In today's fast-paced world, stress has become an almost inevitable part of our lives. From work pressures to personal responsibilities, stress can take a toll on our physical and mental well-being. While there are various strategies to manage stress, one often overlooked aspect is nutrition. The food we consume plays a vital role in our overall health, including stress management. This blog article explores the fascinating connection between nutrition and stress levels, highlighting how improving your diet can significantly impact your well-being.

So first thing guys, disclaimer, I am not a doctor. I am not going to claim to be. Before you do anything different with your dietary protocol or medication, anything like that, please consult with your doctor. These are recommendations, these are research based, you know, I'm just giving you information, your job is to decide what to do with that information. So hopefully you learn a lot today. But again, disclaimer, I am not a physician, not claiming to be. My goal is just to provide you with some quality education here today.

A few of the things to show the connection between stress and nutrition:

1. Understanding the Link Between Nutrition and Stress: The article begins by shedding light on the intricate relationship between nutrition and stress. It explains how certain nutrients can influence the body's response to stress and affect the production of stress hormones. By providing scientific insights into the stress-nutrition connection, readers gain a deeper understanding of the topic.

2. Stress-Busting Foods: This section focuses on specific foods known for their stress-reducing properties. It explores a range of options, including leafy green vegetables, fatty fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids, whole grains, and antioxidant-rich berries. The article explains how these foods can combat stress by regulating cortisol levels, promoting brain health, and boosting mood.

3. Micronutrients and Stress Management: In this section, the article delves into the importance of various micronutrients for stress management. It discusses the role of vitamins, such as vitamin C, B-complex vitamins, and magnesium, in reducing stress and anxiety. Readers gain valuable insights into dietary sources of these micronutrients and how they can incorporate them into their daily meals.

4. The Gut-Brain Connection: The gut-brain axis is a fascinating topic gaining significant attention in recent years. This section explores the interplay between gut health and stress levels. It emphasizes the role of a healthy gut microbiome in promoting emotional well-being and highlights probiotic-rich foods and fiber as essential components for nurturing a balanced gut.

5. Mindful Eating and Stress Reduction: The article concludes by highlighting the importance of mindful eating practices in managing stress. It explains how slowing down, savoring meals, and paying attention to hunger and fullness cues can positively impact stress levels. The article also offers practical tips for incorporating mindfulness into daily eating habits.

So what is stress hormone? So most of you may have heard of the word Cortisol. Cortisol is your main stress hormone that is produced in the body. You know, obviously, when you are under a stressful situation. So why do we have cortisol, right? Like, what is the purpose of it? Well, it's a survival mechanism, right? If I am running from a saber toothed tiger, and I am running for my life, or I'm fighting for my life, my body will produce cortisol to either help me get out of danger or fight the situation that I'm currently in. Now, the problem is, we live in a society today where we have stress hormones running all day long, nonstop, which is not what our body is meant to be going through, right. And there's a lot of aspects of stress that sometimes aren't your typical versions of stress, right? So we think of like, things that you know, my career or my relationships, things that are causing me stress or my emotions. But stress can also be other things like nutrition or exercise.

There's good and bad stress, but it's all stress on the internal body. So we produce hormones for survival, right? We're not meant to have them all the time. If a zebra runs away from the lion, well, after the danger is gone, the zebra goes back to its everyday life. It doesn't soak on, man, I just got chased by a lion, like woe is me, right? It doesn't do that in nature. So only us as humans kind of make it worse for ourselves when we do that. So when we create these stress hormones, they're affected by nutrition. So nutrition can affect stress hormones, and stress hormones can affect kind of what happens in your body with nutrition or what nutritional needs you might need. Where a lot of people don't necessarily understand that part. And that's what I want to dive into today. What is the main, one of the main nutrients when it comes to producing or helping, coping with stress hormones in particular? It helps with other hormones as well.

What nutrient or specific thing in the internal body that sometimes is produced itself, and lot of us go on medications for that is directly correlated with producing or coping with stress hormones, like cortisol. If you have a guess, I'd love for you to guess here and check it out. But there's one key nutrient that we're going to talk a little bit about, and that specifically is cholesterol. So cortisol, stress hormone and cholesterol are very, very, very closely related. Okay. So as your body produces stress hormones, or cortisol, well, your body will then need to cope with that. But actually what happens is, and I'll explain it here in a second with this. So your body requires cholesterol to cope with the increase in stress hormones. So if we do not get cholesterol in a healthy way from our diet, well, then our body will start to produce it naturally, it'll increase your cholesterol. I'm not saying you need to go eat a bunch of fats, or cholesterol, and then you can go off your medication. Again, you have to consult with your doctor. But sometimes when we're not getting healthy quality fats in our diet, and we're under a high stress life or situation, our body will then start to produce more cholesterol in our blood, in our body in order to combat all that stress. So when stress goes up, cholesterol also will go up or the need for cholesterol will go up.

So getting dietary fat in a healthy way is very, very important when you're under a lot of stress. Now, what happens if you don't get that, okay? If you don't have enough cholesterol, if you're eating low fat, or whatever it is. Well, your body will then produce it, like I mentioned, and it will start to take away from other hormones like thyroid. It'll start to take away from the hormones involved with the thyroid, with sex hormones, like, testosterone, estrogen, different things there. Because your body will focus on stress hormones, and cholesterol first, because it's more for survival and getting away from danger than it is worried about the thyroid, or sex hormones, like testosterone. Because think about it, if I'm sitting here and a lion comes into the gym, and I have to run for my life, well, my body doesn't care about producing testosterone at that point, or producing estrogen or producing hormones for the thyroid. My whole focus is gonna produce as much cortisol and cholesterol in order to cope with that, to get out a dash, to get out of danger.

So a lot of the times what issues with other hormones, because we're not getting enough cholesterol, or because we're producing too much cortisol and not getting enough dietary quality cholesterol in our bodies or in our diet, to be able to combat that. And then all of our other hormones kind of suffer. Our body is a chain, it's not individualized, right. So a lot of the times too much cortisol and stress can cause a lot of issues with the thyroid. So this is another reason to really get the stress under control, or do some dietary things that I'll talk about here in a little bit. So it's very, very important that as stress levels increase, and then it's important that your dietary cholesterol also increases in a good way. It doesn't mean go pound back a bunch of Big Macs, right? It's quality food. Now, I mentioned, like stress could be anything. It could be emotional stress, it could be relationship stress, it could be career, financial stress, things that are happening to us or we're seeing. But it can also be nutritional stress, eating too much can be a form of stress, eating too little can actually be even more form of stress. So it can be your training, either you're not moving enough, or you're moving way too much and stressing your body out, especially if you're already under a lot of stress. So like training too much or not training enough can also cause you to produce more stress or cortisol. Drinking too much coffee, or alcohol that can cause stress hormones.

You can be improperly breathing. So instead of through the nose that causes your rest, relax, parasympathetic part of your nervous system where breathing through your mouth is your sympathetic, which causes you to produce stress. And you’re breathing from your neck and shoulders and not from your diaphragm, that can cause stress hormones, that can cause too much stress. Sleep, not getting enough sleep is another form of stress. Electronics or electromagnetic fields can cause forms of stress. Sun exposure, not enough or too much can cause stress hormones. Not being hydrated enough. Processed foods over Whole Foods, right. So these are all different things that could be causing forms of stress on your body outside of like the typical thought process that we have throughout every day. So the more that these are off your equilibrium or out of balance, the more need that the body will need for cholesterol, good cholesterol in order to combat the increase in cortisol and stress hormones.

So doing that and if you have any of those, if you're doing some of those, let us know. Don't be afraid to share it because other people are going through this same type of thing. Let us know what you're dealing with. Right. But these are very, very critical for people that have a lot of stress in their life. And as I mentioned, you may have issues and other hormones, sex hormones, estrogen, testosterone, thyroids, you know, hunger hormones, sleep or recovery hormones, you may have issues there because you're getting too much stress hormones, and not getting enough cholesterol. There's other factors too. Genetics plays a part and all these different things. So it's not just like, cholesterol or not cholesterol, right? But it definitely is a huge factor in that. So, what do we do with this, right? So we know, first off, the more stress I have, the more dietary cholesterol my body's gonna need in order to cope with the amount of stress hormones in the body. So here's my five takeaways that you can start to do right now with your nutrition, to help with your stress hormones, to lower some of your stress hormones, or at the very least ensure that you're getting enough nutrients to combat some of those stressful moments, right.

·      So number one, eat a balanced diet, right? So what I mean by that is your macronutrients. Get lots of protein, get a moderate at least amount of quality fat. Do not go on super low fat calorie diets, if you have a high stress life. I assure you, I assure you, I assure you, you will run into issues. So what I want you to do is get a well-balanced, and now hire a coach or nutritionist or somebody you know. This is something we do with a lot of our people overall in our fitness is, we try to help them balance out their macronutrient ratios to fit what's best for them, and what they're looking for. Again, we're not doctors, we can't claim to fix anything for you. But we can help you make better decisions. So getting a well-balance of a good amount of protein, and at least moderate amount of fat. You don't have to go keto genic and get a lot of fats there. But at least I just wouldn't go low fat and really cut your fat back. Okay, so eat a balanced meal ratio. So good amount of protein, moderate-ish carbs, moderate-ish, fats, lots and lots of veggies and fiber. That's our number one. If you can do that, and do it consistently, that's going to go a long way. Kind of a little bonus one, try to eat consistently throughout the day too. Eat every three to four hours or so, it’s going to make a big difference for you. Okay.

Number two. I kind of mentioned it in here but it's not only do you balance, but you also want to ensure protein and fat are the top portions of your dietary needs. Where I would at least aim for 60 to 70% of your dietary caloric intake should come from proteins and fats, if you have a high stress lifestyle. If you train a lot, you know, whatever it is, I would really, any of the things that we talked about with stress, if you have a lot of stress, then I always encouraged to get at least 60%, maybe upwards of 70 or so 75 of your caloric intake that you take from proteins and fats.

Kind of a little side note on that, every meal or snack that you consume, try to have a protein and a fat at each of those. So say you eat foods three to four times a day, have a protein and fat at each of those. It doesn't mean a crazy amount, right? If you look at my thumb, okay, for men, both your thumbs for women, one thumb, it's a good range or estimate. That's about a fat serving. So that's healthy oils, avocados, nuts or nut butters, things like that. If you're a woman about one size of your thumb, men do both thumbs. That's about a serving of a fat. Do one of those at every meal, one serving, and then the size of your palm. So thickness, height width. Men, it's both palms. Okay, women, it's one, do one serving of protein at all of your meals, okay. One serving protein, one serving of fat at every meal you have. You know, especially if you train hard, like I mentioned, if you don't sleep well, if you have a lot of electromagnetic fields around you. So like in your bedroom, you know you're on your computer or phone a lot, everything there. If you have improper breathing mechanics, different things there. So that's number two.

Number three, eat consistently throughout the day. Because if you don't eat consistently, it'll just cause more stress on your body. So I'm going to talk a little bit about this in the hunger and recovery section, but I'm going to mention it here. When you go high and low blood sugar levels, right where I eat, and then I don't eat for a long stretch, eat, don't eat for a long stretch, you're going to run into some issues with blood sugar stabilization, that is a form of stress on the internal body. So quick side note, eat every three to four hours.

Once you consume your first meal, and never ever, ever, ever eat carbohydrates by themselves. So don't come in and eat oatmeal just plain by itself, right? Have some type of protein and fat. If you're doing step number two, you're already doing that, right. So never eat carbohydrates by themselves, because you're going to get an increase in blood sugar and then a big dip. So eat every three to four hours once you eat your first meal. So what i mean by that?. So we have a lot of people that fast. I myself intermittent fast every day, where I eat my meals between like 11 or 12, till about 6 or 7 at night. All of my meals, the same amount of meals I normally would do is just in a condensed window. So I don't eat from about 7pm till about 11 the next day.

Now you don't have to do that. But for those that do fast, you can still have that long duration. But once you break your fast with breakfast, or whatever you want to call it. Once you break your fast, then eat consistently at least every three to four hours, okay? Doesn't have to be sooner than that, but don't go longer than that. So about that three to four hour window is a nice kind of ratio. So eat every three to four hours once you have your first meal. Okay, so that's number three. We got number one, eat balanced meals, with your macronutrients. Number two, whatever you got to do, every time you consume a meal have a protein and a fat. If you have a high stress lifestyle or whatever, maybe with that you're under a lot of stress.

Eat consistently throughout the day, every three to four hours once you have your first meal.

Number four, more times than not, try to choose at least 80% of the time, eat whole based foods over processed foods. So you know, those are things that you actually know that you can find in nature; chicken, broccoli, carrots, sweet potatoes, Quinoa, things that are whole, they have one ingredient.  Those are Whole Foods. Eat that 80% of the time, the other 20% let it go or let loose a little bit if you need to. But the processed foods are a lot more stress on the internal body. So important to try as best you can to prep your week ahead, to have something plan prepared. So you don't have to rely on quick and convenient foods. It's much easier and less of a headache to say, I'm going to plan my meals or make a crock pot worth or whatever it is of three to four meals or something on the weekends, than trying to scramble around during the weekdays and figure out what you're going to eat and do. So prepping yourself so you know you can have something prepared. But eat whole foods 80% of the time.

Your last one is a little bit less of a nutritional based thing. But more so a, if you have issues with food, if food is part of the issue for stress, is to then do two things here. Okay, for one, don't buy it. If there's something that you really, really struggle with that is causing your internal body to create stress; sugar, sweets. Like just something that you eat that maybe isn't, you know, its nutritional value isn't as high, that you think is causing your body internal stress is don't buy it for one, right? That's one thing. But secondly, if you do and you're getting those cravings, so you have kids at home that love that, that treat or whatever it is that you just struggle to have the willpower, is do what we try to work with some of our members here at when we do our monthly goal setting is our distraction method. So anytime you're getting those cravings or issues, what we want you to do is stop where you're at, stop in your tracks, and then say, I'm getting this craving, it’s seven o'clock at night, there's my trigger, like I sit down for to watch TV or whatever it is. Find out what your trigger is, find out what the routine is okay? And then try to change that routine and the reward.

So when you get that craving, hey, decide to go and do something else or do something different. So for instance, every night at seven, I always get a sweet craving. So instead of going from A, the craving to B, giving in and doing it, go over here around B and go to C first and do something to distract the initial thought process first. So I get the craving A, I'm going to go around B instead of giving in, I'm going to go around and do something physical. I'm going to go walk a mile on the treadmill, I'm going to do 100 jumping Jacks, I'm going to do 50 pushups. I'm going to plank for up to five minutes. Doesn't matter what it is you choose, make sure at least it's a couple minutes in length and then do that before you give in to the indulgent. The goal isn't necessarily to say oh, I'm never gonna indulge after I do that, you probably still will a lot of the times. But the goal is to interrupt the habitual pattern of craving equals-

Conclusion: This blog article serves as a comprehensive guide on how improving nutrition can help alleviate stress levels. By educating readers about the connection between nutrition and stress, the article empowers individuals to make informed dietary choices that support their mental and emotional well-being. By embracing a balanced and nourishing diet, readers can embark on a journey toward a healthier, stress-free lifestyle.