Eat to Beat Stress

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Eat to Beat Stress

Calm down--without sacrificing your figure

by Sarah Robertson

A stressful day could send anyone on the hunt for chocolate, but if you regularly reach for ice cream, cookies, or cake when you're upset or tense, it may have nothing to do with a lack of willpower.

For you, carbohydrates may stimulate an especially powerful release of pleasure-producing hormones in your body. Like a nicotine addiction, such a compulsion is tough to break--but not impossible. Surprisingly, food can help you do it.

Sweet-but-nutritious complex carbohydrates such as the foods listed below have the same calming effect.

However, they're less harmful to your waistline, because they have fewer calories than the candy bars or other calorie-rich foods you might normally seek, says Leigh Gibson, PhD, a senior research fellow at University College London who has studied this phenomenon.

You'll also be less likely to overeat throughout the rest of the day if you treat your choice like a meal instead of a mindless snack. Find a place away from your office or away from whoever is upsetting you. Then sit down, and slowly enjoy your food.

Foods to Fight Emotional Eating


Tomato soup

Oatmeal

Whole wheat toast with jam

Multigrain waffle with light syrup

Fresh fruit

Sweet potato, or baked potato with light sour cream and chives

Lightly sweetened whole grain cereals such as Multi-Grain Cheerios