Stress and Your Body

The health and nutritional status of individuals have primary effects on how they handle stress, and consequently, what impact stress has on their health.

What is Stress?

Stress is defined as any emotional, physical, social or economic factor that may alter the normal body equilibrium. Stress is an integral part of life. A certain amount of tension is required to be alert. Too much stress fatigues us physically, mentally, and emotionally, which is detrimental to our health. Our body is prepared to deal with stressful situations using the survival mechanism: fight or flight.

• Your heart pumps faster.
• Your blood vessels to the skin become narrower.
• You breathe faster.

Factors that cause stress:

• Psychological - emotional tension, anxiety, or excitement
• Physical - injury to body or infection
• Other - winning the lottery, losing a family member, the birth of a baby, exams, etc.

Stress reduces the absorption of certain nutrients, which may potentially produce a nutrient deficiency or aggravate pre-existing ones. The following nutrients can help repair these harmful effects:

• Calories and Protein: Found in dairy foods, nuts, beef, pork, poultry, eggs, and seafood
• Vitamin C - Oranges , kiwi, strawberries, mango, grapefruit, green/red pepper, cauliflower
• B-Vitamins - meat, seafood, legumes, whole grains, enriched breads and cereals, dairy, leafy green vegetables
• Magnesium - tofu, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, wheat germ, almonds

Guidelines for Healthy Eating

A healthy diet can be an important tool in guarding against stress-related illnesses.

• Enjoy a variety of foods
• Emphasize cereals, breads, other grain products, vegetables, and fruits
• Choose lower-fat dairy products, leaner meats, and foods prepared with little or no fat
• Achieve and maintain a healthy body weight by enjoying regular physical activity and healthy eating
• Limit salt and caffeine

Believe it or not, what you eat and drink can be a source of stress. The following poor eating habits are likely to put the body under stress:

• Skipping meals
• Consuming too much caffeine, sugar, salt or fat
• Excessive dieting
• Over/Under eating
• Vitamin overdoses

These poor eating habits can also lead to obesity, hypertension, high blood cholesterol levels, or various nutrient deficiencies. A healthy diet can be a very important tool in guarding against these stress-related illnesses.

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