Stress: The Best Way to Manage it is Through Your Diet!

Who doesn't want to beat stress? Actually managing stress is essential for your overall health. Stress can increase the risk of heart attack and other health conditions.

When it comes to foods, stress management becomes much easier. But some foods also can increase your stress levels. So you should be a little smarter in choosing foods.

Actually managing stress with methods like nutritious diet and breathing exercises are very easy, cost effective and efficient.

The solution? Before you know the food-based solutions, you need to know what hormones are responsive for your stress levels.

Hormones and neurotransmitters that affect your stress levels

A number of hormones are in charge of adding fuel to the fire behind both physical and mental reactions to stress. Such hormones include Adrenaline, Norepinephrine, Serotonin, and Cortisol.

Serotonin

A brain chemical, serotonin plays an important role in your mental and emotional health.

Serotonin influences your brain cells. And lack of serotonin is linked with depression, anxiety, panic and anger problems. Serotonin levels can be increased by foods!

Adrenaline

Also known as the fight or flight hormone, adrenaline is produced by the adrenal glands after receiving a message from your brain that a stressful situation has happened.

Both adrenaline and norepinephrine increase your stress levels, heat rate, and surge of energy to run away from the dangerous situation. 

Cortisol

Adrenal glands release a surge of cortisol in response to stressful situations. This hormone increases your feelings of stress as well as blood sugar levels. Cortisol also negatively influences your immune and digestive systems.

 How to fight against stress with foods

Foods can help manage stress in a number of ways. Vitamin C, carbs, amino acid, vitamin B, tryptophan, and Omega-3 fatty acids in foods are nice in term of stress management.

These nutrients help cut stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline while increase useful brain chemical serotonin.

Fatty fish

Fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, sardines and tuna are rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Studies have shown that omega 3 fats improve ability to manage stress and boost your mood.

Eating fatty fish you can prevent surges in stress hormones and protect against heart disease, depression, and other health conditions.

What is the recommended amount of fish to eat?

It is recommended that you should aim to eat 3 ounces of fatty fish twice a week to control stress as well as heart health.

Fresh fruits and vegetables rich in vitamin C

Vitamin C helps you lower cortisol, blood pressure, and effects of stress.

Studies on both man and rats showed that vitamin C is effective in stress hormones like cortisol.

How much vitamin C you need

For adults, the recommended dose is 65 to 90 mg a day, and upper limit is 2,000 mg a day. Children aged 1 day to 8 year need 15 to 50 mg vitamin C daily.

Best sources of vitamin C

Following are among the foods that contain good amount of vitamin C:

• Peppers (Yellow Bell Peppers) - Per large pepper (186g) contains 341.3mg (569% DV)
• Guavas - Per fruit (55g) contains 125.6mg (209% DV)
• Dark Green Leafy Vegetables (Kale) - Per cup chopped (67g) contains 80.4mg (134% DV)
• Kiwifruit (Green) - Per fruit (69g) contains 64mg (107% DV)
• Tomatoes (Cooked) - Per 2 tomatoes (246g) contains 56.1mg (93% DV)
• Citrus Fruits (Oranges) - Per orange (131g) contains 69.7mg (116% DV)

Green tea for stress management

Green tea contains an amino acid called l-theanine that can increase serotonin and dopamine levels.

A recent study consisting of 42,093 Japanese people found that about 6.6% were victim of psychological stress. But stress levels were significantly lower among the green tea drinkers.

The polyphenols in green tea have anti-depressant like effects that help decrease stress and boost mood.

Tryptophan rich foods

Tryptophan is an essential amino acid which is converted into vitamin B3 and serotonin. As I mentioned earlier, serotonin aids in the regulation of stress, anger, aggression, mood and sleep.

A study has shown that people who consume tryptophan become much more pleasant and agreeable.

Best sources of tryptophan

High tryptophan foods include as following:

• Seeds & Nuts (Pumpkin & Squash Seeds) - Per ounce (28g) contains 161mg (58% RDI)
• Soya Foods (Soybeans, roasted) - Per ounce (28g) contains 161mg (57% RDI)
• Chicken & Turkey (Chicken Breast, cooked) - Per 3oz (85g) contains 343mg (123% RDI)
• Fish (Tuna, cooked) - Per ounce (28g) contains 95mg (34% RDI)
• Beans & Lentils (White Beans, cooked) - Per tablespoon (11g) contains 13mg (5% RDI)
• Eggs (Whole) - Per egg (50g) contains 84mg (30% RDI)

The recommended doses

You should take 4mg per kilogram of body weight.

Avocados for stress management

Avocados contain good amount of potassium and vitamin B. Potassium is great when it comes to controlling blood pressure and mood. 

And vitamin B is essential for healthy nerves and brain cells, vitamin B deficiency may leads to feelings of anxiety.

Half an avocado gives you more potassium than a banana. One avocado contains 30% of your recommended daily potassium intake.

Almonds to reduce stress

Vitamin E and B are rich in almonds. Both of the nutrients are helpful for managing stress.

Just a quarter cup of almonds intake every day is enough to boost your immune system during times of stress.

Foods to avoid to control stress

Caffeine: caffeine can increase stress hormone like cortisol in your body. Drinking a lot of coffee can increase your stress levels. Moreover, caffeine can cause sleeping problems.

High-fat foods: fatty foods such as meat or cheese thicken your blood which in turn makes you feel tired and lethargic. And this is a hinder to reduce stress. Moreover, high-fat meal can increase your risk of heart attack.

Sugar: carbohydrate is essential for brain to make more serotonin. But simple carbohydrate like sugar is not a good choice when it comes to stress management as it can make symptoms of stress worse.

On the other hand, complex carbs from foods such as pastas, beans, and whole-grain breads are definitely a good choice.

Conclusion

Fresh foods are essential for stress management but there are some other things you should care about.

You should change your lifestyle like doing regular physical exercises, having sound sleep, and taking some sun. 

Calories: The Protein, Fat and Carbohydrate Ratio for Weight Loss

When it comes to calories, take the right combination of carbohydrate, protein, and fat. Consuming balanced calories can help you maintain a healthy weight, boost you energy levels, and increase your metabolism.

The more calories you consume, the more weight you gain. And the less calories you take, the less weight you gain. This is generally a very simple equation. But you need to ensure if you are eating sufficient amount of protein, carbs, or fat to maintain good health.

For a healthy and sustainable weight loss plan, you have to know what the minimum amount of mega-nutrients required in your foods.

How much calories you need

To maintain a healthy weight man should take 2,000 to 3,000 calories and women should take 1,600 to 2,400 calories per day.

According to U.S Department of Health and Human Services, to lose weight safely and effectively man and women should take 1,2oo to 1,600 calories per day -TWEET IT.

How much carbohydrate you need

It is good to take 45% to 65% of calories from carbohydrate. But if you want to lose weight, you can consume calories from carbs at 40 percent.

So if you are planning to consume 1,600 calories to lose weight, you need to take 640 calories from carbohydrate that is 160 g of carbs since 1 g carbs = 4 calories.

You also need to choose whole grain and fruits as carbs over candy and other sweetened foods. Because they are healthier choices for your overall health.

How much protein you need as source of calories

High protein and low carbs, low fat diet is often prescribed as weight loss meal plan. But what are the upper and lower ranges of protein intake? How much protein you should take?

Experts suggest that the healthy range of protein intake is 10 percent to 35 percent. There are a number of health benefits of taking a high amount of protein-rich meal, including fullness that lowers craving for foods. It is not bad to increase protein intake a bit like to 40 percent.

So in a 1,600 caloric meal plan, you need to take 640 calories (1,600/40%) from protein that is 160 g protein since 1 g protein = 4 calories.

How much fat you need for you calories

You may think that to lose weight you should stop taking fat totally. That is absolutely wrong.

Fat is also an important part of your diet. Fat contain some important vitamins like vitamins A, D, E, and K.

So take fat from healthier sources like nuts, fish, and vegetables oils. Try to avoid taking fat from foods like high-fat meats and full-fat dairy products to lose weight as well as lower your risk of heart diseases.

You can take 20 percent to 35 percent of calories from fat for good health. So in the case of a 1,600 caloric meal plan, you need to take 320 calories (1,600/20%) from fat. And that is 36 g fat since 1 g fat = 9 calories.

Conclusion

Though it is not easy to calculate calories every day, you can do it sometimes and will be able to maintain the carbs, protein, and fat ratio.

And to calculate calories you can use free tools like myfitnesspal. 

One important point is that don't decrease your caloric intake very much like crash diet. Because crash diet has many negative health consequences.