Stress & Nutrition

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Stress has practically become an inevitable part of our daily lives. Everyone experiences stress to some extent. It’s the way we react to stress that makes a significant difference to our well-being. So let’s dive deeper into what stress is, what are some ways to manage stress and whether nutrition can play a role.

What is stress?

Stress can be difficult to define as we all experience stress differently. It is generally how we react when we feel under pressure or threatened which causes physical, emotional or psychological strain. It is our body’s reaction when something requires our attention or action which we feel we cannot manage or control.

Small amounts of stress can sometimes help us complete certain tasks and feel more motivated. However, stress can become a problem and have an impact on our health when it is too intense or lasts for a long time - chronic stress.

What happens when we are stressed?

When we encounter stress, our fight or flight response is triggered which makes our body release a complex mix of stress hormones - adrenaline, cortisol and norepinephrine. This prepares the body for action and helps us respond quickly to dangerous situations by redirecting blood flow to muscles and slowing down certain less important functions like digestion. This response was essential for our ancestors to survive in a world where this depended on speed and quick movement.

Today, the fight or flight response can still help us survive dangerous situations, like avoiding a speeding car. Additionally, stress in small doses can help improve our memory, focus, performance and motivation, and activate our immune system - protecting us against infections and helping with wound healing.

However, the challenge is when we go into a state of stress in inappropriate situations or if we are in a constant state of stress. Too much stress tends to minimise brain function and can overwhelm us, leading to the fight, flight or freeze response. We may be agitated and aggressive towards others (fight), remove ourselves from the situation (flight), or be unable to do anything (freeze).

Chronic stress can also impact our health and well-being. It can affect our cognition - attention, learning, decision-making & judgement -, and our immunity, and has been linked to gastrointestinal and cardiovascular issues.

What are some signs of stress?

Stress affects both the brain and the body. It can manifest itself differently in each of us. There are many different signs which can affect us mentally, physically and our behaviour.

It may not always be easy to tell when we are stressed, but here are some signs to look out for:

Mental - how we might feel

• Mood disturbances - irritability, anxiousness, worry, tense

• Feeling overwhelmed

• Difficulty concentrating

• Difficulty making decisions

• Being forgetful

• Uninterested in life & unable to enjoy

Physical - how our body might react

• Muscle aches & headaches

• Sleep problems & fatigue

• Digestive problems - indigestion, heartburn, bloating, constipation or diarrhoea

• Rashes or itchy skin

• Weight gain or weight loss

• Heart palpitations, increased heart rate or chest pains

• Difficulty breathing - shallow breathing or hyperventilating

• Panic attacks

• Feeling nauseous, dizzy or faint

• Changes to menstrual cycle

Behavioural - how we might behave

• Being irritable and snappy with people

• Nail biting & picking at skin

• Teeth grinding or jaw clenching

• Drinking or smoking more

• Eating too much or too little

• Sleeping too much or too little

• Sexual problems - losing interest or unable to enjoy

• Withdrawing from people and avoiding places

How are stress and nutrition linked?

The link between nutrition and stress is a two-way street: stress can affect our nutrition, and our nutrition can also affect stress.

Stress affects our eating patterns in one of two ways: undereating or overeating. This depends on the type or severity of the stress we are experiencing. In short-term intense stress situations, our appetite tends to be reduced, and factors like lack of time can influence us to eat less. In more long-term less intense stress situations, we tend to eat more as our body requires more nutritionally dense foods - foods rich in vitamins and minerals. However, we tend to choose comfort foods particularly convenient and energy-dense foods - foods high in sugar and fat. This can contribute to nutrient depletion and weight gain in the long term.

Our eating patterns can also affect our stress levels. Eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, nuts and fish, and low in processed foods has been associated with lower levels of stress, anxiety and depression. While diets high in processed and convenience foods have been associated with the opposite.

How to manage stress through nutrition & lifestyle?

Stress is unavoidable in our daily lives, however, we can find ways to help us cope with stress and make it easier to get through stressful situations. 

What we eat and drink affects stress. Here are a few tips to try to help manage stress through nutrition: 

1. Balanced diet - Choosing a balanced diet of wholegrains, fruit, vegetables and healthy fats can help manage stress. We can do this by meal planning, incorporating a variety of colourful fruit and vegetables, adding fibre-rich foods like oats, nuts, and beans to our meals, drinking plenty of water, and trying to avoid excessive amounts of caffeine and alcohol.

2. Mindful eating - when stressed, we tend to eat quickly without noticing what or how much we are eating. Mindful eating helps us get in touch with our internal signals, such as hunger, fullness and emotions, by focusing our attention on the meal, and taking the time to eat and breathe. This can help us enjoy our meals, improve digestion, and recognise when we are eating out of hunger or stress.

3. Exercise - physical activity has been shown to improve our mood and lower stress hormone levels. This does not mean we need to do intense exercise every day, even a little bit of activity can make a difference. Simply going for a walk has many health benefits.

Here are a few other ways to help cope with stress on a daily basis:

1. Sleep - not getting enough sleep can increase our stress hormones. Getting enough sleep - around 7-8 hours - helps both our body and mind. We can do this by avoiding large meals, caffeine and alcohol, limiting electronic devices, and slowing down before bedtime.

2. Social support - a good support network has been shown to help manage stress. Talking to friends, family, counsellors or anyone we trust about problems and feelings can help us cope with them. Simply connecting and spending quality time with our network can also help.

3. Make time to unwind & relax - Finding the time to relax, practise self-care or do something we enjoy can really help reduce stress. This may be difficult sometimes, but allowing ourselves a short break can help. There are also relaxation techniques that can help reduce our stress response such as meditation, deep breathing exercises, mindfulness, muscle relaxation and exercises like yoga or tai chi.

4. Learn to recognise stress - figuring out what causes stress for us and what our signs of stress are can help us prepare and cope better. When we are able to recognise stress we can take steps to address the things we can and take control.

What’s the take-home?

1. Stress is how we react when we feel under pressure or threatened and has emotional, physical and behavioural consequences.

2. Small amounts of stress help us react to dangerous situations, be more focused, improve our performance, and activate our immune system.

3. Chronic stress can negatively impact our health and well-being by affecting our cognition, immunity, digestion and cardiovascular health.

4. Stress can affect our eating patterns by making us eat more or less depending on the type of stress, and our nutrition can also affect our stress.

5. There are ways we can manage our stress through nutrition and lifestyle such as our diet, sleep and exercise.

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References

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