Are you feeling stressed? I mean, March is that odd ‘in-between’ month’; the month typically after midterms and that month before finals. During this month, students usually have many assignments and papers. No matter how many times we often tell ourselves ‘I am going to start that paper in advance’, it usually ends with a last minute scramble, resulting in ordering greasy food and pulling an all-nighter. However, having lack of sleep and eating unhealthy actually works against us—it creates unnecessary stress we often bring to ourselves due to our procrastination.
A study has shown that what we eat has critical impact on our health and well-being. Eating healthy gives us the ability to take in more information and helps reduce stress. Although pulling all-nighters, drinking an unhealthy amount of caffeine and eating junk food may seem like the only solution, if you can avoid it, you will be doing yourself a favour.
So, the question is, is there specific foods that can help my well-being and ability to cope with stress? The answer is yes!
- Eat your greens!– Leafy ‘greens’ such spinach, lettuce, etc. contains magnesium; an important mineral that allows the relaxation of muscles.
- Have Fish Oil!—Yes ladies, fish oil
- Fish oil consists of essential fatty acids that give you that ‘feel good mentally’ that enables our brain to cope with stress (releases serotonin). Now, fish oil may sound nasty, but you can take it in supplements. I buy the ‘life’ brand through Shoppers Drug Mart for all of my supplements, such as fish oil.
- Dark Chocolate—No, sugary milk chocolate does not count– Only consume the size of dime for health benefits (ya, like that’s going to happen).
- Meats– Helps combat stress through proteins and necessary amino acids that helps the brain to function
- Go nuts for nuts
- Nuts help you maintain proper blood sugar; containing plenty of vitamin B which helps with the feelings of fatigue.
- Blue berries– Some say blueberries is ‘brain food’—what they mean is that blueberries contain a high levels of antioxidants (anthocyanin). This type of antioxidants that blueberries provide also gives you sharper cognition (allows you to think straight).
- How about other berries?—Yes, even strawberries, raspberries and blackberries help combat stress as they are a great source of vitamin C.
- Green Tea
- As many may know, green tea has many great benefits when drinking it. Green tea has an amino acid called theanine and acts as a ‘brain booster’, enhancing your mental performance.
- Many say that green tea also helps with weight loss!
Although procrastination does often happen for the average student, with a little bit of planning ahead and obtaining a healthy routine can help you coop with stress.Lessons learnt:
- Instead of overdosing yourself on coffee or energy drinks while writing your term paper or cramming for that final, try drinking green tea.
- Rather buying junk food such as candies and chips as late-night study snacks, try snacking on berries and nuts.
- Don’t forget to take your vitamins and fish oil!!!
Remember, get your sleep, eat right, and be good to yourself.
Sources:
http://healthpositiveinfo.com/foods-that-fight-stress.html
http://drwillard.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Is-Green-Tea-in-Skin-Care-Bad-for-Pregnancy.jpg
https://berriesandbloomscatering.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/berries2.jpg
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/fish-oil-dangerous
http://healthpositiveinfo.com/foods-that-fight-stress.html