Stress is a big problem in the world. However, if more people were aware of how easy it is to battle stress and win, there would likely be a lot less people who suffer life in its grasps. We’ve all been there before, clutched tight in the hand of stress. Well luckily, there is a way out! What if I told you that all it takes is to eat healthier food?
Believe it or not, creating a less-stressed life may be as simple as making a few changes to our diets.
Certain types of food are believed to work wonders when it comes to eliminating stress and creating much more calm lives.
Check out this helpful article about eating for a less-stressed life from CHATELAINE.
Are you feeling attacked by a constant stream of demands? If so, you’re definitely not alone. In the book The Adrenal Stress Connection, naturopathic doctor Maritia Schauch reports, “45 percent of all adults suffer adverse effects to stress and 75 percent to 90 percent of all visits to physicians are in some way related to the results of psychosocial stress. Stress is a factor in many illnesses from headaches to heart disease, immune deficiencies, anxiety disorders and digestive problems just to name a few.”
I found it funny that I was writing about stress this week, while every email, every call, every meeting created a longer to-do list that pushed my adrenals to produce stress hormones. Before I was a nutritionist, I would have devoured a pint of chocolate ice cream and a row of cookies to cope, but now I have an amazing arsenal of relaxing and healing foods to help me to get through any challenge. Eating refined sugars and flours can inhibit the production of your brain’s natural pleasure chemicals, but healthy whole foods are packed with the nutrition your brain needs to produce a positive, calm and more alert state that leads to a happier and less stressful life.
Five foods that fight stress
1. Add carob for a chocolate flavour and extra minerals: Carob contains high amounts of essential minerals like calcium and magnesium, both of which are required for the proper contraction and subsequent relaxation of muscles. Magnesium also supports adrenal function and inhibits the release of adrenalin, the hormone that contributes to the feelings associated with stress.
2. Boost your vitamin B6 with an avocado: Vitamin B6 is necessary for the creation of steroid hormones, including those that are released during periods of stress. States of excess stress could cause a depletion of vitamin B6 stores, which could cause other hormonal imbalances and additional internal stressors.
3. Crunch on raw red bell peppers to boost immunity and fight stress: Red bell peppers are packed full of vitamin C, which can reduce cortisol (stress hormone) levels in the blood. The benefit of vitamin C is two-fold because it also improves your ability to fight infections, which people tend to be more susceptible to during periods of high stress.
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To see the rest of the tips as well as a stress-fighting recipe, CHATELAINE
