Some Foods Which Can Influence Your Stress Hormone:

By: on June 27th, 2017 in

SOME FOODS WHICH CAN INFLUENCE YOUR STRESS HORMONE:

We all experience stress at some time or the other in life. Stress is the condition or stimulus that threatens the body’s homoeostasis. Stress may be physical and/or mental and may develop due to a number of reasons. Emotional stress results from feelings of ambition, divine and desire but is perceived as positive. However strain, tension and anxiety due to death of a dear one, financial problems, divorce, unemployment, sickness and injury etc. are negative forms of emotional stress. Physical stress may occur in the form of starvation, illness, surgery, infection, injury, burns or trauma. We must also remember here that following a major stress, patients often exhibit a characteristic behaviour. These include immobility, when patients are fearful of moving or interacting; withdrawal, when patients may cease being aware of their environment and become incommunicative, and antagonism, when patients may resist interaction and display hostility to those around them. Altered cerebral blood flow may also be a reason for the altered mental state.

A number of hormonal changes take place in patients following stress. There is a marked rise in the counter-regulatory hormones, viz., glucagon, glucocorticoids and catecholamine. Glucagon has glycogenolytic and gluconeogenic effects in the liver, Cortical mobilises amino acids from skeletal muscle, increases hepatic gluconeogenesis and maintain body fat stores. The catecholamine also stimulates hepatic gluconeogenesis and glycolysis and increases the lactate production from skeletal muscles. They also increase metabolic rate and lipolysis. Growth hormone is also elevated when thyroid levels are reduced.

Stress causes physiological, metabolic, and hormonal changes in your body! As a result of metabolic responses to different stress like injury, trauma, sepsis etc there is an increase in the energy expenditure. Body fat level is also decreased and loss of weight is common. Their protein requirements are also high during any stressed condition. Therefore one balanced energy dense diet, providing all sorts of micronutrient as well; is recommended by any dietician. But sometimes eating some wrong food may aggravate your stress condition more!

Here are some tips during facing any kind of stress:

  • Avoid intake of caffeine containing drinks; These will increase gut stimulation and thereby make you sicker by increasing restlessness and aggravate your stress more.
  • Different scientific study already explores that cortisol secretion is increased by taking trans fat in the diet. Different processed food contains trans fat more1Specially food prepared using vegetable oils. Avoid intake of trans fat during any stress!
  • Avoid taking fruit juices during this stage! As it is having a risk of diabetes and poor metabolic health, and this is the condition when an altered cortisol curve is observed along with elevated inflammation.
  • On the other hand eating fruits is having altered result and it is mostly advisable to take whole fruit. Banana is very good and it helps in reducing emotional stress.
  • If you already have sensitivity to some food! Then avoid it especially during your stressed condition. As it may increase you stress more !
  • Stop taking alcohol of course!
  • Low fibre diet; junk food, confectioneries, cakes, carbohydrate dense foods have direct relation with increase cortisol level. This is not good under stressed condition!