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Stress – a disease of the modern world
In medical nomenclature, thanks to the research of the Canadian doctor Hans Sely, stress is defined as a state of the body caused by stimulating it with non-indifferent stimuli – stressors. It follows that stress is a “situation” in which environmental factors (the aforementioned stressors) threaten the body’s balance, significantly disturbing it and thus forcing the body to react to the threat. “Insidious” stressors activate complex mechanisms of reacting to unpleasant situations in our body.
On a physiological basis, this may be, among others excessive sweating, abdominal pain, rapid breathing, heart contractions, high blood pressure. The psychological factors include, above all, feelings of fear, anxiety, decreased concentration, disturbed cognitive processes, sleep problems or temporary memory lapses.
It is estimated that for the average Pole, the main cause of permanent stress is work and all related situations. According to a study by The Workforce View in Europe, commissioned by ADP, it appears that every fifth employee is too concerned with their work, gets frustrated with his minor shortcomings and takes responsibility for the entire team, which sometimes does not finish the task on time.
Yes – stress at work is a natural and rather inevitable phenomenon, which may have a positive impact on our motivation and quality of work to some extent, but when experienced over a long period of time, it wreaks havoc on our psyche, making us feel burned out and tired with our daily duties. In difficult cases, the best solution will be to visit a psychologist and daily “work with stress” according to his instructions. But this is only the last resort, the worst case scenario. Therefore, when you feel any discomfort at the thought of going to work, it is worth thinking about home prophylaxis and implementing some tricks and changes, including nutritional changes.
How Can I Deal With Stress?
Nothing upsets a stressed person as much as good advice like “don’t worry” or “don’t worry”. Because we all know that we are nervous and stressed anyway, and such words often throw us even more off balance. However, if the words of consolation also contained information on how to deal with nerves, maybe we could still use such tips in practice …
The problem is that there are no universal solutions to fight stress. Everyone is different – we differ in our sensitivity, mental structure and resistance to difficult situations. What makes others laugh may upset some, causing them to feel sad for a long time. So it’s best to cut yourself off from good advice and listen to yourself, our body constantly sends us signals. Only we ourselves know best what brings us comfort and allows us to calm down.
However, there are some universal methods that you can try and match. Thanks to them, we can alleviate the symptoms of stress and improve the quality of our life.
4 tips for dealing with stress
First of all: you should sleep well. We know that we should ventilate the bedroom, take care of fresh bedding, cover the windows against the night lights of the city and that it is best to take our eyes off the blue light of the screen two hours before going to bed, and we do not follow it anyway. Maybe it is worth taking the risk, doing an experiment and trying to follow the suggested guidelines for at least a week? We guarantee that the result will exceed your expectations, and a few days’ trial will become your everyday habit!
Second: think about physical activity – preferably outdoors. An oxygenated brain is a calm brain. Exercise generally reduces the level of general tension in the body, relaxes and … strengthens the psyche. Each additional kilometer while running or increasing distance in the pool strengthens our self-esteem, builds self-confidence and motivates us not to give up. Just like the effects of our activity, in the form of even better condition or greater strength.
Third: small everyday pleasures. It can be composing a puzzle, meditating, listening to your favorite music, taking a walk or reading a book. These seemingly trivial activities are the best way to calm down and forget about all day’s problems. Everything that makes us happy, calms us down and allows us to develop our passions may turn out to be the best way to maintain a balance between work and private life.
This sphere must absolutely not be neglected! Yes, work is important, but not the most important. You have to remember to take off your “official uniform” after work and take care of yourself. Thanks to this, it will quickly turn out that it is not our work that defines us, but our passions, interests and preferences. Let’s try to keep the so-called work-life balance, managing our time wisely.
Fourth: proper diet and changing eating habits. It happens that in stressful situations we eat our fear and anxiety. Stress often causes emotional hunger, no matter how long we’ve had our last meal. The craving comes suddenly and makes reaching for the chocolate bar activate the reward center in our head to compensate for the exposure to an uncomfortable situation. And we don’t even look back, and we already have an empty chocolate wrapper in front of us. Although it is easy to say, it is obviously not the way to go.
Does diet affect our well-being?
It has been known for a long time that what we eat defines us in some way, reflects our lifestyle. Surely you know the slightly exaggerated, cinematic character of a busy corporate employee who reaches for a hamburger during the lunch break and nibbles on another cup of coffee with cookies from a nearby supermarket.
Probably even in our work environment we will find this stereotypical, obese businessman who loosens his tie with every bite, or a lady discreetly undoing a button from a pinching skirt. It is possible that we will smile at the sight of this, thinking: it’s good that we don’t. But are you sure we don’t?
How many times have we failed to prepare a homemade snack for work, or at least take a few more steps to the bar for a normal meal during the lunch break? We may not realize it, but unhealthy snacks, eating on the go, and irregular mealtimes keep our stress levels up. And yet this long-term stress is one of the main factors mentioned in the context of obesity.
Now to the shore, because we know that you are waiting for this answer – can a good diet actually help us? If so, what, what should we eat?
Diet for stress
As we mentioned at the beginning, stress means a state of increased alertness and alertness for the body. There is nothing wrong with releasing adrenaline every now and then and stimulating our nerves. Chronic, relentless tension, however, is very unhealthy. Therefore, as the saying goes: it is better to prevent than to cure, taking care of your own psychological comfort in advance. And in this we will be helped by healthy eating habits.
It’s best to start by quitting smoking and reducing the amount of alcohol you consume. It is such a truism, but how important and significant for our health. Nicotine and alcohol are stimulants. A momentary feeling of relaxation or “gathering your thoughts on a pipe” is deceptive – instead of calming it, it speeds up blood circulation and raises blood pressure, making us feel anxious and overactive.
The same is true of caffeine – while one or two cups of coffee a day will stimulate us (help to focus, overcome drowsiness and distraction), a larger amount may cause irritation, excessive irritation and … a general weakening of immunity. Including resistance to stress. Therefore, the third and fourth cups should be replaced with water or green tea.
Sugar can also become a product that hinders relaxation. Chocolates and cookies only for a moment increase energy and improve mood, stimulating the mentioned reward center in our brain. We wrote a lot more about sugar here, we encourage you to read: https://.pl/czy-cukier-uzaleznia. The “sugar slide” that appears after a while may cause a feeling of tiredness, drowsiness, and in people on a diet, it often brings with it almost immediate remorse.
What to eat to reduce stress?
Certainly potassium, manganese, zinc, magnesium and B vitamins! But not so quickly, it makes sense to consult a doctor at the beginning, do some basic blood tests. On their basis, we will find out what our body lacks the most and what ingredients to supplement in order to have more energy and to go through stressful situations more smoothly.
However, supplements aren’t everything. In the fight against stress and its effects, you will need a balanced diet and a change in eating habits. Tablets with a vitamin complex, washed down with coffee, certainly will not bring the expected result. In the “stress-resistant” diet, B vitamins (mainly B1, B2, B6, B12), strengthening our nervous system, will be the most important. They calm down, soothe the nerves, prevent mood swings and boost energy. So let’s include broccoli, avocado, cabbage, wholemeal bread and fish in your daily diet.
Flavonoids will also be important for mental balance. Under this mysterious name there is nothing else but substances that give color to plants. But how do they relate to fighting stress? They protect us against free radicals and strengthen the nervous system. The most flavonoids can be found in bananas, oranges, apples, grapefruits, grapes … Maybe it is worth replacing a cup of coffee or a protein bar with fresh fruit? After all, many companies organize fruit Tuesdays or Thursdays, let’s take advantage of it healing!
Vitamins for stress
Although we have already written about the harmful effects of simple sugars on the body, it is worth taking care of the appropriate dose of carbohydrates in the diet, which consists of complex sugars. Thanks to them, a constant level of serotonin (the happiness hormone) is maintained in the brain and our mental comfort is increased. After returning from work, it is worth cooking wholemeal pasta with the addition of delicious fish or juicy meat, rice with a huge amount of vegetables, or potatoes with an egg .. Our brain will surely pay you back.
An important component of the fight against stress are also the aforementioned magnesium and zinc, which stabilize the functions of the nervous system and the work of our brain. Their concentration in the body stimulates the supply of energy to gray cells, thus improving thought processes. The sources of these elements can be found in dairy products, lean meat, beans, wheat germ, and chocolate.
In this context, one should not forget about vitamin D. We mentioned the need to supplement it in our article on depression: https://.pl/jak-leczyc-depresje, it can have a positive effect not only on our well-being, but also on immunity. You may have heard something about tryptophan. Tryptophan is a precursor to serotonin, the happiness hormone. Eating products that contain this amino acid to a large extent will certainly improve your mood. Its good sources are: almonds, bananas, eggs, fish, meat, legumes.
We know that it’s easy to say or write in this case, and it’s much harder to get into action. Nevertheless, life is a waste of stress, the earlier we mature to change towards its reduction, the better, of course. As always, we repeat that it is worth taking small but regular steps towards positive change, rather than immediately changing your life 180 degrees by throwing yourself out into the deep. Limiting stimulants, short walks, good sleep, nutritious breakfast – let’s start there and observe the changes taking place.
Bibliography:
Selye H. (1978) “Tame stress”, PIW, Heszen I. (2013) Psychology of stress, PWN, Michalsen A. (2020) Replace Treatment with Food, ed. Muse, https://www.adp.pl/_local/workforce-view-2019/ADP_WhitePaper2019_210319_PL_digi_A4.pdf