Stress Awareness Month

Stress-busting foods– While you should not turn to food to drown your sorrows, certain foods and nutrients have been noted to help decrease stress levels and should be included in your meals:

• Vitamin C – Get some extra vitamin C from fruits such as oranges or blueberries. This vitamin is an antioxidant which keeps the stress hormone cortisol in check.

• Dark chocolate – Dark chocolate with a cocoa percentage of 70% or higher is rich in compounds which lower stress hormones. Keep in mind that dark chocolate is still calorically dense and should be eaten in moderation.

• Omega-3 rich foods – Omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish like salmon and tuna, walnuts, and flaxseeds, can help prevent increases of stress hormones.

• Folate – Eat foods such as sunflower seeds or spinach which are sources of folate. This is an important nutrient which is a natural promoter of the feel-good hormone dopamine.

Exercise – Moving your body and getting some endorphins running through your body will help decrease levels of stress.

Practice yoga and meditation – These are both great stress relievers that have been proven to decrease stress and increase productivity.

Get out of your own head – Sometimes you just need to leave your thoughts behind. Try stepping out for fresh air, reading a book, listening to music, or making or viewing art.

Visualize serenity and happiness – Focusing on happy thoughts will take you away from your current stressors.

Stick to your daily rituals and routines – By staying consistent with day-to-day routines, you will not be letting your stress take over your life. When you let stress interfere with your life, it is a lot harder to recover.

Get a good laugh – Chatting with friends or family can help you sort through your stress plus they probably know how to make you laugh. Playing with pets or watching a funny movie will also help release feel-good hormones.

Turn to food – While the foods mentioned above are known to combat stress, resist emotional eating. Typically, emotional eating will lead to indulging in comfort foods that are high in sugar, salt, or fat. Not only will that lead to uncomfortable physical side effects like stomach pains or bloating, these foods are often high in calories and will not be satisfying. In fact, eating too much sugar will give you a temporary sugar high which may increase your heartrate and intensify your symptoms! Aside from physical symptoms, emotional eating has negative psychological effects which will cause you to feel bad about yourself.

Engage in vices – For some people, binge eating is their go-to habit when feeling stressed. For others, their comfort is found in alcohol, tobacco, or drugs. These habits are unhealthy and destructive and in the long run they will likely make you feel worse, not better.

Hibernate – You may feel tired or depressed when you are stressed out, leading you to stay in bed and sleep to ignore your stress. While regular sleep is important, sleeping the time away day after day will not help. Sticking to your normal routines will help you stay on track and keep from falling behind in your responsibilities.

Dwell on it – You don’t want to completely ignore your stressors but dwelling on them is also pointless. Rather than obsessing over what is causing your stress, put that energy into resolving the cause of stress! Making a list of your stressors and evaluating how to handle or resolve them will relieve your stress faster than anything else.