.
Heading to sugary treats and high carb comfort food is a normal enough reaction when you’re under stress. After all, sugary foods do bring that quick burst of energy, right? It sure makes sense to look for any way to quickly get the energy you need when you are in the midst of difficult situations, feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. Yet what happens when the sugary pick me up ends up in that crash you know is coming, and you end up feeling more tired, foggy and cranky?
Why not sugary treats?
The fact of the matter is that food is a key way to help us with our stress management, and to feel clear, focused, energized. The secret is choosing the foods that help you have the inner fuel you need that will be sustained and serve your body and mind in the long run. The food you put in your body contributes directly to your mood. So sugary foods are not the best choice, and here’s why. Foods with a high refined sugar content, like cookies and donuts will quickly spike blood sugar, and give you that quick energy. But the sugar rush doesn’t last and ends up leaving you feeling fatigued, cranky or irritable, hungry, and in a brain fog. This is probably not what you were going for when you wanted to manage your stress and find strategies that really work.
Sugar is also destructive to the natural bacteria in the gut, so it’s not good for your gut health. A piece of information that’s important to note is that serotonin, the hormone that makes your mood happy and upbeat, is produced in the gut. Eating food that helps your gut be healthy is an important part of managing your stress, especially since you need hormones that help you be happy to balance stress. So eating foods high in refined sugar, like that pack of cookies, or the pastries, cakes and donuts you might be craving isn’t the healthiest choice when you want to build your sense of calmness and feel in a happier mood when you are under stress.
Food that helps de-stress
The good news is that food can be an effective way of doing stress management, as long as you choose the most effective foods. Using food as a stress management strategy means turning to foods that are packed with important nutrients for your brain and body. Giving your brain the nutrients or food it needs to manage stress is like giving your car the right fuel for the long drive ahead.
Here are some foods to turn toward when you are stressed, overwhelmed, fatigued and looking for a calm and clear head to manage the tough times.
Focusing on protein, complex carbohydrates, healthy fat and lots of vegetables are the foundation to build on when you are choosing food for your health.
Mind Strengthening Food
- Vitamin B rich foods that support brain function, mood and stress, include whole grains like quinoa, oats, barley, brown rice and buckwheat. Starting your day with cooked oats and putting barley or brown rice in home made soup is an easy way to build these complex carbohydrates into your meal time.
- Black beans, green leafy veggies like spinach and kale, seeds, almond butter and peanuts are a good way to get magnesium in your system. Magnesium is helpful in smoothing muscles that get tense when you’re stressed out. Magnesium also helps in calming the nervous system and helping slow things down so you can sleep.
- Food that helps produce tryptophan, an amino acid that helps the brain produce serotonin, are turkey, cheese and pumpkin seeds. You need serotonin to help you feel happiness and joy, emotions that balance out the heavy emotions of stress, and that help you see the bigger picture in situations. Putting pumpkin seeds on your cooked oats or snacking on them during the day is a nutritious way to boost your mood.
- Vitamin A is found in foods rich in beta-carotene are yellow and orange coloured, such as squash, sweet potatoes and mango. Vitamin A helps with your immune system and cellular health.
- Citrus fruits like oranges and kiwi, bell peppers, broccoli and cauliflower and berries help you get vitamin C in your food intake. Vitamin C supports the immune system which can be stressed when you are struggling with difficult situations.
- Fatty fish like salmon and sardines offer you protein as well as healthy fat. The body needs healthy fats to absorb some vitamins, such as vitamin A and D, that are important for many organs, including the brain. Avocado is another source of healthy fat.
This list is just some of the foods that are recommended for helping the body and brain manage and repair from stress. During stressful situations you tend to need all the healthy fuel possible to manage and cooking meals might be the last thing you feel you have time for when you’re stressed out. This list can help when you are looking for take out meals, or checking out the frozen section of your local grocery store.
Working with a dietitian when you are stressed out is a stress management technique that many people wouldn’t think of. Yet working with an expert around food that supports your stress management is a key part of building your body and mind to work in their best capacity.
If you are searching for the support of a dietitian who is trained in managing anxiety with food, reach out. The dietitian at Transforming Tides Counselling offers a free 20 minute phone consultation to discuss your needs and answer your questions about what working with a dietitian involves. Book your free phone consultation here.
