Get rid of stress-induced obesity and supplement the 6 major nutrients of B group! Nutritionists teach you how to eat to relieve stress

Too much stress can also cause you to gain weight. Don’t doubt it, it’s true! Nutritionists say that in their consultation experience at nutrition clinics, there is often a large number of people who, even if they try hard to diet and eat less, and exercise, have limited weight loss results. Moreover, when stress comes, they may be so busy that they only eat one meal a day, but their weight still continues to increase. It is recommended to supplement the six major nutrients including calcium, B complex, etc., and you can easily get rid of stress obesity!

Nutritionist Gao Minmin said in her new book "Sports Food: Nutritionist's Sports Diet Notes" that stress can cause obesity mainly due to the following four aspects:

1. Affect the "autonomic nervous system":

Modern people live under high-pressure life for a long time, which makes the sympathetic nerves excited and the parasympathetic nerves inhibited. In addition to causing the gastrointestinal motility to decline and the digestive function to deteriorate, it also slows down lipid metabolism and makes fat easily accumulate in the body, resulting in body shape distortion.

2. Impact on the "endocrine system":

When the body is under great stress, it secretes a stress hormone called cortisol (also known as cortisol), which stimulates appetite and makes it easy to accumulate fat in the abdomen and buttocks.

3. Increased secretion of neuropeptide Y:

When under long-term stress, the body will secrete Neuropeptide Y (NPY), which will increase appetite and desire for high-fat and high-calorie foods, increase fat accumulation rate, and easily accumulate fat in the abdomen.

4. Increased Leptin Resistance:

Long-term stress will increase leptin resistance, which will continue to lead to stress-induced obesity. The mechanism of action of leptin is to reduce the effect of neuropeptide Y (NPY), causing NPY to increase abnormally, thereby increasing appetite and accumulating fat.

However, why do some people tend to lose weight when they are under a lot of stress? Nutritionist Gao Minmin said that in fact, when most organisms face stress, the body's sympathetic nerves will be activated, causing the adrenal medullary system to produce an acute stress response, stimulating the secretion of adrenaline and norepinephrine, thereby increasing the metabolic rate, helping to improve concentration, and quickly releasing energy to cope with the stress faced. Therefore, short-term, acute stress can indeed cause weight loss. However, if stress is long-term and chronic, the body will activate a self-protection mechanism to avoid losing weight, and will start to gain weight instead. This is the stress fat we mentioned above.

[Get rid of the 6 nutrients of stress fat]

1. Mineral calcium: stabilizes nerves and regulates metabolism.

The secretion of stress hormones will consume the calcium in our body. In addition to building bones and teeth, calcium is also a very important mineral for regulating metabolism, stabilizing nerves, and burning fat. It is generally recommended that healthy adults consume 1,000 mg of calcium per day, but if you are stressed or have insomnia, you can take more calcium. Such as milk, yogurt, cheese, dried tofu, bean curd skin, dried fish, and black sesame.

2. Mineral magnesium: relaxes the mind and stabilizes emotions.

The mineral magnesium helps relax muscles, stabilize nerves, relieve tension, and also helps maintain regular heartbeat. You can consume foods high in magnesium, such as nuts, green leafy vegetables (spinach, amaranth, cabbage, etc.), seaweed (nori), germ, soybeans, black beans, etc., in moderation.

3. Tryptophan: the raw material for making the "happy hormone" - serotonin.

The reason why our bodies experience disturbing emotions such as anger, tension, anxiety, fatigue, and restlessness is mostly due to a lack of sufficient serotonin in the body. Serotonin is converted from tryptophan in the diet and the human body cannot synthesize it on its own. Common food sources of tryptophan include bananas, milk, cheese, nuts, etc., which are good sources.

4. Vitamin B group: an auxiliary factor that helps the synthesis of serotonin, the "happy hormone".

If you want to promote the production of the "happy hormone" serotonin, it is not enough to supplement tryptophan alone. You also need to use other auxiliary nutrients to help catalyze it, such as: vitamin B6, folic acid (vitamin B9), vitamin B12 and other B group nutrients, in order to successfully synthesize the "happy hormone" - serotonin! Therefore, it is very important to moderately supplement the diet with foods containing B vitamins such as brown rice, pork, pork liver, egg yolk, beans, cereal, yeast, etc.!

5. Vitamin C: Assists in the production of anti-stress hormones.

In addition to B vitamins and tryptophan that can assist in the synthesis of happy hormones, vitamin C can also assist the body in producing the stress-resistant hormone, epinephrine, to fight stress! When stress strikes, the body's vitamin C will be consumed faster. You can supplement it with fruits rich in vitamin C such as kiwi, guava or citrus fruits.

6. Dietary fiber: promotes intestinal motility and improves constipation.

Living under high pressure for a long time will inhibit the function of the parasympathetic nervous system and cause a decrease in gastrointestinal motility. Therefore, people who are under long-term stress often suffer from constipation. Therefore, they need to supplement more dietary fiber and drink more water to promote intestinal motility and improve constipation. The dietary fiber content required by a healthy adult is about 25 to 35 grams a day. It is recommended to replace the refined starches that are often eaten, such as white rice, white noodles, and white bread, with brown rice, ten-grain rice, oatmeal rice, and whole wheat bread, and consume enough vegetables and fruits to increase the daily fiber intake.

[Nutritionist’s list of stress-relieving ingredients]

●Calcium: dried small fish with bones, kelp and seaweed, dried shrimp, dried tofu, dark green vegetables, kale, amaranth, black sesame, and cheese.

●Magnesium: cabbage, spinach, pumpkin, burdock, seaweed, kelp, buckwheat, millet, oats, almonds, cashews, walnuts.

●Tryptophan: yogurt, milk, cheese, nuts, natto, bananas, fish, meat, eggs, and soy milk.

●Vitamin B: brown rice, pork, liver, egg yolk, beans, oatmeal, yeast.

●Vitamin C: kiwi, guava or citrus fruits.

●Dietary fiber: brown rice, ten-grain rice, oats, and various fresh vegetables and fruits.

In fact, if you want to get rid of stress fat, the most important key is to relax at the right time! However, it is not easy for modern people to be completely stress-free and relax. Therefore, "exercise well every week and eat well every day" to promote the release of serotonin and dopamine in the brain, help increase positive energy and happiness, and is also a good way to avoid stress-induced obesity.