Healthy Eating Doable Challenge #12: De-Stress Your Diet

Stress. We all experience it, and for many of us, it can lead to poor eating choices. But research suggests that by tweaking your diet, you can actually fight stress. "What you feel, how you perceive things, and how focused you are is a reflection of brain chemistry—and you have some control over that chemistry based on what you eat," explains Drew Ramsey, M.D., an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University in New York and the coauthor with Tyler Graham of The Happiness Diet: A Nutritional Prescription for a Sharp Brain, Balanced Mood, and Lean, Energized Body. Changing your diet isn't a magic bullet for every emotional problem, but what you eat can help quell short-term anxiety and even fight long-term stress while minimizing its effects on your body and your brain. For this Healthy Eating Doable Challenge, we asked Dr. Ramsey to share his advice on food choices that can help fight stress—and for other hints on how to "de-stress your diet."

4 Tips for Eating to Beat Stress

• Avoid Processed Foods

Full of excess sugar and sodium, trans fats, artificial sweeteners, preservatives, and other additives, processed foods "tell lies to your brain, and that is very, very stressful to you as an organism," Dr. Ramsey says. Trans fats, for example, can actually increase your risk for depression.

• Don't skip or skimp on meals

"There's nothing more stressful to the body than erratic, unplanned eating," Dr. Ramsey warns.

• Feed your body food that works

The seven foods listed below are rich in mood-boosting compounds, including the nutrients that Dr. Ramsey refers to as the "essential elements of happiness": vitamin B12, iodine, magnesium, cholesterol, vitamin D, calcium, fiber, folate, vitamin A, omega-3s, vitamin E, and iron. As he writes in The Happiness Diet, these nutrients work together to "fight low mood, low energy, [and] cloudy thinking."

• Eat a super stress-fighter food every day

For this month's Doable Challenge, help keep stress levels in check by eating one of the seven super stress-fighting foods listed below every day (to make it easy, we've suggested recipes from Epicurious, The Happiness Diet, and Dr. Ramsey's latest book, Fifty Shades of Kale, cowritten withJennifer Iserloh). If you miss a day or indulge in some highly processed foods, don't beat yourself up; just start fresh tomorrow. After all, this particular challenge is about reducing stress, not creating it!

Stress-Busting Food #1: Mussels

This bivalve tops Dr. Ramsey's list of stress-reducing foods for a number of reasons. Mussels have a good amount of omega-3 fats, as well as vitamin B12, some vitamin D, folate, iron, and iodine, for a whopping 6 out of 12 "essential elements of happiness." Dr. Ramsey says that just being low in B12—not even technically deficient in the vitamin—can lead to irritability, depression, fuzzy-headedness, and changes in sleep. While fortified cereals, cheese, and yogurt offer some B12, just 1 ounce of mussels has more than 100 percent of the daily value for B12! Plus, mussels by their very nature tend to promote a way of eating that's social, mindful, moderate, and relaxing: "You are not going to pick up the phone when you have mussel hands," Dr. Ramsey jokes. "Generally, when you eat mussels you are going to sit with someone, and you are going to enjoy this big pot of mussels, and you are going to eat slowly."
Recipes to try:
• Spicy Steamed Mussels with Garlic Bread
• Cioppino
• Linguine with Butternut Squash, Spinach, and Mussels

Stress-Busting Food #2: Kale

"One thing that stresses the brain and the body is just simply too many calories," Dr. Ramsey explains. So what makes kale one of his favorite superfoods? "Kale wins out because of nutrient density.… With just a few calories you get an amazing number of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients." By making low-cal kale the centerpiece of a meal, not only do you avoid stressing your body out by overeating, you also cut down on the mental stress that comes with feeling guilty about it. Just 1 cup of kale has almost seven times your daily vitamin K requirement, a key nutrient not just for fighting inflammation but also for the production of anxiety-regulating neurotransmitters. Kale is an excellent source of absorbable calcium; too-low levels of calcium can contribute to anxiety and irritability, as well as worsen PMS symptoms for women. The dark, leafy green is also a great source of mood-boosting folate and a host of phytonutrients.
Recipes to try:
• Google's Braised Chicken and Kale
• Scallion Fish with Sesame Kale
• Kale Pesto with Toasted Walnuts

Stress-Busting Food #3: Dark Chocolate

The health benefits of chocolate are well known: For one, it can boost longevity. But Dr. Ramsey points out another benefit: "Dark chocolate is one of the few foods that have ever been shown to acutely improve mood." Yes, there's some empirical evidence to back up all of our anecdotal evidence that eating chocolate makes you feel better: In a limited trial, subjects who were given dark chocolate squares showed improvement in mood and focus. Cacao beans contain naturally stimulating compounds that promote the release of dopamine. And since it's a natural stimulant, dark chocolate in moderation can help boost energy when you're tired or run-down. As a bonus, "switching from other sweets to dark chocolate means you are getting less sugar, more phytonutrients, and more nutrient density." So you heard it here: Doctor's orders are to have some dark chocolate when you need a pick-me-up.
Recipes to try:
• Almond-Cherry Chocolate Bark
• Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies
• Cocoa Delight

Stress-Busting Food #4: Better Meat

First things first: Cut out processed meats (e.g., hot dogs, pepperoni, deli meat) in favor of seafood, fish, and vegetarian sources of protein; and when you eat pork, lamb, beef, and poultry, choose cuts from animals that are raised in sustainable, humane environments. Meat is a great source of many mood-boosting nutrients, notably protein, iron, and vitamin B12. Iron, for example, helps deliver oxygen throughout the body, and helps your brain produce serotonin, dopamine, and other mood-regulating neurotransmitters. There are vegetarian sources of iron (check out lentils, chickpeas, and spinach), but the most readily absorbable type—heme iron—is found in meat, as well as in poultry and fish. "Meat is misunderstood," says Dr. Ramsey. "It is very nutrient-dense, and pasture-raised, grass-fed, and wild animals yield a better mix of fats, fewer calories, and more antioxidants like vitamin E and beta-carotene, plus a good dose of tryptophan, which is the main building block of serotonin."
Recipes to try:
• Perfect Pork Chops
• Grass-Fed Meatballs Marinara
• Beef and Kale Tacos

Stress-Busting Food #5: Farm-Fresh Eggs

Eggs are "one of the few foods that have both folate and vitamin B12, which are two molecules closely linked to having low mood and anxiety," explains Dr. Ramsey. He also notes that eggs are the top dietary source of choline, "one of the few nutrients that are actually linked to lower levels of anxiety." Eggs also provide vitamin D, a nutrient whose deficiency has been linked to mood problems. And try to opt for eggs from free-range chickens. Why? "When you get a real pasture-raised egg where the animal has lived outside while it was making that egg, you get more nutrients," Dr. Ramsey emphasizes. "You get more omega-3 fats, [and] that dark orange yolk means there's more carotenoids in there." Talk about a good egg.
Recipes to try:
• Egg Sandwich with Green Bean Slaw
• Eggs in Purgatory with Artichoke Hearts, Potatoes, and Capers
• Bibimbap at Home

Stress-Busting Food #6: Purple Potatoes

Whether it's French fries, mashed potatoes, or chips, spuds are a popular source of comfort in times of stress. There are various theories as to why carb-rich foods are so comforting, but Dr. Ramsey notes that eating carbs increases tryptophan (the same chemical responsible for that happy, relaxed, post-turkey buzz at Thanksgiving) as well as serotonin synthesis in the brain. So if potatoes are your carbs of choice, choose spuds that are smaller (with a greater ratio of skin to flesh) and more colorful. By choosing small, unpeeled purple potatoes over an Idaho, you get more nutrients, such as folate, phytonutrients, and fiber, without as much starch. "It's about little swaps," Dr. Ramsey says.
Recipes to try:
• Grilled Potato Smash
• Oven-Roasted Fries
• Haricot Vert, Edamame, and Purple-Potato Salad

Stress-Busting Food #7: Anchovies

Wild salmon gets a lot of press when it comes to its mood-elevating omega-3s, but Dr. Ramsey reminds us that there are other fish in the sea. He's particularly partial to anchovies as a great source of both healthy fat and iodine. Iodine is found in large doses in sea creatures and plants (making seaweed a great vegan source), and is essential for healthy thyroid function; an underactive thyroid can cause a myriad of health problems, including low energy and depression. As it turns out, anchovies are also a super-sustainable and affordable choice when it comes to seafood. Dr. Ramsey likes to make a kale Caesar with anchovy dressing and eggs for the ultimate stress-busting meal; follow his lead and use anchovies to amp up the umami in some of your favorite dishes.
Recipes to try:
• Happy Fish Salad Sandwiches
• Tuscan Kale Caesar Slaw
• Pasta with Spicy Anchovy Sauce and Dill Bread Crumbs

http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/healthy/news/happy-foods-destress-diet-doable-challenges?mbid=synd_cnholiday_food