If you’re feeling more stressed these days, or like your usual ways of managing stress aren’t helping - you’re not alone. It feels like more people are burnt out and living in chronic stress these days - a pandemic, cost of living crisis, and world events have left many of us feeling exhausted and overwhelmed.

What happens when we are stressed?

Experiencing stress sets off a cascade of processes in the body - the brain releases hormones which stimulate the adrenal glands to produce cortisol and other stress hormones. These stress hormones increase blood sugar, heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate, while slowing digestion and suppressing our immune system. Which is all fine temporarily - but we were not meant to live in a state of constant stress, and it can have many negative effects on our health.

What is burnout?

Burnout is caused by prolonged stress and is characterised by emotional and physical exhaustion, a feeling of disconnection and detachment, and an inability to perform your usual tasks effectively. Being burnt out can feel like you just don’t really care about anything any more. It is usually associated with your work environment, and so simply resting or taking a break is not usually effective for burnout recovery, unless your environment is also changed.

What is adrenal fatigue?

Adrenal fatigue is the theory that our adrenal glands become fatigued by constantly producing cortisol in times of prolonged stress, and this has flow-on effects for our health including inability to sleep, and depression. Although the concept of adrenal fatigue is not currently supported by many medical professionals, and more research is needed, it may explain some of the health effects of prolonged stress.

How do stress and burnout affect our health?

Stress and burnout can affect many parts of our physical and mental health, including our gut health, immune function, hormones, sleep, energy, and nutrition.

Stress depletes many important nutrients and can worsen the symptoms of any chronic health conditions we already have. Nutrients that can be depleted by stress include magnesium, zinc, iron, calcium, and niacin (vitamin B3).

Stress can also affect our nutrition by suppressing or increasing our appetite, or making us crave certain foods. This can make it difficult to eat a balanced diet and make any nutrient deficiencies we have worse.

One key effect of experiencing stress is oxidative stress. This is when the production of free radicals in the body outpaces your ability to counteract them with antioxidants. Drinking Enagic Kangen Water is one way to reduce the oxidative stress on your body due to the molecular hydrogen it contains, the most powerful antioxidant, far exceeding the bioavailable doses of antioxidants that are found in green tea and blueberries.

Free radicals are unstable molecules produced by many normal processes in the body, and also due to smoking, alcohol, stress, and poor diet. Stress does this by increasing our metabolic rate, and triggering an inflammatory response, both of which increase the production of free radicals. Additionally, high levels of stress hormones like cortisol can deplete antioxidants in the body, and antioxidants are needed to stabilise free radicals and render them harmless.

What to eat to support the body in times of stress

Overall, a well balanced diet that’s high in fruit, vegetables, nuts, and fish is beneficial for helping the body deal with stress. Certain nutrients can counteract the effects of stress, by strengthening our immune system and supporting gut health, and some can directly improve our ability to handle stress.
Better research is needed as to exactly which nutrients and foods can help, but some that may be beneficial include:

Omega-3 is anti-inflammatory so it may help counteract the effects of stress. It also may help prevent surges of stress hormones including cortisol and adrenaline. Omega-3s are found in fatty fish like salmon, and in some nuts and seeds including walnuts and chia seeds.

Vitamin C can lower stress hormones and strengthen the immune system. Vitamin C is found in citrus fruits, kiwi fruit, potatoes, and cauliflower.

Magnesium is one of the key nutrients for stress because it’s relaxing and calming in several ways - it regulates calming neurotransmitters such as GABA, it binds to calcium which helps muscles relax, it can help lower cortisol, it supports melatonin for sleep, and plays a role in nervous system regulation. Food sources of magnesium include nuts, seeds, avocado, legumes, and dark chocolate.

B vitamins such as B12 can help with metabolising cortisol. They’re found in meat, fish, and whole grains.

Probiotics and fibre can support gut health. Probiotics are live microorganisms that are beneficial for gut health. They’re found in fermented foods such as kefir and sauerkraut, but the amounts and effectiveness can vary. Fermented dairy such as kefir has the best evidence behind it for gut health. More on gut health below.

Antioxidants help counteract the effects of stress. As we talked about earlier, one of the effects of stress is that the body releases free radicals - these are unstable molecules that can damage cells and cause inflammation. Antioxidants stabilise free radicals so they’re not able to cause damage. Antioxidants are found widely in fruit, vegetables, herbs, spices, nuts, and dark chocolate. Antioxidants include vitamins C and E, and minerals zinc and selenium. The body doesn’t store antioxidants efficiently so it’s good to eat some rich sources every day.

Complex carbohydrates, especially low-GI ones help boost serotonin, which is calming and a precursor to melatonin. Complex carbohydrates are those found in whole grains, legumes, starchy vegetables, and many fruits.

Foods to avoid in times of stress.

Salty food, sugary foods and refined carbohydrates, caffeine, and alcohol can all worsen stress and its effects. Unfortunately these are some of the foods we tend to crave when stressed! It can help to eat low-GI carbs such as those mentioned above, and other filling, satisfying foods - these tend to be high protein and fibre foods like nuts, fish, tofu, and poultry. And be sure to stay hydrated.

The relationship between gut health and stress.

The gut and brain are tightly connected which is why stress can cause gut issues, and poor gut health can lessen our ability to manage stress. Stress can disrupt our gut bacteria, cause constipation or diarrhea, and cause gut inflammation. In turn, an unhealthy gut can contribute to stress and anxiety because the gut produces neurotransmitters like serotonin. For gut health, the best thing you can do is get plenty of fibre from fruit, vegetables, legumes, grains, nuts, and seeds. Antioxidant-containing foods are also important for reducing inflammation in the gut.

A Nutrition Perspective on Stress and Burnout