What to Avoid Eating When Feeling Stressed

  Everyone knows that to live a long healthy life we need to eat well and exercise. Unfortunately not everyone follows these principals and they end up having many health problems as a result.

  If you want to start reducing your stress levels today, you should know that a well balanced diet is critical in preserving your health, and helping to reduce your stress.

  Surprisingly, certain foods and drinks have the ability to act as powerful stimulants to the body and can be a direct cause of stress. The first step to eliminating this stress is discovering which of these foods and beverages may potentially cause you to go into stress overload!

  Warning: Although the stimulation that the following foods provide may be quite pleasurable in the short term, in most cases, they can end up being quite harmful in the long run. So please brace yourself, you may be in for a shock!

  One of the biggest and worst stressful-food offenders is caffeine.

  Caffeine is most commonly found in beverages like coffee, tea, Coke, etc. Even certain types of chocolate or sweets may contain caffeine. Caffeine causes the release of adrenaline in your body which increase your stress levels considerably.

  Although when taken in moderation, coffee can increase your alertness, and help keep you awake, too much caffeine can also affect your muscles, nervous system and heart.

  An over-consumption or caffeine can lead to unwanted long term stress. It is also important to note that caffeine intake has a direct connection with high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels which could potentially cause many serious health problems.

  But the worst thing about caffeine is that it can be highly addictive.
  Trying to stop drinking coffee can be one of the hardest and most challenging tasks you can undertake so you might want to take it easy when starting to reduce your coffee or caffeine consumption. If you try to quit cold-turkey, you may experience withdrawal symptoms such as headaches and irritability.

  It is highly recommended that you slowly cut back on your caffeine intake over time until it becomes easy to eliminate it from your life. It should not be a struggle or a process that brings even more stress into your life.

  Here's a quick habit-busting tip: If you're currently addicted to coffee like most people try drinking drink black tea instead of regular coffee; it has less than a third of the caffeine of coffee, and none of the harmful oils. It's an easier way to cut down on your caffeine consumption than just quitting coffee cold turkey.


  The next stress-offender you're going to want to minimize is alcohol.

  Alcohol has many adverse effects on the body. It can impair your judgment and even cause kidney or liver failure.

  When alcohol is consumed in moderation, it may benefit your cardiovascular system for a short period of time, but the negative long-term effects far outweigh the positive short-term effects when abused.

  In most cases, alcohol is used by many of us to help relieve stress, when in actuality it puts more stress on our bodies. Alcohol users experience problems such as nervous tension, irritability, and insomnia, caused by the secretion of adrenaline from alcohol intake. Alcohol can also increase the amount of fat deposits in the heart and decrease the immune function when taken in excess.

  Our liver is a major part of our elimination system and alcohol limits the ability of the liver to remove toxins from the body causing many severe problems over time. When we are stressed our bodies produce several toxins in the form of hormones which require filtering through the liver.

  When alcohol impairs the liver's ability to function, these toxins do not get filtered and continue to circulate through the body resulting in serious, often chronic, health issues.


  Smoking is one of The Worst Stress-Relievers.

  Surprisingly, most smokers use smoking as a way to cope with stress. For most of them, it actually seems to do the job in the short term even though most smokers know that smoking is one of the worst habits you can pick up.

  Smoking cigarettes is proven to be responsible for multiple forms of cancer, hypertension, respiratory illness and heart disease.

  After smoking for a while, your breathing becomes restricted and forces the lungs to work harder to deliver oxygen to the rest of your body. When your vital organs are forced to work more than they are used to, it adds unnecessary stress to your life.

  If you are a smoker who smokes to relieve stress, you may want to think twice before lighting that next cigarette.


  The Sweetest Stress-Offender -- Sugar.

  Although it's found in the majority of the foods we eat, sugar has no essential nutrients. All sugar really does for us you provide you with a temporary boost of energy.

  When you're on a "sugar high" your adrenal glands end up working over-time and wear out quickly.

  If you don't mind being irritable, dealing with a lack of concentration, or enjoy being depressed, then sugar is the way to go. But if you'd prefer to stay happy, keep your focus and enjoy your life, then you'll want to do whatever you can to avoid putting sugar into your body.

  Many forms of diabetes can also be avoided if you manage to keep your sugar intake low. Too much sugar is a severe load on the pancreas and adds a great load of stress to the body. The best way to deal with stress in regards to sugar is to try and keep your blood sugar levels constant, and don't look to sugar when you need a boost. An apple or a banana will do just fine.


  Why Salt May NOT be Your Best Friend.

  First of all, salt increases your blood pressure, depletes your adrenal glands, and in many cases causes emotional instability.

  If you have the option, try using a salt substitute that contains potassium rather than sodium. Many of today's junk foods also contain too much salt and should be avoided. Here are a few of the salty foods that you should try to avoid or least less of: bacon, ham, pickles and sausage.

  Remember, nutrition is a huge part of health living. IF you really want to live well, then eating right is key... especially since now you know what not to eat when you're stressed out.

About the author:

  Jake Berlin is the author of "The Killer Ab Workout System" -- the simple 3 step system that shows you exactly what you need to do develop, stronger, flatter abs fast. This system can be used from the comfort of your own home, or anywhere in the world!

If you want to learn more about Jake and "The Killer Ab Workout System," visit: Ab Workout.