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What to eat against stress?

Excessive and persistent stress poses a major threat to physical and mental health. In order to prevent consequential damage such as cardiovascular disease or depression, it is important to avoid stress at an early stage. stress stress at an early stage. This can also be achieved through the right nutrition can also contribute. Because certain foods and beverages have stress-relieving properties that you could take advantage of and therefore definitely include in your diet should integrate into your diet.

5 foods against stress

1. matcha tea

Lebensmittel gegen Stress

Matcha tea is considered a superfood with many health-promoting properties. For example, it is rich in L-theanine, an amino acid with powerful stress-reducing properties, as shown in animal and human studies [1]. Incidentally, the stress-reducing effect appears to be independent of the dosage form and is also evident, for example, when matcha is incorporated into confectionery (e.g., pastries) [2].

2. sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes are among the wholesome, nutrient-rich carbohydrates that help reduce cortisol levels [3]. Cortisol is a stress hormone that the body releases in stressful situations, causing blood pressure and respiratory rate to rise, among other things. A permanently high cortisol level is harmful to health and increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and other illnesses. In addition to their positive effect on cortisol levels, sweet potatoes contain other nutrients important for the stress response, such as vitamin C and potassium.

3. chard

Essen gegen Stress

The green leafy vegetable is full of nutrients with stress-reducing properties. Chief among these is magnesium, which plays an important role in the body's stress response [4] and is often present in the body at too low a concentration during chronic stress [5]. Chard is an easy way to prevent magnesium deficiency: just 175 grams of cooked chard (equivalent to about 1 cup full) already contains 36% of the recommended daily intake of magnesium.

4. artichokes

Artichokes also contain plenty of magnesium and potassium, vitamins C and K, and are also rich in prebiotic fiber, which is important for intestinal health. In animal studies, certain prebiotics were shown to have stress-relieving properties [6] and there is also evidence in humans that prebiotics have a positive effect on stress symptoms [7], but more research is needed here - especially on the exact mode of action.

5. eggs

In addition to the many important vitamins and valuable minerals, amino acids and antioxidants found in eggs, they are also rich in choline. This nutrient is found in large amounts in only a few foods, but it has an important role in brain health and may protect against stress and stress-related mental disorders (e.g., depression), as shown in animal studies [8].

Conclusion

In hectic everyday life, it is especially important to pay attention to a healthy and balanced diet. Those who experience a lot of stress should specifically include foods in their diet that have stress-reducing properties due to their ingredients, such as matcha tea, sweet potatoes, chard, artichokes and eggs.