Anti-stress Eating

When you’re under a deadline, or domestic pressures mount, you may pass up low-fat granola bars and orange juice for chocolate and coffee. But during times of tension, healthy eating is more critical than ever. Stress can cause the body’s stores of several key nutrients to drop by as much as one-third. This means your immune system can suffer, making you more vulnerable to illnesses like the common cold and flu. Here’s a guide to three key anti-stress nutrients.

• Vitamin E, found in foods such as wheat germ and spinach, can boost resistance. The recommended daily allowance (RDA) is 8 to 10 milligrams, but this may not be enough to have an antistress impact.
  

Talk to your physician about the benefits of vitamin E supplements.

• Vitamin C, found in foods like citrus fruit, broccoli and red peppers, is key to stress control. Stress triggers the release of hormones from glands that are also storage sites for vitamin C in the body. When these glands increase hormone production, they begin to lose their vitamin C stockpiles. Since immune cells and tissues rely on vitamin C for repair and function, this vitamin C loss lowers your resistance to infection.
  

The RDA for vitamin C is 60 milligrams, but talk to your physician about the benefits of an increased dose.

• Magnesium, found in foods like bananas, kidney beans and lentils, is another important antistress nutrient. The theory is: magnesium contributes to the production of calming brain chemicals, and stress hormones seem to increase the excretion of magnesium. The current RDA for magnesium is 280 to 350 milligrams, but supplements during times of stress may help.
  

Talk to your physician about the appropriate use of supplements.