Many things can contribute to our sky-rocketing stress levels, such as work problems, spousal arguments, and our finances. Even though many of these things can be out of our control, what we eat may contribute to how well our bodies respond to stress. If you want more control over how stress affects you, or you want to reduce its impact altogether, keep reading the article.
Understand How Stress Affects Your Body
To overcome stress in your daily life, you need to understand what stress is and how it impacts your body in the first place. Adding more whole foods is an excellent place to begin, but it’s not the only step to take to control your stress levels.
When you feel stressed, your body responds by releasing stress hormones from your adrenal glands, known as cortisol and adrenaline. Your blood pressure rises, blood sugar levels spike and your heart beat faster.
You may hear these responses referred to as ‘fight or flight,’ and it’s your body’s natural response to physical threats like being chased by something in the wild. Our daily stresses are rarely physical, which means our stress response stays on high alert.
In this article, we’ll show you the top 5 ways you can use to lower your stress levels and live a healthy and stress-free life. Let’s get into this.
1. Be Mindful
Mindfulness is a great approach to life that helps us to relate differently to our experiences. It allows us to pay attention to our thoughts and feelings in a way that improves our ability to tackle down difficult situations and make better choices. The concept of “mindfulness” is a large part of somatic and meditative approaches to mental health and has become quite popular in the last few years. From yoga to meditation, these mindfulness practices incorporate both physical and mental exercises that help us prevent stress from becoming a problem.
2. Exercise (even for a few minutes)
Don’t take exercise wrong here, It doesn’t mean you’ve to do powerlifting at the gym or run for a marathon. The point of exercising is to give your body some stretching and relaxation. A short walk around your office or just stretch during a break at work can offer fast relief in a stressful situation. Getting your blood moving consistently releases endorphins that our mood almost instantaneously.
3. Keep a Good Diet
We are what we eat. So, it’s always recommended to live on a diet that’s full of healthy nutrients and prioritize whole foods in our life to live a healthy and happy life. Whole foods might not taste good to you but they have such amazing brain benefits.
For example, if you have a pet, would you feed him bad quality food? Absolutely not. In fact, a study shows that Americans spend over $99 billion in 2020 on their pet’s food. People tend to buy good food from good companies like Earthborn Holistic to ensure their pet’s good health.
It’s crucial to do the same for yourself. Whole foods are fresh produce that has undergone very little or no processing, such as vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and legumes. Including at least five portions of fruit and vegetables into your diet daily may assist with blood sugar stabilization, which impacts your adrenal function related to stress.
4. Reduce Your Caffeine Intake
Many people rely on coffee to wake them up, keep them awake, then help them through their midday slump. While the occasional cup of coffee can provide a much-needed energy boost, it’s worth keeping those cups to a minimum. The more you drink, the less energy you might have over the day. You may also find that coffee depletes your nutrients, which your body needs to function and cope with everyday stress.
5. Think Positive
Use the power of positive thinking. Rather than worrying about the same things again and again, break this stressful cycle and train your brain to think in a positive way. One of the best ways to do this is to think about the results that you want, not the results that you’re afraid of.
Sometimes, just thinking about the things unfolding in your favor can be truly inspiring. Another approach you can take is to practice positive affirmations. Here are a few examples of positive affirmations you can start with:
- I accept this challenge.
- I can let go
- I can overcome this problem.
- I can find balance in everything
- I can manage whatever comes in my way.
Conclusion
You can’t always control the stressful situations in your life. They can happen with intensity and without warning. However, you can control how you respond to them and how you let your body respond. With some dietary changes and a mindful approach to food choices, you can put yourself in a position of power.