As parents it is a known fact that our stress levels increase the second that little baby is put into our arms. We worry why they aren’t latching, why they aren’t sleeping, why they are not walking yet and later why they don’t need us as much. Add to that our jobs, extracurricular activities, family obligations, house work and everyday life, and you have the perfect storm for chronic stress. According to an article posted on mayoclinic.org, chronic, prolonged stress can leave you more vulnerable to anxiety, depression, digestive disorders, headaches, heart disease, weight gain, sleep problems and memory and concentration impairment.
Most of us have heard the standard advice to get enough sleep, exercise daily, meditate and do yoga to reduce stress levels but did you know that food can also help your body balance the hormones released during stressful times?
For example, when we eat complex carbohydrates such as oatmeal, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, etc. we provide our body with additional magnesium- which if deficient can lead to anxiety, tryptophan – an amino acid that becomes serotonin, the hormone responsible for a sense of calm and B vitamins which help our nervous system. In the same way, eating lean proteins provides additional tryptophan, satiates our appetite longer and provides us with B12, a vitamin only found naturally in animal meats or via supplementation. Getting your fruits and vegetables in daily can also combat the feelings of everyday stress by providing the necessary vitamins and minerals allowing your body to process stressors in a healthy manner.
Our bodies are extremely complex. To combat stress we not only need to think about our external surroundings and the food we put in our stomachs, but also how little bugs known as gut microbes can alter our moods as well. Gut bugs line our lower intestines and help our body perform numerous tasks such as producing vitamin K, digesting insoluble fiber for us (which produces 2 kcal of energy for us by the way!)
In the fascinating book, ‘TheMind-Gut Connection’ by Emeran Mayer, MD, Dr. Mayer discusses research that was done on mice showing that some of our gut microbes may be able to produce a neurotransmitter called gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). GABA is transmitted throughout the nervous system to keep the emotional part of our brains and the limbic system in balance. This is the same pathways that many of the anti-anxiety medications also target, thus imitating GABA’s behaviors. Interestingly the two most common forms of microbes used in probiotics, lactobacilli and bifidobacterial, may be the microbes that produce GABA and may thus reduce anxiety levels. So it may hold true after further studies have been conducted, that eating yogurts, fermented foods or taking a probiotic could help alleviate anxiety symptoms. Isn’t our body fascinating?! To keep microbes happy, eating foods with fiber is the trick and is often referred to as “prebiotics”.
In conclusion, I wanted to provide a good example of an anti-stress menu utilizing the foods in your kitchen. Enjoy!
Breakfast: 1 cup of cooked oatmeal w/ 2 tbls flax seed meal,1 tbl chia seeds, ½ cup blueberries (fresh or frozen), 1 tbl brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon
Lunch: 2-3 eggs scrambled with sautéed minced garlic, 1 tbl basil chopped and 1 cup spinach and an apple
Dinner: Roasted chicken thigh (bake 4-6 thighs with skin and bone at 385 degrees for about 1 hour on a cookie sheet or until thermometer reads180-185 degrees Fahrenheit) ½ cup cooked brown rice with 1 tsp of butter. 1 cup roasted broccoli heads (cut broccoli onto a cookie sheet – separate from the chicken thighs) drizzle olive oil and mix to cover all broccoli. Add salt and pepper to taste. Roast at same time as chicken thighs for approx. 15-18 minutes.
