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Nutrition and Stress
By Carly Nelson, Nutritionist
What is stress?
Stress is our bodies’ reaction to change, both positive and
negative. Psychological factors including emotional tension,
anxiety, or anticipation and physical factors such as illness or
injury to the body can generate stress. A well-nourished body
copes with stress better than an inadequately nourished one.
Nutrition and stress are strongly correlated and one affects the
other. As a result, how well your body handles stress is
dependent on if it is well nourished before and during stressful
periods and events.
Can your diet be causing you stress?
Yes! Poor eating habits such as skipping meals, consuming too
much sugar, salt, fat, caffeine, alcohol, or overeating, and
severe dieting can all put your body under stress. Poor eating
habits can lead to health problems such as hypertension,
hypercholesterolemia and obesity while increasing your risk for
heart disease, certain cancers, and diabetes.
Can your nutrition affect your body’s ability to cope with
stress?
During stressful situations, your body requires energy to perform
the fight or flight response. The foods you eat provide energy
in the forms of carbohydrate, protein, and fat. Your body draws
upon its stores of carbohydrate (stored as glycogen in the liver
and muscles), protein (stored primarily in muscles) and fat
(body fat stores) to provide energy for the stress response.
Calcium is also required during stress, which is removed from
the bones when it is needed.
Can stress affect your nutrient requirements?
Yes! If you do not have adequate vitamins and minerals stored
in your body or taken in your diet daily, you may not be
prepared to protect yourself in stressful situations. If eating
a balanced diet rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean
meats, poultry, fish and dairy, you may not need a vitamin and
mineral supplement to meet your everyday nutrient needs. Consult
with a nutritionist if you are concerned you are not meeting
your daily needs and they can help assess your current dietary
intake and customize a nutrition plan for you.
What nutrients are affected by extreme stress?
Severe physical stresses have a much greater effect on your
nutritional requirements. Energy requirements also increase
significantly during very stressful periods.
Studies have shown that the body depletes its stores of nutrients
when under stress,
causing
you to need more of the following nutrients; Protein, B vitamins
(whole grains, fish and seafood, poultry and meats, eggs, dairy
products, leafy green vegetables, beans and peas and citrus
fruits), calcium (dairy products, canned salmon, dark leafy
green vegetables); vitamin C (citrus fruits) and vitamin A
(eggs, milk, apricots, nectarines, cantaloupe, carrots, sweet
potatoes and spinach)
A deficiency of magnesium
(legumes, nuts, whole grains, and vegetables), which helps
muscles relax, has been linked to "Type A" or high-stress
personalities.
Try to
maintain a regime that consists of natural (unprocessed) foods.
Limit caffeine intake (coffee, tea, cola and chocolate) which
causes nervousness and interrupts sleep if consumed in excess.
Caffeine also causes a fight-or- flight response in your body
and uses up your reserves of the B vitamins, which are important
in coping with stress. Alcohol also depletes your body's B
vitamins, and can disrupt sleep and impair your judgment. Limit
refined sugar as it offers no essential nutrients and can cause
an immediate "high" followed by a prolonged "low."
Strategies to cope with Stress
·
Accept that stress affects everyone; it is how you deal with
it that is important.
·
Good nutrition is one way to keep you functioning at your
best. Enjoy a variety of nutrient dense foods from all food
groups. Enjoy whole grains, dark green and colorful fruits and
vegetables, lean meats, chicken and fish and low fat dairy
products.
·
Moderate your caffeine, alcohol and refined sugar intake.
·
Do not diet! Instead, make lifestyle changes that can be
maintained over a long period of time. The rapid loss of fluids
and weight from most fad diets is hard on your body and hunger
itself can interfere with your coping skills. Achieve and
maintain a healthy weight by eating healthy and adopting
physical activity into your daily routine!
·
Drink water! Your body retains sodium during stress;
therefore, extra water will help keep a better fluid balance in
your body.
·
Don't eat too much! Some people eat more and too much during
stressful times. Often foods selected are high in calories and
saturated fat (comfort foods). Instead of reaching for food,
replace that behavior with physical activity to relieve anxiety.
Going for a walk after dinner is a great way to unwind! When you
do reach for food, have plenty of low fat snacks easily
accessible.
Learn to balance work with play, relax and rejuvenate, get
enough sleep, exercise, book regular massages, talk about your
problems, accept what you cannot change, and get away from your
stress as often as you can.
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About the Author:
Carly graduated from York University with a Bachelor of Science
with Honors in Kinesiology and Health Sciences. After pursuing
her passion in the health and wellness field as a fitness
instructor for over 7 years, she completed her second degree in
Food and Nutrition at Ryerson University.
Carly plays a key role at SHAPE Health and Wellness Centre
as the clinic manager, director of corporate sales and
nutritionist.
Contact: Carly Nelson
Tel: 416-929-8444
Website:
www.shapetoronto.com
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