Destress with your diet: Foods that can help reduce day-to-day stresses
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Whether it's at work, school, or home, stress can seriously impact your productivity and well-being.
However, relief could be just a nibble away.
It's true, there are foods by their nature that can reduce your stress.
When the world seems to be crushing you with stress, there are two types of food that can help.
"Those foods that we eat that are high in the Omega fatty three acids, the foods that are high in fiber, [and] all the foods that reduce inflammation will help with your stress," said Laura Zervos from Nutrition Counseling for Life.
For Omega three, she recommends reaching for the salmon, cod, tuna, sardines, herring, and mackerel.
It also turns out that tryptophan is calming which you can get from steel-cut oats, chickpeas, and of course, turkey.
"That's an amino acid found in turkey," Zervos said. "Epicatechin, a compound found in green tea extract."
Also, don't underestimate the calming qualities of berries, especially blueberries.
"What is it about blueberries that make them stand out - the fiber and their original antioxidant called anthocyanins," Zervos explained.
Of course, we can't forget dark chocolate.
"Especially the ones that have the higher percentage of cacao," she said.
But that means dark chocolate, not milk chocolate. For example, dip a strawberry in dark chocolate and you'll get a double benefit.
You want to avoid sugars and saturated fats because they can have the opposite impact and actually add to your stress.