Minimize Stress and Maximize Nutrition

"My diet isn’t great. I drink too much coffee, skip breakfast, and usually grab fast food for lunch during the week . . . then I end up gorging when I get home. I know I should eat better, but I can’t seem to make it a priority." Sound familiar?

Juggling career, family, and a social life makes for a constant time crunch. As a result, many people find it challenging to consume a nutritious diet, and live a lifestyle which includes exercise and relaxation. This profoundly affects their health and the examples they set for their children.

Many of us internalize stress and, over a period of months and years, this can cause both mental and physical breakdown. In small doses, stress energizes and motivates us. Too much stress, however, can impair our health status. Is stress eroding your well-being?

At the Meridian Clinic most new patients report their stress level as “considerable” or “unbearable,” with career and finances as the common stressors. Burn-out, self-esteem, depression, and anxiety were the most significant issues reported in a 2005 study linking job satisfaction and health. In other words, the more stressed the employees were, the higher the rates of these complaints.

Over the past 20 years, work stress has increased globally. In the United States, for example, workers' compensation claims due to stress increased almost 40 per cent from 1992 to 2002. Stressed workers have a profound affect on their employers: The 2002-2003 Staying at Work Survey found that 79 percent of employers surveyed reported that depression, anxiety, and other mental health-related conditions were the leading cause of their short-term disability claims.

Our bodies cannot identify the difference between physical and mental stresses. Whether we are faced with a head-on collision or have a deadline to meet, our body responds with an increased demand for nutrients. Fat and protein stores are burned when the body’s glucose (quick energy) supplies are depleted, but if one continues to burn the midnight oil, they may gain weight as they make unhealthy choices to give them quick energy. Adding insult to injury, the body uses up more vitamins B and C during times of stress. Caffeinated beverages and lack of sleep further deplete these vitamins and some minerals such as calcium. B vitamins are necessary for vitality and energy, and calcium plays an important role in muscle and nerve relaxation. In other words, skipping meals or not eating a balanced diet increases stress on the body as the demand for nutrients increases and is not met.

Many of us do not eat when under stress (which is actually not a bad thing, since food is not digested well under those circumstances). Once the stressful moment has passed or we have “time” to eat, we typically reach for a treat or eat too much. By then, we're low in blood sugar, extremely hungry, or both. This energy slump, typically at 3 or 4 p.m., sets us up for poor food choices.

Concentrated doses of sugar found in soft drinks, candy bars, and many processed snacks do make us feel better instantly. It provides a quick boost of short-lived energy, which essentially leaves us feeling even more tired and irritable than before our fix.

It's a vicious cycle: Stress affects mood; mood affects behavior and food choices; and food choices affect our mood. To further complicate matters, many people learned in childhood to rely on food for comfort or for a reward. We can liken this to subconscious “primal instincts” to reach for foods we associated with comfort as children, leading us into a cycle of guilt and adding more stress by increasing concerns about eating poorly or weight gain. Sadly, we have missed an opportunity to feed our body what it actually needs—real food.

To break detrimental lifestyle and eating habits, you have to take responsibility for breaking unhealthy eating patterns. Once you make a commitment and develop discipline to stick with it, the empowerment factor can propel you into making more lifestyle changes than you ever thought possible.

Ease Stress and Improve Eating Habits

Eat regular meals and snacks, starting with breakfast. Your digestion works best in the morning, so the effort is worth it. Eating a balanced and varied diet comes next, but all the variety in the world will be wasted if you gobble it down daily in your car. Depending on your particular needs, intolerances and conditions, you may need different food combinations from your family members or partner. Start paying attention to why and when you are eating and keep a food journal for a few days. You might be surprised by how much, when, and what you are actually eating.

Consuming a couple of healthy, protein-rich snacks each day will help stabilize your blood sugar and prevent mood swings. Limit caffeine to one caffeinated beverage per day and relax instead with a steaming mug of Kombucha herbal tea.

The following are convenient snack options packed with protein, low glycemic carbohydrates, B-vitamins, calcium, and more. Eating these types of snacks may also help ease tension.

• Banana slices with nut butter, rolled in a small amount of unsweetened coconut

• Papaya with cottage cheese

• Sliced red bell peppers with yogurt or tofu-based dip

• Rye crackers with Swiss cheese

• Ground flax seed or toasted unsalted nuts or seeds (on anything)

Be aware of your emotions and have healthy foods on hand. Meals should be enjoyed slowly and with others, whenever possible.

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