Some of you may wonder what on earth has nutrition to do with stress.

Nutritional stress is actually a major type of physical stress for 21st century people as our bodies and organs are forced to digest, assimilate and metabolize what we eat and drink.

Here is my question - do you load your body with toxic food, full of sugar, salt, fat and void of nutrients and vitamins? Do you eat on hurry?

Stress destroys the balanced state of your body which is state of health and wellbeing and foundation of longevity.

The goal of stress management and stress nutrition in particular is to help the body to restore balance.

When it comes to digestion here are mainly two important concepts for you to consider.

When you experience stress aka threat (real or perceived):

- you tend to have poor nutritional choices.

- there are several changes taking place in your digestive system.

Poor nutritional choices (junk, comfort food etc.) mostly manifest in a weight gain and consequently in more stress.

Let’s consider for a moment what is going on in your digestive system when you experience stress on regular basis?

Stress affects all your body systems but often the first thing to be affected is the digestive system. During the ‘flight or fight’ or stress reaction the digestion is not directly involved and it shuts down letting all blood to sustain respiration, heart and muscles – systems directly involved in the desired outcome – flight or fight.

When you eat when stressed, your body cannot deal with the food – first the food can’t be properly broken down and absorbed well because of the lack of digestive enzymes. The result is that the body becomes at once deficient in many nutrients and is unable to replace them adequately.

You can suffer from nausea, constipation, gas or bloating.

During those lucky times when you have digestive enzymes – the protective lining of mucus in your gastrointestinal tract is missing – enzymes digest gut’s lining instead of foods. You can suffer from gastritis and ulcers.

Lack of water leads to constipation or diarrhea.

When food is not processed quickly because you suffer from constipation, sticky residues can build up and block absorption of nutrients (as you read you already lack them) and eventually allow toxins to be reabsorbed into the bloodstream. You can experience headaches, migraines and bad skin conditions. As well as problems with concentration, anxiety and sleep.

Many of the health disorders that arise from stress are the result of nutritional deficiencies, especially deficiencies of the B vitamin complex, which is very important for proper functioning of the nervous system and is depleted by the body’s stress response.

Stress depletes your reserves of others micronutrients as well - potassium, phosphorous, magnesium, zinc, B vitamin complex, iron, chromium, calcium.

Stress promotes the formation of free radicals, so you have to intake more antioxidants such as vitamin C, A and E.

Good news!

Your body is a great self-repairing machine and is able to heal itself. For self-repairing you need special fuel – one that provides you with all necessary macro and micro nutrients: healthy food.

‘You are what you eat’.

Fortunately, there are things you can do not only to reverse the stress related health damage but actually reduce your stress level and waistline at the same time.TIP

TIP: Do not make too many or too radical changes all at once.

1. Start your day with a balanced breakfast.

2. Increase your water intake until you reach minimum 8 glasses of water (not cola, coffee or tea) daily.

3. Slowly begin to increase the intake of different colored fruit and vegetables. Your goal is to consume 7 to 10 servings per day. They are rich in fibre, complex carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytochemicals.

4. Start to replace simple carbohydrates in your diet with complex carbohydrates.

5. Protein is generally a challenging food type and you need to provide the digestive system and liver with a diet which challenges as little as possible, so that it allows the body to concentrate its energies on healing itself. Keep protein intake within moderation. Avoid red meat completely. Eat more beans and pulses, grains, seeds and nuts. Fish, and poultry are also acceptable.

6. Start to drink kefir - natural, living probiotic drink.

6. Gradually increase the intake of foods with high fibre content. Fibre eliminates toxins, extra fats and cholesterol, helps to slow down the release of sugars from your foods into the blood stream, so keep our blood sugar levels stable.

7. Start eating oily fish once a week or take Omega 3 essential fatty acids supplements. Omega 3 EFA is not only a vital component of all cell structures but also improves emotional well-being: combat anxiety, stress, insomnia and depression.

8. Start taking a multivitamin/mineral supplements daily.

Change isn't always easy, especially when you doubt about where to start.

Stress management coaching enables you to identify the sources of stress in your life and equips you with techniques to manage stress more effectively and reach the permanent stress reduction and stress relief results.

Are you ready to manage stress before it manages you, your health and your professional and personal life?

Don’t hesitate to contact me at info@action4balance.com to find out how I can best help you.

I reward immediate action takers.