Elizabeth Bernstein wrote a Wall Street Journal article titled Foods That Battle Stress During the Coronavirus Pandemic.
« Uma Naidoo is a nutritional psychiatrist and author of the new book This is Your Brain on Food: An Indispensable Guide to the Surprising Foods that Fight Depression, PTSD, ADHD, Anxiety, OCD and More. Dr. Naidoo, who is the founder and director of the Nutritional & Lifestyle Psychiatry clinic at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital, specializes in helping people cope with mental illness through nutritional strategies. »
« the connection between the gut and brain »
« When people have chronic stress, their gut microbiome gets out of whack and inflammation sets in. This leads to inflammation in their brain. In addition, when there is disruption in the gut—when the bad bacteria overtake the good—the whole line of communication between the gut and brain breaks down. »
« Food can fix this imbalance of good and bad bacteria in your gut. And research has shown that if you change how you eat, and change your stress level, you can start to rebalance the bacteria in your gut in a single day. The inflammation may take a few weeks to heal. »
Anxiety: « Food can help you boost feel-good hormones and decrease cortisol. One of the foods I recommend is turmeric with a pinch of black pepper. »
Depression: « When people feel depressed, they have a lower level of serotonin, the happiness hormone. One type of food that helps is food rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as fatty fish or seeds such as chia, flax or hemp. »
Anger: « Research shows that diets high in trans fats are linked to anger and aggression »
Insomnia: « There are many foods rich in melatonin, including eggs, fatty fish, asparagus and broccoli. And chickpeas are a good source of tryptophan. »
Articles of Interest 