*real* stress food

[Geonz]

.... not "what you crave when you're stressed out and can rationalize eating" but: What would be useful to have around next week at work when we'll be dealing with some really stressed out students adn we won't have good answers for them?
Bagels & cheese as opposed to sugary stuff?

[michelem]

Hi Sue,

Just some basic guidelines:

Restrict intake of refined sugar, or consider entirely eliminating refined sugar and carbs if particularly sensitive.

Restrict or eliminate caffeine.

To boost your serotonin levels, organize your diet around:
1. High-tryptophan protein, such as turkey - a high-protein diet is not recommended, but you do need at least some protein in each meal and most snacks.
2. Whole grains - expecially those you cook, like brown rice, millet, barley, oats, amaranth. Don't rely solely on ww bread or cold cereals. Your body needs nutrients from a wide variety of foods.
3. Beans & legumes - good protein sources
4. Root veggies - such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, onions, rutabegas, and turnips; as well as squash and pumpkins.
5. Nuts (approx. 10 nuts is a serving, or 1-2 T of nut butter - don't go overboard) - these contain essential fatty acids and a small amount of protein.
6. Seeds(1-3 T per day)
7. Green, yellow, red, and leafy veggies (good source of B vitamins, which turn trytophan into serotonin)

Drink plenty of pure water.

Consider taking supplements, such as B complex and fish oil.

Try taking breaks to do self-calming/soothing things such as deep breathing and gentle yoga stretches and try to eliminate extra stimulants, such as loud music, bright lights, etc.

Hang in there!

[mimitabby]

hey, where's the chocolate???

[Dianyla]

hey, where's the chocolate???

Indeed!

[solobiker]

Did somone say chocolate?

[Zen]

Pizza

[Geonz]

THanks I am thinking, perhaps, of bringing my panini maker and bringing some stuff to grill sandwiches.... but maybe start Monday with a trip to Panera.

[margo49]

Just some basic guidelines:

try to eliminate extra stimulants, such as loud music, bright lights, etc.

:

So, in real terms: no chocolate and no pub!
Well that about wraps it up, then...

[RoadRaven]

Like Michel says - plenty of water and get rid of caffeine if you can

And the others - yes chocolate - but only the very dark chocolate.

I find nuts a really good thing to have when I am stressed - and vegemite and cheese sandwiches - good combo of a little protein and some carbs.

[Laterider21958]

It's probably not for everybody, but it sure helps, try this:-

Chocolate Cake

1 Tablespoon vinegar
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups plain flour
pinch of salt
1/2 cup cocoa (powdered cooking chocolate)
1 1/2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
1 1/4 cups of castor sugar
185 grams of melted butter or margarine
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
2 eggs - beaten

Grease and line the base of two 23cm round cake tins with greaseproof paper. (I use one large tin.) Set oven temp to moderate or (180 deg C). Adjust temperature for fan forced ovens.
Sour the milk with the vinegar, stir well and set aside.
Sift flour, salt, cocoa, bicarb soda and place in a bowl with the sugar.
Pour in the melted butter or margarine and half of the soured milk, beat for 3 minutes.
Add vanilla essence and the remaining milk and eggs, and beat for another 2 minutes.
Pour the mixture into the tins/tin and bake in the oven for 35 - 45 mins. (Push in a skewer to see if the centre has cooked before removing from the oven.)

When cool, you can top and fill with cream and strawberries.

(Recipe can be doubled if necessary - I tripled this recipe and baked it in a roasting dish for my daughter's 21st birthday and had to freeze it until the party. Once thawed it came out with the texture of a mud cake, without the fat content of that type of cake. (Not sure why it turned out with that type of texture. It may have been caused by freezing it.) It looked great with after dinner mints stuck on the sides.

To all those on diets and really health conscious - please ignore the above!

[Geonz]

Those bagels and cream cheese I brought in Wednesday were *very* popular - thanks for the input I'm thinking Monday Muffins ... or good ol' bread (some special kind) with peanut butter (maybe both my kind - mashed peanuts and salt - and the more mainstream type). Or maybe cashew butter ...

[indigoiis]

Apples are a great stress food / nervous tension food. Because you have to work at it (like a dog working a bone) it calms you down.

[cosc]

Don't forget popcorn.