4 foods to avoid when stressed

There is a two-way relationship between the foods we eat and our mental health. We all know this connection to be true, instinctively. Nobody can deny that joyous feeling of biting into a gooe-y chocolate brownie or the contentment munching through a cheesy pizza gives us. Our food clearly affects our mood. But could the foods you are eating make you stressed as well as happy?

What foods should you avoid when stressed?

If you're feeling stressed, watching what you eat may not be your first priority. However, as I explain in this blog, food can have a big impact on how stressed we feel. Some foods you should definitely avoid at this time are:

Sugar
White flour
Caffeine
Alcohol

Read on to find out more about why these options are problematic when we are stressed.

1. Sugar

The initial feeling of gobbling up a sweet treat is delightfully calming. But that calm quickly wears off. The dopamine release we get when we eat sugar keeps us coming back for more. This addictive quality leads to excessive sweet-treat gobbling, which destabilises our blood sugar levels. When our blood sugar is imbalanced, our body is under stress. To cope with this, the body releases cortisol. This stress hormone ramps up our stress response. You might feel anxious and hyper alert but unable to concentrate. You are right back to square one - stressed and eyeing up the chocolate cake to calm you down.

Using sugar as a coping mechanism for stressful situations is not a long-term solution. It will leave you feeling worse and trapped in a cycle of eating more sugar. It can be tricky to knock this habit on its sugary head, especially when sugar is hidden in foods we don't expect. Become familiar with food labels to avoid sneaky sugar content. To make matters even trickier, there are almost 60 ways to list sugar on ingredients lists so it can be really difficult to spot. Think of it as a game of "Where's Wally"! Look out for terms such as: fructose, corn syrup, rice syrup, maltose, or dextrose, even in savoury items such as sauces, condiments and breads.

Tip:
The fewer processed and the more home-made foods you eat, the less sugar you will sneakily ingest.

2. White flour

White flour is a processed food. The nutrient-rich germ and bran layers of the grain are removed and the starchy white part is left. The part that's left has very little nutrient value and is viewed by our body as sugar. Like sugary treats, white flour raises our blood sugar levels . Which allows cortisol to be released.

It's difficult to keep track of our white flour intake. It doesn't always come in predictable sliced pan format. It's contained in white pasta, baked goods, crackers and a multitude of ready-meals and sauces. Read nutritional labels carefully and become familiar with products made with white flour. Switching to wholemeal versions of these foods is quite simple. If you do eat a white flour product once in a while, make sure you pair it with fibre-rich veggies. This will off-set the blood sugar spike you get from simple carbohydrates.

3. Caffeine

When we are having a stressful day and a million things to do, it can be tempting to reach for a big mug of coffee to help us through. We think that the boost of energy will help us tick some things of our to-do list. In fact, it's likely to do the opposite. When we are stressed our body is flooded with stress hormones. Adrenaline and cortisol are coursing through the body, telling it to be on high alert. I don't know about you, but when I'm in this state, I tend to be highly unproductive. I rush around getting very little done, very quickly. My brain doesn't have the capacity to concentrate on a task. My system is on overdrive, imagining there is a terrible threat to my wellbeing with all these stress hormones in my blood stream.

When we add a cup of caffeine into this already hyped-up nervous system, we add more cortisol into the blood stream. This can lead to a rapid heartbeat, an increase in blood pressure, and anxiety.

Caffeine inhibits nutrient absorption too, which means you might not absorb much-needed D and B vitamins that can help improve your mood. Caffeine stays in your system for hours after you ingest it: it has what's called a quarter life. If you drink a mug of coffee at midday, a quarter of that caffeine will still be in your system when you get into bed at 9pm. This means caffeine can have a really detrimental effect on your sleep. When you are stressed, the last thing you need is a poor night's sleep. So, if you are a die-hard coffee drinker, limit your intake to the hours after you've eaten breakfast and before midday. That way your sleep and stress levels will be the least impacted. Better still, switch to decaffeinated coffee or a coffee substitute like Bambu.

4. Alcohol

Alcohol is relaxing and can seem like the perfect answer to a stressful week. When the brain receives alcohol, it slows everything right down. It does this by turning down the neurotransmitter glutamate (which is stimulating), and turning up the neurotransmitter GABA (which is sedating). We begin to feel relaxed and a little sleepy. Alcohol prompts a release of dopamine and neurones to create endorphins. This gives us a happy, pleasurable feeling. I know what you are thinking, stress plus alcohol sounds like a match made in heaven and, initially, it is. Unfortunately, the pleasurable effects of alcohol don't last for very long.

The brain adapts to long-term alcohol consumption by reducing the production of GABA, dopamine and endorphin transmission, while enhancing glutamate activity (that's the one that acts like an accelerator rather than a calming brake). Regular drinkers tend to be anxious, have trouble sleeping, and feel less content. So, drinking regularly actually establishes a vicious cycle, because you begin to rely on alcohol to feel those lovely feelings after a long day.

Let us end on a positive note

Admittedly, I've spent a lot of time talking about things that will make stress worse. You might be wondering what there is left to eat or drink when you are stressed. Don't get the wrong impression, there are tonnes of things that you can add to your life that will help to reduce stress and no, they're not all celery sticks and 10k runs.

When I know I have a busy period coming up, and am likely to feel stressed, I pick some of my favourite recipes and batch-cook big pots. Then I'll freeze meal-sized portions to use on days when I am tempted by not so healthy options. Give some of these recipes a try:

My Self-Care Tip: Three things that help me navigate stressful times

There are lots of helpful tools to navigate stressful times besides the foods we eat. Have a look at my self-care video for three things that help me to navigate stressful times: