{"id":706,"date":"2024-04-15T02:59:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-15T06:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/?p=706"},"modified":"2024-04-11T15:00:53","modified_gmt":"2024-04-11T19:00:53","slug":"snacking-a-secret-weapon-in-the-war-on-stress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/2024\/04\/snacking-a-secret-weapon-in-the-war-on-stress\/","title":{"rendered":"Snacking: A Secret Weapon in the War on Stress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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When I\u2019m under a lot of stress I often forget to eat\u2014usually because I\u2019m busy and feel like I have to keep working and can\u2019t stop. Then, when I get home, I swing in the other direction and stress eat, snacking on foods that comfort in the moment but make me feel tired and even more stressed afterwards (those little snack cakes with sprinkles are my real weakness.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Lately I\u2019ve been reading about foods that I can snack on and that will actually help<\/em> with my stress. I was skeptical, and so went looking for research-backed snackable anti-stress foods that are 1) easy and 2) tasty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To my surprise there are lots of foods out there that fit the bill! According to the Cleveland Clinic<\/a>, foods that that lower inflammation, that support your immune system and your gut, that stabilize your blood sugar, and that produce serotonin (a mood enhancing chemical in your body) can really help you feel less stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some portable, snackable, anti-stress foods<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To reduce inflammation<\/strong>: Bananas, berries, apples, dark chocolate, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, spinach, tuna, salmon<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To support your immune system<\/strong>:  Oranges, tangerines, clementines<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To support your gut health<\/strong>:  High fiber foods like raw veggies and apples, sunflower seeds, pistachios, also Greek yogurt<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To help stabilize your blood sugar<\/strong>:  Almonds and other nuts, lean chicken and turkey, eggs, milk<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To boost serotonin<\/strong>:  complex carbs like whole grain bread, whole grain pasta, brown rice, oatmeal (not the instant kind with lots of sugar)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stress-busting snack ideas<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Once you know all these options, stress-busting snacking is easy. Try making trail mix with pumpkin seeds, peanuts, almonds, and dark chocolate chips and keeping some in zip lock bags around work (maybe don\u2019t use the chocolate chips if you\u2019re keeping this in your truck during warmer months).  Carry apples, tangerines, or bananas for snacks, and make a tuna sandwich with whole grain bread and spinach instead of lettuce for lunch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s nice to think that you can snack and feel better, not worse, afterwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, snack away\u2026if you are smart in your snacking it\u2019ll help lower your stress and keep you thriving!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I\u2019m under a lot of stress I often forget to eat\u2014usually because I\u2019m busy and feel like I have to keep working and can\u2019t stop. Then, when I get home, I swing in the other direction and stress eat, snacking on foods that comfort in the moment but make me feel tired and even […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":217,"featured_media":720,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=706"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":721,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706\/revisions\/721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/thriving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}