ST. PETERSBURG, Fla — Hopefully, this story helps ease a little bit of your coronavirus related stress.
With all that is going on right now it is tempting to want to consume a lot of sugar and comfort foods, but 10News anchor Allison Kropff spoke with health and fitness coach Meghan Dorman about how those foods are actually making our situations worse.
Dorman says in order to avoid digging yourself into a stress hole later in the day it is important to start with a good foundation: hydrate before you caffeinate! Start off with a glass or two of water.
Then have what Dorman calls a "superhuman breakfast" with greens, whole eggs, extra protein and something fermented, like yogurt. If you can't do exactly that, it's ok, just try and get some of those things in. She also says smoothies are good, but be careful about the sugar because they digest faster.
"Make sure you're using whole fruits instead of juices that way you get fiber and antioxidants from those ingredients and try to get a protein source and a fat source into that smoothie. So things like flax seeds, coconut milk, avocado, nuts or nut butter, something that will slow down the sugar spike that would happen from the fruit," Dorman said.
This helps with digestion for the rest of the day.
"The reason why digestion is so important is because that's how we extract the nutrients from our food," Dorman said.
Then for lunch, Dorman recommends a salad with a protein. It could be your leftovers from last night.
"If you can try to squeeze some sort of vegetable into the first meal, then you're really setting the stage for the rest of the day when you don't have to play catch up," Dorman said.
Sugar is good when it comes from fruits and whole grains and complex sources that also come with fiber and antioxidants and other nutrients.
"Way more insulin is released when I eat a donut than when I eat an apple, so the counter effect of that is once it gets all the sugar into the cells, now we have hypoglycemia which is a low sugar situation and that's when people can get really depressed and anxious," says Dorman.
She says sugar effects are feelings and our ability to withstand stress. So over the course of the day, with poor nutrition, your body' cannot withstand small stressors.
Overall it's a balance and comes down to "empowered choice" according to Dorman:
"Food is just a tool. It can be used for good or bad. So I think perspective is more important than the actual thing. So be intentional. When you start to feel yourself losing it a little, and you want to go reach for cake or you want to go reach for wine, instead of saying no I can't have that because it's bad for me, maybe say ok, not yet."
Another tip? Make snack foods less convenient and fruits and veggies more convenient. Cut them up and keep them in containers. Put the chips and cookies on the top shelf.
You can find more helpful information by clicking here
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