![\"\"](\"http:\/\/internal.clientcommunity.com.au\/uploaded\/level\/2063\/Image\/201901-lifestyle-stress.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIf you\u2019re feeling stressed and overwhelmed you may reach for certain foods to make you feel better. This is not a problem, so long as the foods, you\u2019re eating are actually helping you manage your stress and not making the situation worse.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Eating \u2018comfort foods\u2019, like a bag of chips, that are high in sugar or processed carbohydrates can provide a short-term relief from\u00a0stress\u00a0<\/a>but leave you feeling worse in the long run and can actually be damaging to your health.\u00a0<\/p>\n We know how easy it can be to grab a sweet treat that\u2019s all too convenient, and how tricky it can be to make healthy food choices when your body is exhausted and you\u2019re feeling under pressure. So we\u2019ve prepared a list of stress-busting, calm-inducing foods that you can keep on hand when you know you\u2019ve got a busy week coming up or you\u2019re already feeling under the pump.<\/p>\n These top foods are proven to help boost your feel-good hormones, lower your blood pressure and reduce cortisol levels, which will help you balance your moods and feel calmer.<\/p>\n Why it works:<\/strong>\u00a0When we\u2019re stressed, our body releases a chemical called\u00a0cortisol.<\/a>Capsicum reduces the amount of cortisol in the bloodstream which helps to manage stress, plus it contains vitamin C that boosts immunity.\u00a0<\/p>\n How to eat it:<\/strong>\u00a0Chop up some raw sticks to have at your desk at work and munch on them on their own or with a nice\u00a0hummus<\/a>\u00a0when you\u2019re feeling stressed. \u00a0The crunchiness will also help to relieve your tense jaw.<\/p>\n Why it works:\u00a0<\/strong>Like capsicum, this too helps to reduce your cortisol levels but is also a major source of\u00a0lycopene<\/a>; which has been linked to a reduction of depressive symptoms, and helps prevent inflammation and blood clots. Studies have found cooking tomatoes can increase the potency of lycopene, far great than any other fruit or vegetable.\u00a0<\/p>\n How to eat it:<\/strong>\u00a0Try adding cooked tomatoes to your breakfast routine or make some delicious tomato soup for lunch or dinner.<\/p>\n Why it works:<\/strong>\u00a0Spinach, and other dark leafy greens are rich in folate which helps your body produce serotonin and dopamine, regulating your mood.\u00a0Spinach<\/a>\u00a0is also high in magnesium which helps to lower high blood pressure. The body becomes depleted of magnesium when under stress, so getting plenty of magnesium through spinach is a great way to bring your body back to balance.\u00a0<\/p>\n How to eat it:<\/strong>\u00a0Add a cup of spinach leaves to your\u00a0morning smoothie<\/a>\u00a0or create a healthy bed of baby spinach leaves to eat with a couple of poached eggs for breakfast.<\/p>\n Why it works:\u00a0<\/strong>Avocados contain 20 essential health-boosting nutrients, including potassium, vitamin E, B vitamins, and folate. According to research published in the\u00a0Nutrition Journal<\/a>, avocados keep you satiated throughout the day and are helpful for regulating blood sugar levels, which helps to keep your mood steady even in times of stress.<\/p>\n How to eat it:<\/strong>\u00a0Avocado is so versatile you can add it to almost anything or eat it on its own for a pick-me-up snack. Add avocado to your\u00a0morning smoothies<\/a>, chop it up and put it in your salad, whip it up in your blender to make a guacamole dip or even use it in a\u00a0dessert<\/a>\u00a0to curb those sweet cravings!<\/p>\n Why it works:<\/strong>\u00a0Salmon is an excellent source of healthy Omega 3 fatty acids which help regulate your hormones and brighten your mood. Salmon also contains zinc, which is often depleted in the body in times of stress.<\/p>\n How to eat it:<\/strong>\u00a0Breakfast, lunch or dinner! This delicious protein is great with eggs for breakfast, pan-fried in coconut oil and partnered with a side salad for lunch, or why not try it with a\u00a0coconut and macadamia crust<\/a>\u00a0for an easy but impressive dinner. For a quick and easy bite to eat when you\u2019re busy, have a salmon nori roll to get the added benefit of the seaweed\u2019s vitamins and minerals.<\/p>\n Why it works:<\/strong>\u00a0With\u00a0magnesium deficiency<\/a>\u00a0linked to anxiety and stress, you don\u2019t have to feel guilty about a few bites of chocolate when you\u2019re stressed. Good quality dark chocolate contains magnesium and zinc to give you a healthy boost.\u00a0<\/p>\n How to eat it:<\/strong>\u00a0Have a few pieces of high-quality dark chocolate as a snack when you\u2019re stressed.<\/p>\n Why it works:<\/strong>\u00a0Walnuts contain a plant form of Omega- 3 fatty acid that the body converts into docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) to lower norepinephrine, a hormone which can make you feel\u00a0anxious and irritable<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n How to eat it:<\/strong>\u00a0Add a sprinkling of walnuts to your salad at lunch.<\/p>\n Why it works:<\/strong>\u00a0L-tryptophan is an amino acid that your body converts to the \u2018happy chemical\u2019 serotonin. Do you get cranky when you\u2019re stressed? Research has shown that people who consume trytophan become significantly more agreeable and less\u00a0quarrelsome<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n How to eat it:<\/strong>\u00a0Foods rich in L-tryptophan include oats, yogurt, nuts, seeds or organic pasture fed animal products.\u00a0<\/p>\n Why it works:<\/strong>\u00a0Stress and anxiety tend to deplete your body of zinc, and our bodies need\u00a0zinc<\/a>\u00a0for both the immune and nervous systems. Sesame seeds hold around 10 mg of zinc per 100 g serving, whether you eat them raw, toasted or ground.\u00a0<\/p>\n How to eat it:<\/strong>\u00a0Sesame seeds ground into butter, known as tahini, is delicious with salads or as a dip with a few veggie sticks for a quick and easy snack. Tahini is also a core ingredient for hummus!<\/p>\n If you know you\u2019re a \u2018comfort eater\u2019 when you\u2019re stressed, stock up on these healthy, calming foods to help you balance your emotions and keep your calm.<\/p>\n Source : FoodMatters\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Reproduced with the permission of the Food Matters team. This article by\u00a0\u00a0LAURENTINE TEN BOSCH\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/strong> was originally published at www.foodmatters.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Important:<\/span> Any information provided by the author detailed above is separate and external to our business and our Licensee. Neither our business, nor our Licensee take any responsibility for any action or any service provided by the author.<\/span><\/p>\n Any links have been provided with permission for information purposes only and will take you to external websites, which are not connected to our company in any way. Note: Our company does not endorse and is not responsible for the accuracy of the contents\/information contained within the linked site(s) accessible from this page<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you\u2019re feeling stressed and overwhelmed you may reach for certain foods to make you feel better. This is not a problem, so long as the foods, you\u2019re eating are actually helping you manage your stress and not making the situation worse.\u00a0 Eating \u2018comfort foods\u2019, like a bag of chips, that are high in sugar […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-general-articles","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1452\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gpadviser.com.au\/gpl-theme-1-2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}1. \u00a0CAPSICUM<\/h3>\n
\u00a02. \u00a0COOKED TOMATO<\/h3>\n
3. \u00a0SPINACH<\/h3>\n
4. \u00a0AVOCADO<\/h3>\n
5. \u00a0SALMON<\/h3>\n
6. \u00a0DARK CHOCOLATE<\/h3>\n
7. \u00a0WALNUTS<\/h3>\n
8.\u00a0 L-TRYPTOPHAN<\/h3>\n
9. SESAME SEEDS<\/h3>\n
This provides general information and hasn\u2019t taken your circumstances into account.\u00a0 It\u2019s important to consider your particular circumstances before deciding what\u2019s right for you. Although the information is from sources considered reliable, we do not guarantee that it is accurate or complete.\u00a0You should not rely upon it and should seek qualified advice before making any investment decision. Except where liability under any statute cannot be excluded, we do not accept any liability (whether under contract, tort or otherwise) for any resulting loss or damage of the reader or any other person.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n