Top 7 Stress Fighting Foods

The clock is ticking when it comes to our bodies and stress. According to Dr. Chasse Bailey-Dorton, the more we let it get to us the worse we are going to feel.She says, "When you get stressed out the foods you reach for are actually ones that are the worst for you. We go for these high sugar high salt things and they kind of exacerbate what it is going on in our body."

By: | News Channel 7
Published: January 16, 2009

The clock is ticking when it comes to our bodies and stress. According to Dr. Chasse Bailey-Dorton, the more we let it get to us the worse we are going to feel.

She says, "When you get stressed out the foods you reach for are actually ones that are the worst for you. We go for these high sugar high salt things and they kind of exacerbate what it is going on in our body."

But she says we can fight the effects by eating foods that are natural stress reducers. The number one food to fight stress is berries because they are high in vitamin C.

Dr. Bailey-Dorton says, "They don't raise your blood sugar as fast as say going for a candy bar."

Coming in at number two, that gooey green stuff guacamole.

"It actually has a healthy fat in it and some of these healthy fats can help battle the stress reaction too. "

Number three, you should grab some mixed nuts.. The vitamin E helps your body fight the damage linked to chronic stress.

The fourth best food to fight anxiety is an orange. It is loaded with vitamin C which will cut down on cortisol the stress hormone in your body. Dr. Bailey-Dorton also says the time it takes to peel will give your mind a little break and you some breathing room.

The number five stress fighting food is asparagus.

Dr. Bailey-Dorton says, "Asparagus has a lot of vitamin E in it which can help. It is one of those neuro-vitamins. Helps our nervous system so it also can help battle the stress reaction."

Sip some hot stuff for number six. Something like Chai tea. The hot drink will soothe you and it doesn't have caffeine in it which can make your reaction to stress worse.

Finally you'll like number seven. Dark chocolate.

The doctor says, "The secret to dark chocolate is it has to be 70 percent or more cocoa this has a lot of flavinoids in it which can also help your blood pressure, but they key to it is you can only have a little bit."

She also recommends breathing deeply to reduce stress. She says when we stress out, we hold our breathe or breathe more shallow. Breathing deeply will help release the tension.