Superfoods to lower holiday stress and tension levels.

It’s that time of year again, you know getting into the hustle and bustle of the holidays.
The cooking, decorating, shopping and entertaining will take its toll on a lot of us,
and if you’re the one doing most of the cleaning, cooking and entertaining and need
some help, here it is in the form of food.

Food?
Yes, it may be tempting to indulge and taste and test everything come the holidays,
but you must show some restraint and control yourself, mainly your eating habits.
Eating the vast arrays of holiday foods not only increases your weight, it can
also affect your mental health, so it’s imperative you eat the foods that’ll help
you keep your stress levels in check and the foods that’ll help you do that are…

a) Apples-
A slice of apple pie, a bowl of warm apple slices on top of your morning oatmeal
or even a baked apple could help you feel 45% calmer and happier in less than
30 mins. How? The scent of cooked apples and the fruit’s sugar boost the production
of calming alpha waves.
Important tip: To gain even more calm, add some ground cinnamon and nutmeg to
your apple dish. Researchers say that just taking in the scent of these 2 spices will
have you feeling calm in no time. The scents ramp up your brain’s production of
electrical impulses (alpha waves) that quash stress and produces a more pleasant
and calmer mood.
Another tip: If you’re not in the mood for baked apples, fill a pot with water and throw
in a tsp. of nutmeg and cinnamon and let it simmer for 20 to 30 mins.
This also works as a natural air-freshener.

b) Vanilla-
Vanilla extract works exactly like the cinnamon and nutmeg in that it will help
quiet the emotional switchboard that keeps you on edge. Mix some into your
smoothie or yogurt and fruit an hour before bedtime and it will help you drift off
to sleep more easily. Vanilla extract calms the part limbic system, which is the
emotional center of the brain.

c) Oatmeal –
If you become scattered and unfocused during the holidays, eat some oatmeal
with cinnamon. The nutrients in oatmeal, heighten the brain’s release of the focusing-
enhancing hormone, (GABA), helping you feel more clear-headed in less than 30 mins,
plus cut your risk of scattered thinking in half if you start eating it a few times a week.

d) Coffee-
No, that’s not a misprint, coffee can help or harm you depending on how you use it
and the things you surround it with, (i.e. sweets, danish, bagels, slices of cakes, etc)
A cup in the morning with a tiny bit of sweetener and/or milk cuts your levels of stress
by about 30%. Coffee has chlorogenic acids that prompt the release of mood-steadying
dopamine.

e) Spinach-
If kale, Swiss chard or collards are your go-to greens in the fall and winter,
you may want to have more spinach if anxiety is an issue.
Spinach contains ample amounts of carotenoids, compounds that lull the brain’s
anxiety producing amygdala. Just a cup a day (raw or lightly steamed) cuts anxiety
and tension in half.
Another tip: If you plan on making soups this winter, add a few spinach leaves
60 to 90 secs. before the time you’re ready to turn off the soup. Cooking it (spinach)
for a short amount of time removes the bitterness.

f) Garlic-
This is another scent tip and not necessarily an eating tip.
If there’s tension between relatives and you want to quell the tension before
it gets out of hand, just spread some fresh garlic on bread or a piece of aluminum
foil and let it sit in a warm oven. Believe it or not, it too works like the scent of
vanilla extract in that it will help diffuse any tension in the house.

That’s it, your guide to less stress this long holiday season.
Good Luck and Good Eating!

Sources:
* Chicago Taste & Smell Test
* Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN.
* Tuft’s University, Massachusetts
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