Nutritional Stress

Do we not have enough stress without adding nutritional stress? We all know that stress and anxiety can affect our eating habits, but did you know that our eating habits can affect our stress and anxiety? Of course, there are many factors that contribute to stress – work, lack of work, financial issues, busy schedules, and family relationships. Maintaining your health during stressful situations can make a big difference in how you are able to weather those stressful times.

It’s easy to grab whatever you can find to eat when you’re under pressure and feeling rushed to get it all done. The result? You guessed it. Nutritional stress. Research shows that the food you eat can have a direct impact on your stress level.

Here are some diet tips for avoiding nutritional stress:

Eat little and often.

Your body was created to know when and how much to eat. Eating too much food stresses your body by causing it to work overtime to digest the food. And when your body can’t figure out what to do with the extra food it stores it as fat. Eating smaller meals more frequently will help to keep your metabolism and your weight steady.

Add protein to each meal.

Protein stabilizes your blood sugar and helps maintain healthy muscle tissue.

Don’t overdo the sugar.

Sugar causes a short term burst of energy, but your energy level drops quickly when your blood sugar level drops.

Stop substituting caffeine for sleep.

I know it’s hard to find the time to get adequate sleep, and it’s tempting to consume large amounts of caffeine to stay awake. The caffeine in coffee, tea, cola, and chocolate stimulates the nervous system and causes irritation and stress. I confess, I think of coffee as a gift from God, but too much of anything isn’t healthy.

Drink plenty of water.

Dehydration causes stress on your mind as well as your body. Drinking plenty of water will help remove toxins, improve your energy level, and help you think more clearly.

Eat real food.

Unprocessed foods are real food. Whole grains, fruits, and vegetables are all examples of unprocessed foods. Anything that was available a hundred years ago is probably a better choice than something that claims to be “new and improved.”

These are just diet tips and guidelines; they aren’t rules. Please don’t stress over nutritional stress. Small steps will take you further than you may think on your journey toward better health.

Need to shake up your exercise routine? Check out our HIIT article.