Stress Awareness Month
Tip 3 – Maintain a healthy diet
As we become busy and stressed we tend to make poor nutritional choices that can actually increase our stress levels and cause other problems too. We may do this because we’re in a hurry and it’s easier to grab pre-packaged food that may be less healthy, or we may do this because we crave less healthy food when we’re stressed. Being so busy we may also forget to eat or skip meals and then snack on unhealthy foods.
By eating an unhealthy diet we experience short-term and long-term consequences. You may be less energetic and this lack of energy can affect your productivity and stress levels. You may be less able to fight off sickness and this poor health can affect your quality of life and stress levels. You may also become short-tempered or overly-emotional and this can affect your relationships.
Some tips on improving your diet:
- Aim always to eat breakfast, even if you can only manage a piece of fruit
- Try to choose healthy options for your lunch and evening meal – visit the NHS Eat Well Guide for more information and recipe ideas https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/
- To sustain your energy, snack on healthy food throughout the day
- Drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration and protect your kidneys and cut down on alcohol and stimulants such as coffee and tea
