This section offers you information about food sources of nutrients. These articles and recipes will educate you on ways to improve your diet.  These suggestions will complement your supplementation program set up by your Orthomolecular practitioner. 

Stressed out? Find Balance in Food and Fuel Up.

by Patricia Butt, Certified Nutritional Practitioner, Toronto, Canada

Whether you’re running late for a meeting, cramming for an exam or struggling with the demands of a fast paced job, we have all been there and experienced it. It’s stress.

While a certain degree of stress is necessary for our survival, prolonged excessive stress will eventually become detrimental to our overall health. Stress is, in essence, the body’s response to pressures of the external environment as well as the inner struggle of our thoughts and feelings. Most of us wouldn’t think that the choices we make in our diets would have much affect on our ability to handle these stressors, but it can! Our diet significantly influences our state of mind from meal to meal as well as nourishes our body’s ability to mitigate the potential negative effects stress can have on our system. The truth is, stress actually increases our cellular activity, which means we use up more energy. The more energy used equates to more nutrients required. Phew! It’s making me tired just thinking about all that energy!

So, we use up more nutrients when we are stressed and it is very important that we replace those nutrients to ensure we are properly fueling our bodies.

Some of the key nutrients depleted when we are stressed include the B vitamins (in particular B5), vitamin C, and the minerals zinc and magnesium. These nutrients play a critical role in nourishing the adrenal glands, which are responsible for the regulation of the stress response in the body. Here are some food sources rich in the nutrients we need to replenish in times of stress: 

• B Vitamins – egg yolks, dark green vegetables, whole grains, lentils

• B5- crimini mushrooms, sunflower seeds, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes

• Vitamin C – bell peppers, parsley, strawberries, kale, cantaloupe

• Zinc – crimini mushrooms, spinach, pumpkin seeds, collard greens

• Magnesium – Swiss chard, spinach, pumpkin seeds, summer squash, broccoli

 If you try to include as many as of these nutrient dense foods into your diet, you can provide your body with what it needs to cope with any stress that might come your way.

RECIPE

Greens, Eggs and Mushrooms Oh My!

Here’s a yummy recipe to that contains many of the nutrients described above for an example of how to include these foods in your diet. It makes a wonderfully power- packed meal to get you started for the day! Who says you can’t have veggies for breakfast?! 

Ingredients:

6 cups chopped dark leafy greens (stems removed) divided into 2 cups of each: spinach, kale, collard greens

1 medium onion sliced thinly

1 cup crimini mushrooms sliced

4 eggs (free range organic)

2 tbsp pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

¼ cup finely diced fresh red or green bell pepper

Dressing

1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger

3 cloves garlic minced

1 Tbsp tamari or soy sauce

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Add salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Slice onions and mince garlic and let sit for 5-10 minutes to bring out their health-promoting phytonutrients.

2. Bring water to a boil in large pot which able to hold steamer.

3. Rinse greens well. Chop into ½ inch pieces; remove the steams of collards and kale.

4. Steam the greens, mushrooms and onions together for 5 minutes.

5. While steaming greens, in a separate smaller shallow pot, bring water and vinegar to a fast simmer. You can start on high heat, and once it comes to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer before adding eggs. Make sure there is enough water to cover eggs.

6. Mix together lemon juice, ginger, garlic, tamari, olive oil, bell pepper, salt and pepper in a small bowl.

7. Poach eggs until desired firmness (or until the white is set and the yolk has filmed over). This will take about 5 minutes.

8. Remove vegetables from steamer and toss with dressing. Remove eggs from water with a slotted spoon and place on plate of tossed greens.

9. Sprinkle with pumpkin or sunflower seeds.

Serves 4

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If you liked this contribution, check out Rob Ayoup, ND and his featured article on Stress and the Immune System - The HYC admin team.