Obesity Discussion Forums

[Dustin]

Eat Right To Fight Stress
By Willow Lawson (From Psychology Today)

Snack foods are the worst thing to grab when you're stressed. They may even exacerbate the tension.

Stress is inevitable. However, there are ways to minimize its grip on your life, starting with your diet.

Most of us recognize that certain foods have brutal effects on the brain—for productivity, mood and mental energy. Too much chocolate can leave you dragging after the sugar and caffeine jolts fade away. An overdose of salty chips dehydrates the body and the brain, bringing on fatigue. High fat meals raise stress hormone levels and keep them high.

The problem is that these are precisely the foods we reach for at exactly the wrong times, as they exacerbate tension from work and daily life just when we seek relief.

The Food and Mood Project, a nutrition research group in the U.K., identified "food stressors" and "food supporters," foods that exacerbate stress from the inside and those that help people under stress. The lists were drawn on the basis of personal experience among 200 people surveyed.

Nearly 90% of those surveyed reported that their mental health had improved significantly with changes in diet they had made on their own.

Participants reported that cutting down or avoiding "food stressors" like sugar (80%), caffeine (79%), alcohol (55%) and chocolate (53%) had the most impact on mental health. So did having more "food supporters" like water (80%), vegetables (78%), fruit (72%) and oil-rich fish (52%).

The survey also found some dietary strategies particularly helpful in encouraging a healthful diet: eating regular meals, carrying nutritious snacks and planning meals in advance.

"Despite evidence suggesting that dietary and nutritional interventions can provide symptom relief and benefits to health, these approaches remain alternative or complementary," says Amanda Geary, a nutritional therapist with the Food and Mood Project, which advocates dietary changes to boost mood before turning to medication.

Nevertheless, quality research now underway is seriously tackling how the foods we consume affect our internal chemistry. We already know that stress hormones like cortisol actually rob the body of vitamins, hijacking them to support such classic stress responses as the tensing of muscles and the rise of blood pressure, reactions fundamental to the fight-or-flight response.

Thus at times when we're experiencing the nervous-system workout of anxiety, we are in special need of B vitamins, which help maintain our nerves and brain cells. B vitamins also used up in converting food into energy for the body.

It's double whammy for the body if calories consumed during stressful times don't come from nutritious foods, as they'll then be depleted even more quickly. Even a slight vitamin B deficiency—say, from a few days of overloading on chips and soda—upsets the nervous system and compounds stress, according to Elizabeth Somer, R.D., a nutritionist in Salem, Oregon.

A better bet at trying times: bananas, fish, baked potatoes, avocados, chicken and dark green leafy veggies. All are loaded with B vitamins.

Extreme stress can create even more nutritional havoc. The "fight or flight" effect on our bodies is drastic. Some 1400 chemical changes occur as stress hormones sap the body of important nutrients, such as those B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin A and the mineral magnesium.

The hormones released in response to stress can cause carbohydrate cravings by lowering levels of serotonin, the calming hormone. Increasing carbohydrate intake can strengthen tolerance to stress by boosting levels of serotonin, says Somer, but it can also cause weight gain and overeating, particularly of sugary foods.

When the pressure is on, it's difficult not to turn to junk food for solace. But sticking to highly nutritious, low fat, low sugar, and low caffeine diet will be its own reward.

[William Wallace]

wow, that's a great article, thanks Dustin!!!

[Obesity Discussion]

Awesome read. So true! Excellent find my friend

[Irving]

no wonder i lost all my hair at such a young age. i used to use all those bad things and sometimes all at once

[Dustin]

I think the largest quandary for me getting my stress level down will be cutting back on caffeine. I drink diet soda most of the time, but usually it's caffeinated. At least I'm taking the sugar out of the equation.

[Obesity Discussion]

Originally Posted by Dustin

I think the largest quandary for me getting my stress level down will be cutting back on caffeine. I drink diet soda most of the time, but usually it's caffeinated. At least I'm taking the sugar out of the equation.

Soda doesn't have that much caffeine, but every bit helps I think my biggest issue is that I need more sleep. A lot more!

[yuliyasha]

Thanks Dustin for the article. I'm a stress case all the time. Sometimes I'd have chamomile tea and chocolate, which I thought to be the most helpful thing for me. This article proves me wrong...Vit B is definitely helps to stabilize nervous system and also gives you more energy. So next time before the test, I'll load my lunch box with bananas and broccoli =D

Yuliya

[Obesity Discussion]

Originally Posted by yuliyasha

Thanks Dustin for the article. I'm a stress case all the time. Sometimes I'd have chamomile tea and chocolate, which I thought to be the most helpful thing for me. This article proves me wrong...Vit B is definitely helps to stabilize nervous system and also gives you more energy. So next time before the test, I'll load my lunch box with bananas and broccoli =D

Yuliya

So, tea with caffeine, chocolate, and possibly sugar in your tea? Talk about a triple whammy!

[Irving]

Originally Posted by yuliyasha

Thanks Dustin for the article. I'm a stress case all the time. Sometimes I'd have chamomile tea and chocolate, which I thought to be the most helpful thing for me. This article proves me wrong...Vit B is definitely helps to stabilize nervous system and also gives you more energy. So next time before the test, I'll load my lunch box with bananas and broccoli =D

Yuliya

Nurse Yuliya, which vitamin B helps, is it B6, B12 or all the different Bs? How much should one take, just the daily value or more?

[Dustin]

Another thing that quite possibly isn't helping me is the low-carb Monster energy drink I usually have every morning.

[Obesity Discussion]

Originally Posted by Dustin

Another thing that quite possibly isn't helping me is the low-carb Monster energy drink I usually have every morning.

that'll give you a nice caffeine jolt

[yuliyasha]

Irving,
Vitamin B is good, but like anything--in moderation. It is not recommended to take more than daily dosage, because like any water-soluble vitamins, it gets dissolved quickly in your body and natural defenses of your digestive and urinary system eliminate all extras (that's why some people notice color changes in their urine). So I suggest to take no more than 200 micrograms daily (combination of thiamin (B1), riboflavin(B2), folate, and niacin (B3)). B12 dosage is microscopic, so if you eat your green leafy vegetables, you get the amount needed.
Yuliya

[yuliyasha]

Originally Posted by Obesity Discussion

So, tea with caffeine, chocolate, and possibly sugar in your tea? Talk about a triple whammy!

Chamomile tea has no caffeine-it says in the box
But I can definitely agree with chocolate
I've always been told that chocolate is good for your mind to work
Now I know it's wrong

Yuliya

[William Wallace]

Originally Posted by Dustin

Another thing that quite possibly isn't helping me is the low-carb Monster energy drink I usually have every morning.

um, yeah

I got a free case of those a while back from a promotion and they were pretty good. All gone within two weeks

[William Wallace]

Originally Posted by yuliyasha

Irving,
Vitamin B is good, but like anything--in moderation. It is not recommended to take more than daily dosage, because like any water-soluble vitamins, it gets dissolved quickly in your body and natural defenses of your digestive and urinary system eliminate all extras (that's why some people notice color changes in their urine). So I suggest to take no more than 200 micrograms daily (combination of thiamin (B1), riboflavin(B2), folate, and niacin (B3)). B12 dosage is microscopic, so if you eat your green leafy vegetables, you get the amount needed.
Yuliya

Excellent tip for all of us, thanks Yuliya

[Dustin]

Originally Posted by yuliyasha

Irving,
Vitamin B is good, but like anything--in moderation. It is not recommended to take more than daily dosage, because like any water-soluble vitamins, it gets dissolved quickly in your body and natural defenses of your digestive and urinary system eliminate all extras (that's why some people notice color changes in their urine). So I suggest to take no more than 200 micrograms daily (combination of thiamin (B1), riboflavin(B2), folate, and niacin (B3)). B12 dosage is microscopic, so if you eat your green leafy vegetables, you get the amount needed.
Yuliya

Excellent post!

[Irving]

Originally Posted by yuliyasha

Irving,
Vitamin B is good, but like anything--in moderation. It is not recommended to take more than daily dosage, because like any water-soluble vitamins, it gets dissolved quickly in your body and natural defenses of your digestive and urinary system eliminate all extras (that's why some people notice color changes in their urine). So I suggest to take no more than 200 micrograms daily (combination of thiamin (B1), riboflavin(B2), folate, and niacin (B3)). B12 dosage is microscopic, so if you eat your green leafy vegetables, you get the amount needed.
Yuliya

phenomenal information yuliya thank you

Originally Posted by yuliyasha

Chamomile tea has no caffeine-it says in the box
But I can definitely agree with chocolate
I've always been told that chocolate is good for your mind to work
Now I know it's wrong

Yuliya

i thought that dark chocolate had some health benefits, so maybe the good evens out with the bad

[Merle]

Originally Posted by yuliyasha

Irving,
Vitamin B is good, but like anything--in moderation. It is not recommended to take more than daily dosage, because like any water-soluble vitamins, it gets dissolved quickly in your body and natural defenses of your digestive and urinary system eliminate all extras (that's why some people notice color changes in their urine). So I suggest to take no more than 200 micrograms daily (combination of thiamin (B1), riboflavin(B2), folate, and niacin (B3)). B12 dosage is microscopic, so if you eat your green leafy vegetables, you get the amount needed.
Yuliya

Excellent information as always Yuliyasha, thanks for the tips!

[Merle]

Originally Posted by Dustin

Eat Right To Fight Stress
By Willow Lawson (From Psychology Today)

Snack foods are the worst thing to grab when you're stressed. They may even exacerbate the tension.

Stress is inevitable. However, there are ways to minimize its grip on your life, starting with your diet.

Most of us recognize that certain foods have brutal effects on the brain—for productivity, mood and mental energy. Too much chocolate can leave you dragging after the sugar and caffeine jolts fade away. An overdose of salty chips dehydrates the body and the brain, bringing on fatigue. High fat meals raise stress hormone levels and keep them high.

The problem is that these are precisely the foods we reach for at exactly the wrong times, as they exacerbate tension from work and daily life just when we seek relief.

The Food and Mood Project, a nutrition research group in the U.K., identified "food stressors" and "food supporters," foods that exacerbate stress from the inside and those that help people under stress. The lists were drawn on the basis of personal experience among 200 people surveyed.

Nearly 90% of those surveyed reported that their mental health had improved significantly with changes in diet they had made on their own.

Participants reported that cutting down or avoiding "food stressors" like sugar (80%), caffeine (79%), alcohol (55%) and chocolate (53%) had the most impact on mental health. So did having more "food supporters" like water (80%), vegetables (78%), fruit (72%) and oil-rich fish (52%).

The survey also found some dietary strategies particularly helpful in encouraging a healthful diet: eating regular meals, carrying nutritious snacks and planning meals in advance.

"Despite evidence suggesting that dietary and nutritional interventions can provide symptom relief and benefits to health, these approaches remain alternative or complementary," says Amanda Geary, a nutritional therapist with the Food and Mood Project, which advocates dietary changes to boost mood before turning to medication.

Nevertheless, quality research now underway is seriously tackling how the foods we consume affect our internal chemistry. We already know that stress hormones like cortisol actually rob the body of vitamins, hijacking them to support such classic stress responses as the tensing of muscles and the rise of blood pressure, reactions fundamental to the fight-or-flight response.

Thus at times when we're experiencing the nervous-system workout of anxiety, we are in special need of B vitamins, which help maintain our nerves and brain cells. B vitamins also used up in converting food into energy for the body.

It's double whammy for the body if calories consumed during stressful times don't come from nutritious foods, as they'll then be depleted even more quickly. Even a slight vitamin B deficiency—say, from a few days of overloading on chips and soda—upsets the nervous system and compounds stress, according to Elizabeth Somer, R.D., a nutritionist in Salem, Oregon.

A better bet at trying times: bananas, fish, baked potatoes, avocados, chicken and dark green leafy veggies. All are loaded with B vitamins.

Extreme stress can create even more nutritional havoc. The "fight or flight" effect on our bodies is drastic. Some 1400 chemical changes occur as stress hormones sap the body of important nutrients, such as those B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin A and the mineral magnesium.

The hormones released in response to stress can cause carbohydrate cravings by lowering levels of serotonin, the calming hormone. Increasing carbohydrate intake can strengthen tolerance to stress by boosting levels of serotonin, says Somer, but it can also cause weight gain and overeating, particularly of sugary foods.

When the pressure is on, it's difficult not to turn to junk food for solace. But sticking to highly nutritious, low fat, low sugar, and low caffeine diet will be its own reward.

Super article Dustin, thanks for posting it!