Using a special eating plan to gain strength, lose weight, improve athletic performance or speed recovery from an illness is a common strategy. What many don’t realize is that the way you eat affects how you deal with stress, as well. Now, a chiropractor in Orlando has developed plans specifically meant to help you better handle stressful events and the physical results thereof. These plans provide benefits that are unique among ways of eating.
Here are some of the ways stress affects your eating habits when there is no specific plan in place:
You Want More Fat, Salt, and Sugar
These cravings arise due to some of the effects of the stress hormone cortisol. Each one provides benefits to those in physically demanding situations. Fat gives you long-term energy, sugar lets you get a quick burst, and salt protects your electrolyte balance. The problem is that modern stressors don’t typically result in the need for the basic physical fight-or-flight response, so the calories and salt just stay around and do damage.
You Want to Eat More in General
It is commonly speculated that this is “mindless” comfort eating, but there may be more to it. Eating more food will obviously provide you with more available energy, and in ancient times when stress meant either getting into a fight or running for your life, more energy was a good thing. Therefore, you may have a basic instinct to load up on calories when you expect trouble.
Anti-Stress Nutrition
Now that society has moved on from solving things with physical fighting, your nutrition plan needs to attack the stress response itself instead of preparing you for battle. Therefore, an anti-stress nutrition plan will likely include plenty of foods that work against cortisol to bring your physiological stress response down.
Some of the recommendations for low-stress foods definitely set them apart from weight-control diets. Carbohydrates, especially those that are more complex, are said to be calming and are therefore recommended. Other foods, however, are recommended for all good nutrition plans. Fruits and vegetables are specifically mentioned for their anti-oxidant content.
Make an Appointment
While these guidelines can get you started, you’ll have even better results if you get a personalized nutrition plan from our doctor. Contact us here at Summit Chiropractic to make an appointment today