4 Simple Steps To Reduce Stress

Balanced nutrition is essential to maintaining overall good health, but it also can affect your capacity to cope with stress.

Stress that is not treated can lead to serious illness. A person who feels ongoing and unresolved stress may go on to develop significant medical illnesses or an anxiety disorder.

When you are going through a period of stress, your are less likely to absorb the nutrients you are consuming and on top of that, you need more of all nutrients, particularly the B vitamins, which affect the nervous system, and calcium, which is needed to counteract the lactic acid your tense muscles produce.

Likewise, if you are lacking nutrients, your body will not be equipped to handle stress effectively. As we get busy and stressed, we tend to make poor nutritional choices that can actually increase our stress levels and cause other problems.

Here are some tips to help reduce stress nutritionally...

1. Eat Breakfast: Skipping breakfast makes it harder to maintain stable blood sugar levels and effective functioning during your busy morning. Your breakfast should be high in protein & contain complex carbohydrates

Eg: museli yougurt & fruit, porrige skim milk and berries, boiled eggs on multigrain toast etc.

2. Opt For Green Tea: If you’re a coffee junkie, you may not be aware the effect that caffiene has on your body. However, you can reduce your stress levels and improve your mental performance throughout the day if you gradually wean yourself off of large amounts of caffeine. A relatively easy and healthy way to do that is to replace coffee with green tea, which has a soothing taste and the added benefit of loads of antioxidants.

3. Carry a Snack: Having some protein-rich, healthful snacks in your car, office, or purse can help you avoid blood sugar level dips and accompanying mood swings and fatigue. Eg: Trail mix, good quality low GI museli bars, nuts, fruit, vege sticks etc.

4. Hydration: Your body may be made up of 60-70% of water. We need it to eat, sleep, exercise, and to excrete everyday toxins from the body. It is the single most important nutrient the body uses, and we couldn’t live without it. SO...make sure you always carry a water bottle with you, leave it in your car or at work. You need to be drinking 1.5-2L of water per day.