7 ways to manage stress with your diet

“Food is information for your cells’ – as one of my teachers, dr Mark Hyman says.
The simplest way to start reducing your stress is to eat whole, real foods.
The right diet, that balances your blood sugar levels and restores hormonal balance, can do wonders to reduce stress’ impact on your body and your life.

So how to adjust your diet for stress?

1. Clean your diet out of ultra processed foods and refined sugars.

They affect your stress levels immensely. Sugar brings your stress hormones up, even if you are not stressed. Imagine what affect it has if you are already in chronic stress. Consider reaching for foods that may help reduce your cortisol levels instead (proteins, healthy fats).

2. Eat regularly to avoid short-term stress of starvation on your body.

If you skip meals the body begins to increase production of cortisol, leaving you stressed and hangry. It can also slow down your metabolism, which can make you gain weight or make it harder to lose it. Long periods without food make your body go into a survival mode (where stress has been prolonged to a degree where a person feels unable to relax).

3. Increase good quality proteins and healthy fats.

They will help regulate your blood sugar (constant spikes and crushes of your blood sugar make the body release more stress hormones) and lower stress hormones, so you can stay more balanced and in control, even if you are faced with challenging events.
And remember that healthy fat does not make you fat. Its an amazing fuel for your cells.

4. Add plenty of veggies, especially leafy greens.

Leafy greens contain chlorophyll (the pigment that gives plants their green colour) which increases our tolerance to oxidative stress (an imbalance between two different types of molecules in your body: free radicals and antioxidants). The green colour comes from the sunlight. Just imagine how beneficial it is absorbing this nurturing life energy (prana) into the body.

5. Take care of your gut health.

All of the tips above will definitely already help your gur flora but the best would be also adding into your diet fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, pickled veggies, natural yoghurt, kefir, kefir water, miso etc. These are amazing for your gut. They contain healthy bacteria it needs. You can also consider supplementing with a good quality probiotic.

6. Watch out for too much coffee.

The good news is you don’t need to give it up completely. But try to gradually cut down to one a day and preferably in the first part of the day. A good way would be to slowly substitute the remaining coffees with other drinks, like matcha (still has some caffeine but does not give jitters like coffee) or herbal teas, to lower the stress response in your body.
Caffeine does bring your stress hormones up and if you are already living with stress you certainly do not need more of it.

7. Eat slower and bite well.

The mere act of eating can be a meditation for your mind, bringing stress levels down. So instead of swallowing your food in a rush, in front of your computer, tv or phone try to eat without any electronics and just be with every bite, savouring it, enjoying the smell, the presentation, the texture and the taste of each food.

Try those tips for a few weeks and I am sure you will notice a big difference. You might experience increased energy levels, more calm and better sleep.