Foods to Fight Anxiety and Stress

Source http://refineryfitnesspdx.com/foods-to-fight-anxiety-and-stress/

Lately, I have been hearing from many of my clients about how stressed out, anxious and overwhelmed they are feeling.  It seems that no matter what side of the political divide you live on, the contentious nature of our politics and the 24 hour news cycle has everyone feeling a little overwhelmed.  I like to help clients look for natural ways to reduce their anxiety and stress and food can be a big part of that picture.  Below are some ideas of foods to add to your diet to alleviate some of these anxious feelings.

Tryptophan Rich Foods:  Tryptophan, an essential amino acid, is an important precursor for the neurotransmitter serotonin.  Serotonin is considered a “feel good” chemical, promoting feelings of sleepiness, relaxation and calm.  It is also the precursor for melatonin, another chemical important for sleep.  Recent studies have shown that eating tryptophan rich foods by themselves may have a negative impact on the amount of tryptophan reaching the brain.  This decrease occurs because tryptophan, the least abundant amino acids in food, must fight with other amino acids to cross the blood-brain barrier.  Unfortunately, it is often crowded out by more plentiful amino acids.   However, combining protein rich food with some carbo…

Source http://refineryfitnesspdx.com/foods-to-fight-anxiety-and-stress/

Lately, I have been hearing from many of my clients about how stressed out, anxious and overwhelmed they are feeling.  It seems that no matter what side of the political divide you live on, the contentious nature of our politics and the 24 hour news cycle has everyone feeling a little overwhelmed.  I like to help clients look for natural ways to reduce their anxiety and stress and food can be a big part of that picture.  Below are some ideas of foods to add to your diet to alleviate some of these anxious feelings.

Tryptophan Rich Foods:  Tryptophan, an essential amino acid, is an important precursor for the neurotransmitter serotonin.  Serotonin is considered a “feel good” chemical, promoting feelings of sleepiness, relaxation and calm.  It is also the precursor for melatonin, another chemical important for sleep.  Recent studies have shown that eating tryptophan rich foods by themselves may have a negative impact on the amount of tryptophan reaching the brain.  This decrease occurs because tryptophan, the least abundant amino acids in food, must fight with other amino acids to cross the blood-brain barrier.  Unfortunately, it is often crowded out by more plentiful amino acids.   However, combining protein rich food with some carbo…

What Do You Think?

comments

Translate »