A Nutritionist’s Guide: What to eat in times of stress
Kelly Aiello
Brain Health Coach / Natural Nutritionist / Speaker / Founder of HappiHuman.com People work with me when they want to improve their brain health, mental clarity, and cognition to reclaim their lives & restore vitality.
Sometimes, stress gets the best of us.
Sometimes, stress levels are so high that we get trapped in circular thinking and can’t escape.
We cannot turn off recursive thoughts. We can’t do much more than hunker down with a big bag of chips, a chocolate bar, or some other fatty, salty, sugary foods that we find comforting.
And I get it. I’ve been there. I’ve done that. I know how to stress eat.
But I also know what stress eating does to our bodies and our nervous system.?
So, in light of the current global heightened state of stress that we find ourselves in, I thought I’d take a few minutes to share some thoughts and ideas that I hope will resonate with you.
How stress messes with our health
I don’t want to dwell on how stress messes with our health today. There are enough negative and worrisome thoughts circulating throughout the globe. And if you’d like to know more, check out a previous post we wrote about this topic - How Stress Messes with Your Health: The Ugly Truth.?
But I would like to point out a little scientific fact here before moving on.
We have three nervous systems in our bodies: the parasympathetic, sympathetic, and enteric nervous systems.
The Enteric Nervous System can be found in our gut. It’s often referred to as our “second brain” and is great at communicating with our brain. It contains 50-100 million nerve cells which remarkably detect and destroy dangerous bacterial invaders that make it into our gut when we accidentally consume contaminated food or water.
The Parasympathetic Nervous System can also be considered our “rest and digest” state. This state is initiated when our bodies are relaxed. Blood circulates freely throughout our digestive tract and carries nutrients to our cells.?
The Sympathetic Nervous System is our “fight or flight” mode. It kicks in when our body feels any kind of threat or stressor. Threats don’t only include moments of terror when we’re getting chased by a bear!?
Our bodies find all kinds of daily insults stressful - from certain foods we eat to staying up too late to getting cut off in traffic. Our body also experiences stress from working extra hard to meet a deadline, rushing around, dealing with money woes, and being in chronic pain. In fact, countless things can trigger a fight or flight response.
And we may not realize it, but our bodies are extremely smart. Its main focus at all times is survival or keeping us alive. So when we are in sympathetic nervous system mode, as we experience a stressful situation, or a situation that our body perceives as stressful, it sends blood to the main organs that keep us alive like our heart and muscles in preparation to escape.?
Fact - the body cannot be in both parasympathetic and sympathetic mode at the same time.?
Translation - if your stress levels are high, regardless of the reason, and cortisol is running rampant through your body, you will be unable to get quality sleep (rest) or digest the food you eat.
As you can imagine, this can be quite problematic.
So how can we better manage? What can we do to reduce the stress in our lives and mitigate its effects? A good first step would be to start nourishing our body with the right foods
What you should eat in times of stress
Instead of focusing on what not to do, or dwell on just how bad certain foods are for us (ahem - sugar), my intention is to offer up some ideas that may actually help. Ideas that you can start implementing today.
Even if, after reading this, you walk away with one pearl of wisdom or strategy that you can adopt and find helpful, then I’ll consider myself successful.
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Nutritional tips:
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What you should do in times of stress
In addition to trying one (or all) of the nutritional tips above, some lifestyle tweaks can also be made to help manage stress better.
Lifestyle tips:
On a More Personal Note
Our dog Berkeley was a life-saver for Joe after his TBI. He would not leave Joe’s side and worked tirelessly to comfort him each day. To this day, Joe still calls our four-legged boy “Dr. Berkeley.” He provided so much more comfort and compassion than any medical doctor or prescription could.?
The healing powers of Berkeley were so powerful that with our newest addition, a little French Bulldog we named Emerson, we decided to have her professionally trained to become an emotional support therapy dog. This way Joe could start giving back by bringing her to nursing homes, hospitals, child care centres, or other places her loving kindness and emotional support could be used to help others.?
I’ll keep you posted with more on this topic when there’s more to tell. As of right now, she’s still in training and a few months away from her first birthday when she can officially get tested to see if she meets the criteria to become an official emotional support dog.
But even if she doesn’t, she will still provide great emotional support to both of us!?
I personally find joy in my morning dog walks. For years now, Berkeley has gotten me outside for a morning walk, regardless of whether it’s sunny, rainy, or snowy - something I never used to do. As we all know, exercise, including walking a dog, is a great stress-relieving tool. It boosts serotonin levels, improves circulation, gets us outside in the fresh air to connect with nature, exposes us to sunshine to boost vitamin D levels, and if we stay mindful while walking, we can learn to enjoy and appreciate the sights, smells, sounds, and marvels of nature.?
All of these benefits came with the dog, and I had no idea at the time we adopted our first. So, if you are struggling, and need an excuse to get outside for a daily walk or two, I highly suggest considering a pet. The unconditional love, support, and joy one can bring to your life may just surprise you. Simply petting an animal has been shown to reduce cortisol levels.
Conclusion
We will never be able to escape stress. It’s part of life and always will be. But what we can do is eat better and live better so that stress and high cortisol levels do not consume our lives.?
If you’d like more help discovering foods targeted to your specific nutritional needs or circumstances, I’d be happy to help - make an appointment to see me today!
As always, I welcome your thoughts and value your feedback. Let me know what you think by dropping me a line or commenting below. What are you doing to manage your stress?
[Medical Disclaimer]
Please consult with your doctor(s) before starting any new mental or physical health improvement program. The advice I offer is not intended to replace that of your medical practitioner. I am not a medical professional, nor am I qualified to diagnose, cure treat, or prevent disease. The advice I provide on this website is intended for a broad and diverse audience, and as such, deals with general lifestyle concepts, not specific healthcare advice. This material disclaims any liability or loss in connection with the advice expressed herein.