Stressed? Here’s What to Eat
Amaranth, blueberries and sunflower seeds
Stress disrupts our digestion and eating habits. We either eat too much or too little. Stress affects everything from our appetite to our microbiome.
Here are some foods to help get you through tough times. If your body is still in the stress response mode, feeling shaky, or your heart rate is still elevated, it may be best to start by making a cup of tea. Making tea can be a calming ritual to get into the kitchen and out of stress mode. It’s also a good way to stay away from carbs and stress eating. After you’ve settled down, then you can give your body the nutrition support it needs.
Foods that support resilience:
Fiber foods. A healthy microbiome is fundamental to good health. It is the foundation for immunity, proper digestion, and having available nutrients for body systems.
Oatmeal
Greens, raw or cooked
Whole grain foods, no sugar added
Chia seeds
Fruit, like apples, with the peel left on
Vitamin B foods. B vitamins feed our nervous system. Keep it healthy by getting a variety of foods that give B vitamins. There are 8 different kinds of B vitamins, and the best way to ensure you’re getting the right amounts of all 8, go for an assortment of vegetables and fruits. Meat eaters tend to have an easier time getting B vitamins, but with some attention to menu planning, vegetarians can get all 8 vitamin Bs. B12 is typically harder for vegetarians to get enough of. Most vegetarians have to look for appropriate supplements or foods fortified with B12.
Maybe you’ve noticed, the B vitamins aren’t numerically logical, meaning they’re not numbered from 1 to 8. They’re numbered 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 12. To make it a little more challenging, many have alternate names, like folate (B9) and niacin (B3)
These foods have higher amounts of B vitamins:
Meats, salmon, organ meats, chicken
Eggs - B2, B5, B7, B9, B12
Nori - B12
Beans, legumes - B1, B3, B9
Almonds - B2, B3
Brown rice - B3, B9
Nuts and seeds - B3, B5, B7
Mushrooms - B5
Dark leafy greens - B6, B9
Chickpeas - B6
Bananas - B6
Papaya - B6
Avocados - B7
Many fortified foods like cereals and rice milk have B vitamins, including B12.
Foods that support recovery:
Inflammation is a common problem that results from the chemical cocktail our body produces when stressed. Omega 3s, antioxidants, and beneficial plant polyphenols are all good for inflammation. Here are some foods that support a healthy inflammation response complex:
Turmeric
Fatty fish, like salmon or mackerel (not tilapia)
Ginger
Olive oil
Bell peppers
Flaxseeds
Protein. When recovering from mental or physical stress, protein can help. Meat is obviously high in protein. All plant foods have protein too, but in smaller amounts. Proteins are a group of nutrients made up of 20 amino acids. It’s a common misconception that some plant foods are “incomplete” proteins. The idea of an incomplete protein started because some plants have less of certain amino acids than others. Getting a wide variety of nutritious foods is the best way to make sure your diet is meeting your needs. Here are some higher protein foods:
Salmon (almost 21g protein per 3oz [85g])
Edamame (18g protein per cup)
Lentils (over 17g protein per cup)
Chickpeas (15g protein per cup)
Split peas (over 16g protein per cup)
Forbidden rice (16g protein per cup)
Brown rice (5.5g protein per cup)
Broccoli (over 2.5g protein per cup)
Herbs can be thought of as special plant foods. You can add herbs to foods for health reasons, like adding herbs and spices to dishes. You don’t always have to take herbs as a pill or a tea. Check with your practitioner to see if they’d be right for you, as always. Here are some herbs to help with calming nerves and can help tonify:
Bacopa, add some dried leaves to a salad
Ashwagandha powdered herb, add a little to a smoothie or oatmeal
Chamomile, add to soups or stews or mashed potatoes
Resources
https://nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu/vitamins/vitamin-b/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4042564/
