Top Stress-Reducing Foods

Unfortunately, one of the number one things that seems to come with the holidays is stress. Dinner parties, family get-togethers, gift shopping, hosting, planning, ahhhhh stress!! While we’d all like to never have stress at all, sometimes it’s just part of life and we have to deal with it. The good news is that there are foods that can help reduce some of that stress! Here’s a list of some foods that make it to the top of our list:

Nuts – Stress depletes a lot of our B vitamin stores which are also related to energy. A couple servings of pistachios a day can lower blood pressure and reduce stress.

Red peppers – A recent study showed that people who took high doses of vitamin C before engaging in stress-inducing activities had lower blood pressure and recovered faster with replenishing cortisol.

Salmon – Omega-3’s have been known to reduce stress and anxiety by at least 20 percent and salmon is packed with it. Try getting at least 2 servings a week.

Spinach – Not only does spinach have the ability to make you stronger like Popeye, it’s loaded with magnesium which regulates cortisol and blood pressure too.

Oatmeal – Complex carbs like oatmeal, take longer to digest which leads to more comfort and “soothing” power.

Dark chocolate – There aren’t many people that don’t like chocolate (because it tastes amazing). The good news is that dark chocolate lowers cortisol and stress levels so indulge! Just remember to keep portion sizes in mind!

Tea – Especially decaf, herbal teas like chamomile, peppermint or ginger. Herbal teas are known to be calming and they soothe the digestive tract that can often times be affected by stress. -SY