Feeling stressed? What are you eating? Most of us reach for comfort foods when we are stressed, such as cookies, cake, candy, and other high sugar, low fiber foods. These foods can increase the development of chronic inflammation developing and affecting our body. What should we eat to avoid chronic inflammation from building up in our bodies? Three eating plans provide reliable assistance along with allowing individual choices of food.
All three plans encourage us to eat:
- Plenty of vegetables and fruit
- Whole grains
- Low-fat or fat-free dairy
- Seafood and plant proteins
These plans limit or encourage people to avoid consumption of:
- Empty calories including foods with added sugar, or drinking excess alcohol
- Refined grains
- Saturated fat foods
- High sodium foods
The overall eating pattern is more important than anyone certain food or food. However, certain foods have been found to have more antioxidants which may be beneficial under stress. Be sure to consume vitamin C foods such as oranges, strawberries, tomatoes, and other citrus fruits. Cherries and blueberries are other good fruits to include in your eating plan.
An example of a day’s meal plan would be:
