Diet Tips for Stress Relief

The life in today's world is increasingly challenging with more and more demands of professional and family life resulting into excess stress. Stress is basically a physical reaction and it starts when a person feels vulnerable or besieged.  Stress and anxiety can emanate from many events such as divorce, losing a job, troublesome kids, long queues, petty arguments, preparing for exams, commuting a hectic distance on a daily basis and other such relatively small irritations.

As we get busy and stressed, we tend to make poor nutritional choices that can actually increase our stress levels and cause other problems. Studies have shown that food and stress are linked together. Our diet plays an important role in maintaining our physical as well as mental health. So here are some tips for getting good nutrition and maintaining a more healthy diet, even under stress:

1. Despite the best advice, most people under stress neglect food, so at least start your day with 5 almonds and either milk/lassi/protein drink or egg. You can also start a multivitamin multi-mineral supplement during the stress period.
2. Try not to skip lunch and if you do not have the time to eat then always keep a packet of channa roasted namkeens in the office or car to munch something in between, even a fruit chat or packed curd is welcomed.
3. Avoid heavy and late dinners. Instead of the regular atta roti (wheat chapati) for dinner, use a healthier atta with a mix of channa, soy, wheat, ragi, mung. On weekends try to take rest and a light dinner.
4. Avoid or control too much of tea and aerated drinks. For people who are prone to eating processed food, try having muesli with milk if nothing else is available at home. It can be made at home also with equal mix of cornflakes, oat flakes, rice flakes, wheat flakes.
5. When back at home, you should try to avoid all fried namkeens.  You can opt for a healthy whole wheat sandwich with a soup.
6. For people with a sweet tooth, keep rasgulla or sandesh at home or just mix fruits, raisin and curd for a nourishing healthy dessert. Remember STRESSED spelt backwards is DESSERTS, so indulge in healthy sweets once in a while.
7. Try not to overindulge in alcohol and if it is completely unavoidable start a liver tonic containing vitamin C and B complex.
8. For severe acidity and gas try to take cabbage or kheera (cucumber) juice in the morning. You can also boil ajwain (bishop's weed) in water and drink this water once it is cooled; this acts as a medicine for gas. A cold banana is also a good natural antacid.
9. Many herbs are also beneficial for stress. These include tulsi, triphala, ginger, ashwagandha, ginseng and amla. You can add some of them to your daily tea.  

Regular physical exercise also plays an important role in the fight against stress. Exercise not only keeps the body physically and mentally fit, it also provides recreation and mental relaxation. And above all, simplify your style of living to eliminate unnecessary stresses. Remember, stress is period which may go away sooner or later but it is important that the body does not suffer permanent damage during this period, so being a little proactive definitely helps!