About Hodgson Mill

Eat Right To Fight Stress

Stress is inevitable.  However, there are ways to minimize its grip on your life, starting with your diet.  In a recent study by the Food and Mood Project, a UK-based nutrition research group, foods were categorized as being “food stressors” or “food supporters” – that is, whether they exacerbate stress from the inside or help people under stress. 
Some 200 people were surveyed.  Intriguingly, answers were very similar across the board: participants reported mental health improvement when they cut down or avoid “food stressors” like sugar (80%), caffeine (79%), alcohol (55%) and chocolate (53%).  The same effect appeared when they had more “food supporters” like water (80%), vegetables (78%), fruit (72%) and oil-rich fish (52%).  The survey also found some dietary strategies particularly helpful:  eating regular meals, carrying nutritious snacks and planning meals in advance.
This underscores the idea that certain foods can affect our brain patterns.  For instance, too much chocolate can leave us dragging after sugar and caffeine fade away.  Salty chips dehydrate the body and the brain, bringing on fatigue.  High fat meals raise and sustain stress hormone levels.  The problem is that these are foods we reach for at periods of high stress, and they affect our internal chemistry. 
We already know that stress hormones like cortisol rob the body of vitamins, hijacking them to support classic stress responses as the tensing of muscles and rise of blood pressure.  According to scientists, some 1400 chemical changes occur as stress hormones sap the body of important nutrients.  It is at this time when we are in special need of B vitamins, which help maintain our nerves and brain cells while also being used by the body to convert food into energy.  B vitamins are found in foods like whole grain cereals, rice, nuts, milk, eggs, meats, fish, fruits and vegetables.
Hodgson Mill is dedicated to “comfort foods” – the right way.  Our products are delicious, easy to prepare, and packed with B vitamins and other nutritional goodness to help you care for your body as well as your mind.  And sticking to highly nutritious, low-fat, low-sugar and low-caffeine diet as that offered by Hodgson Mill foods will definitely be its own reward … for your own peace of mind.
Source: Psychology Today, February 2003.