In the busy world that we live in today, stress can be a very real threat to your health.
In addition to throttling your brain with negative thoughts, stress can lead to serious physical symptoms that can be a major detriment to your body and mind.
When the mind is stressed, the body wanes and the vitamins and minerals it needs are used up much more rapidly. For this reason, it can be a great idea to ensure you”re getting the right vitamins to combat stress to help minimize the damage stress can have on your body.
Studies show that people who are in a stressful mind state tend to have lower levels of B-complex vitamins. Deficiencies of the B-complex can lead to a host of other problems, including depression, irritability, and irregular nerve functioning.
Richest among all the vitamin B complex foods are milk, yeast, liver, whole-grain cereals, nuts, eggs, yogurt, fruits, meats and dark leafy greens.
Vitamins C and E are also depleted faster when the mind is under stress. These vitamins are antioxidants, which are also key to health. Deficiencies of these nutrients can result in damage to cell membranes caused by free radicals.
Good sources of vitamin C include peppers, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, oranges and kiwi fruit, and for vitamin E, your best options are nuts, seeds, canola and safflower oils and fortified wholegrain cereals.
Beyond these vitamins, minerals are also depleted when the body is in a stressful state. Magnesium and zinc are two prime examples of minerals sapped from the body during these tough times.
Magnesium rich foods include dark leafy greens, eggplant, tofu, dark chocolate (over 70% cocoa content) and bananas whilst for zinc, some excellent choices are lean beef, liver, seasame products and wheatgerm.
Your body cannot operate to its full potential without the nutrients it needs, and either supplementing these vitamins and minerals- or even better, eating foods that are rich in these nutrients- can help you get back on the right track!
- FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
Have you used nutrition to combat stress before?
What strategies have worked for you?
I”d love to hear your answers in the comments section below!