Balancing school, work, and your social life can be very difficult, especially when you’re trying to be healthy. Not only does stress affect your sleep schedule, but it also tampers with your mood and behaviors. With finals just around the corner, I wanted to do some research to find out which foods are the best to eat during these stressful times. Here’s what I found:
1. Oatmeal
Oatmeal is great because it gives our body the satisfaction of eating carbs without feeling so gross afterwards. It fills up your body because it’s packed with slow-to-digest fiber, unlike some of our other favorite carb-y snacks. I love to add cinnamon and honey to my oatmeal for extra benefits! Cinnamon is known to ease frustration and honey adds sweetness while also boosting immunity.
2. Kale Chips
If you haven’t tried these, you absolutely need to. I prepare mine with olive oil, (lots of) lemon, garlic salt, and fresh cracked pepper. If you’re in a cheesy mood, you can never go wrong with adding some shredded parmesan on top before baking. Olive oil is a very healthy fat, and it also contains large amounts of antioxidants which can help fight serious diseases. The health benefits of kale go on and on, but a few of them consist of it being low calorie, high fiber, and zero fat. Kale will fill you up without all the excess calories and fat that our bodies are used to.
3. Nuts
My favorite are almonds, but just about any nut will do the trick. Something that I’ve been doing lately is making my own trail mix to bring to the library and class. It’s a lot healthier than ones you would buy in a vending machine, and I can be sure to measure everything out so I can count my calories. I use almonds, dark chocolate chunks, and dried cranberries in my trail mix. It satisfies my sweet tooth because of the dark chocolate, but most importantly, it keeps me full! Stress depletes our B vitamin stores, but snacking on nuts helps replenish them. Dark chocolate is also known to reduce levels of stress hormones and blood pressure.
4. Berries
Berries are rich in vitamin C, which has been shown to be helpful in combating stress. There are so many things you can do with these fruits, and they have all been linked to positive health outcomes, including sharper cognition. You can throw them in your yogurt, oatmeal, or enjoy them frozen.
5. Avocados
Avocados are loaded with fiber, vitamins, and potassium. Even though they do have a good chunk of calories and most of those calories come from fat, don’t be discouraged. Avocados wil keep you full in addition to actually helping your body absorb nutrients from other plan foods, which is pretty amazing. Throw some avocado on your toast, sandwich, or even in a smoothie!