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Don’t Feed Your Stress!
November 03, 2011
I wonderful guest post from Claire Gillis Expert Nutritionist from Integrate Nutrition!
So it’s everybody’s favourite subject, stress! Stress has become a word that has slightly lost its meaning as it is part and parcel of our lives but not everyone is actually aware of what it means or what effects it has.
The human species would not have survived without the stress response. The stress response was developed thousands of years ago as humans evolved by hunting and foraging in the wilds. It was developed as a means of survival and the stress response is an amazingly intelligent feedback system that prepared the body for fight and flight. It exists to ultimately keep us alive!
However, of course our modern day stressors are very much different now and this stress response gets activated and re-activated, sometimes continuously all day- you have to get the kids out to school, you get stuck in traffic, you take an annoying phone call at work etc etc etc. Sometimes, people get so stuck in their stress that their body’s signalling process gets confused and hormone patterns become altered and this leads to a path of increased fatigue, insomnia, digestive problems, and anxiety. Stress resilience becomes decreased, meaning that stress begins to have an even greater negative impact!
Since the stress response is a physiological process (meaning it involves chemical changes within the body) what we eat and drink will affect our stress as what we eat and drink also creates chemical changes within the body!
Don’t Feed The Stress!
• Excess caffeine will increase levels of the stress hormones adrenaline. Replace with green tea which contains a compound called theanine which has a relaxing effect on the brain.
• Stress hormones have a major effect on blood sugar levels, avoid eating sugary snacks and replace with oatcakes & nut butter / hummus or a piece of fruit with a small handful of nuts
• Processed foods will not contain enough nutrients to feed your body correctly, it is vital to eat with fresh ingredients. Meals do not have to be complicated e.g. grilled chicken with stir-fried vegetables
• Avoid refined carbohydrates. Replace white bread, white rice, white pasta with wholemeal.
• It is essential to eat essential fatty acids as our bodies do not make them. Regularly eat nuts, seeds, fish and if possible grass fed meats. If this is unlikely, use a fish oil supplement. These beneficial fats play a HUGE role in our health!
If you have specific questions related to nutrition and your health Claire is available for private consultations and also runs regular workshops and seminars.
You can contact her via:
T: 07772505966 or 0114 2493422
E: integratenutrition@hotmail.co.uk
Follow her Nutritious Tweets @naturoclaire
Like her Nutritious Facebook Page - IntegrateNutrition
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