Health Team

Snack on natural foods to shrug off stress

When you feel weighed down with worries, your favorite produce aisle or local farmers' market would be a good place to visit.

Posted Updated

By
Monica Laliberte
, WRAL executive producer/5 on Your Side reporter
RALEIGH, N.C. — With a full year of pandemic worries, most people feel the added stress. Sometimes the best medicine comes from the farm.

Locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables attract visitors like Curtis Lyons to the State Farmers’ Market. The fresh produce is not the only reason he and his wife enjoy the market.

"We come every now and then, maybe not to buy anything, but to just to look around," said Lyons, who admits the relaxed environment is calming.

That may be due to the calming effect of the natural foods sold by local vendors. For example, broccoli is known for fighting depression. Sweet potatoes help lower the stress hormone cortisol.

Mandarin oranges are also great stress-busting snacks, according to Cleveland Clinic psychologist Dr. Susan Albers. She said, "Not only do they have a great dose of vitamin C, which we need when we’re feeling stressed to keep our immune system up, they’re also a little bit sweet. They’re very portable, and they are low in calories."

She recommends getting a nice whiff of the freshly peeled orange before you actually eat it. "Studies have shown that citrus aroma is actually calming and soothing," said Albers.

Pumpkin seeds are packed with magnesium. "Magnesium is really important for helping to relax and calm our bodies," said Albers.

She also recommends adding cinnamon to your food to help regulate blood sugar. Its scent may help melt away stress.

If you struggle with emotional eating, reach for selenium-rich brazil nuts. Just two brazil nuts per day can help regulate your thyroid.

"And our thyroid runs everything in our body from our temperature to our mood, to our sleep and also our metabolism," explained Albers.

A handful of blueberries or sunflower seeds are also known to help with calming.

Cherries

Tart cherries or cherry juice may also help ease your mind. "Drinking a glass before you go to bed can helpful in helping you get to sleep and also reducing that inflammation in the body," said Albers.

So when you feel weighed down with worries, your favorite produce aisle or local farmers’ market would be a good place to visit.

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