Stress! The horrible little 6 letter word that impacts most of our lives & has us in “sink or swim approach” 95% of the time can be significantly reduced by the fuel you gulp into your body. Just think about it for a second. Reflect on some of your not “so glorious” food choices & the stimuli behind what you settle on to eat & why. There is a vicious cycle attached to stress & “bad-low down rotten food.” Typically when people are besieged, stressed or depressed their first instinct is to catch something to eat, & a majority of the time, the food that is favorite is “junk” food.

We tend to consume foods that are high in sugar such as candy, cake, sodas, etc. & foods that are high in carbohydrates & fats such as macaroni French fries & cheese, burgers, fried chicken (for those meat eaters) to help us get through a uneven patch in our day or lives. Why do we sink to these un-healthy foods? Well, in a sense we are justified for selecting those foods.

Eating those bad foods makes us feel a little better for a short period of time. The surplus sugar & carbs that we get from the “not-so-good” for us foodstuffs gives the body a “barb” in the hormonal serotonin, thus making us sense a little happier (for the time being) & brings us that comfort we require (hence the word “comfort foodstuff”).

However, after your levels of serotonin drop & your blood sugar intensity comes crashing down, that is when realism starts to set in. You begin to emotionally beat yourself up about the half dozen cup cakes you inhaled & now you’re regretting every crunch you took. Now you’re feeling stressed, depressed & hungry all over again (because there was small to no protein in the “junk” that was just consumed) & the vicious cycle has a fresh beginning.

You now desire you would’ve grabbed a handful of almonds or walnuts or eaten a salad loaded with nuts, fresh veggies & marinated tofu to get you through your “rough patch.” Eating and adopting a vegetable & fruit based diet eliminates & puts an end to the inter-dependent unhealthy foodstuff relationship. Vegetable based or vegetarian diets are full of vitamins; nutrients are typically lower in awful fats. As a vegetarian, if you’re eating a healthy, well-rounded realm of fruits, protein, plants & vegetables, your body will no longer need those so-called stress relieving (& in return stress induced) unhealthy foodstuffs. Just check out how simple it is to make healthier food choices:

When you’re Stressed You May lean to Eat:

Fried Chicken
A big bag of potato chips

Drink a coffee, caffeine, or sugar based beverage
Burgers and Fries

Instead You Should Eat:

Fresh Green Salad with asparagus, nuts, balsamic vinegar dressing & dried cranberries
Grapefruit juice or Fresh squeezed Orange or a Fruit Smoothie
Blue Corn tortillas chips with salsa or a handful of nuts and guacamole
lightly toasted Temped with a peanut sauce

If you notice, all the alternatives you might substitute are grains, vegetables or fruit based. Once you begin to take small steps & adopt a new method of eating, your body will start to crave nuts, fresh vegetables & other whole foodstuffs that are wealthy in supporting nutrients & enzymes that your body can use to grow stronger & keep your stress levels & chemistry in check. Fruits, meatless & Vegetables, proteins are processed by your body to offer it continuous & consistent levels of sugar, carbohydrates, & energy, without the “spike” or sugar rush you may experience by eating burgers & fried foods (which are loaded with hidden trans fats & sugar).

The next time you are feeling beset, do not let the food you eat add to your “stress.” Instead, select foodstuffs that are going to offer your “temple” with the ammunition it needs to fight stress & end the “food stress” cycle. Opt for nutritious your mind & mood with a vegetable/plant or grain based meal or snack that’ll not attack your body chemistry or cause regret, but will give your body what it requires to regroup emotionally & physically.