Nutrition and Stages of Stress - Essay Example

Nutrition and Stress s Nutrition and stress Stress is a condition where a person fails to respond, in a proper condition to an event, which has affected their life; this impact can be both in physical or emotional form, like a death of a loved one or sexual abuse (Ritchie, n.d, pg4). When the stressed person encounters a problem, they don’t take their emotions out and instead bottles them inside, then this kind of behavior would trigger stress. To better understand stress and how it develops, following are the three stages which a person goes through: 1. Initial Alarm When an unpleasant event occurs, the first response of the body is to be alarmed and in this state, the person would feel an adrenaline rush. The person would either respond to the unpleasant event or they would hold their feelings back. 2. Resistance Stage In this stage, the body is in a state of resistance which occurs due to no response and hold back from the person, to an unpleasant event. The body then finds a way, through which it copes with the event that happened, however, even if it seems the body is coping up with the event, its draining all the resources of the body, which blurs the resistance. 3. Exhaustion Stage This stage happens when all the resources have been drained from the body, due to coping with stress, and the person can no longer function normally, like they used to (Ritchie, n.d, pg5). This is the first symptom of stress and if at this stage, stress is not dealt with, then it would harm the body and the immune system of the person. If a person is stressed, then he would display symptoms of stress; these symptoms are visible and can be observed by the people around that person. There are many symptoms of stress and if it is detected earlier, then it would be easier to deal with it too. The symptoms start to show at the exhaustion stage, like the person would feel the tension in their muscles, they wouldn’t be able to concentrate at work or on their personal life, they would suffer from constant headaches, which could be severe in nature at times and they could also experience an increase in heart rate (Ritchie, n.d, pg6).As a person becomes stressed, they lose the ability to be nice to other people, thus becoming short temper and a very reserved personality, where they like to be alone most of the time. Stress doesn’t only impact the mental health of the person, but it can also be linked to poor eating, as when a person becomes stressed, they are more likely to overeat and they consume fats and sugars in shape of junk food. Their unhealthy food intake consists of fast food, frequent caffeine intake in one day, eating foods which are unhealthy or forgetting meals (Ritchie, n.d, pg8). Poor eating habits has side effects like it effects the hormones, increases weight, makes it problematic for the immune system to work and increases sugar in the blood, creating an imbalance. This imbalance can be combated with the help of a balanced diet. Those who want to combat stress, should change their diet and adopt a diet which has nutrients, is balanced, doesn’t contain fatty food and has nutrients which speeds up the immune system. If there are no nutrients present in the body, then stress is more likely to drain all the resources. A stressed person should avoid sweets, alcohol, and caffeine (Ritchie, n.d, pg16). These are the foods which should be avoided and there are foods, which should be consumed so that the person can ensure his physical and mental health. A person should make sure that they consume foods which contain B Vitamins, as they help the body cope with stress. Proteins should also be a necessary part of the diet, as it assists in the growth and repair the tissue; A vitamins are for a good vision, C vitamins should be consumed because they protect the immune system and magnesium is necessary for muscle relaxations, which also combats stress. Foods would include fish, eggs, meat, seeds, cheese, oil, milk, fruits, apple and green leaved vegetables (Ritchie, n.d, pg18). If a person doesn’t follow a balanced diet, with nutrients and healthy food, then they are more likely to be obese and obesity leads to stress. A study investigated the relationship between obesity and stress, by studying variables like race, gender and occupation. The study found out that those who individuals who overeat, as a response to a stressful situation or an emotional event, are more likely to be obese or overweight. Moreover, the study also concluded that to cope with stress, people tend to eat more as a coping mechanism (Ozier et al., 2008, pg54). The emotional problems that they feel comes from being stressed and the way to handle these emotions, is to eat more. In addition, those individuals who are overweight, are more likely to feel a strong urge to eat more, if they feel negative emotions or counter negative events. Thus, a link forms between food, stress and obesity; when a person encounters a negative situation, they are more likely to overeat, consuming more food than normal and this leads to obesity. The study also investigates a model, which shows the relationship between emotion and stress related eating, appraisal of ability and resources to cope and appraisal of outside stresses and influences (Ozier et al., 2008, pg50). The best way to fight stress and avoid overeating is by seeking support from loved ones, counseling from professionals and consultation from nutrition professionals. Food is not the only way, through which stress can be treated; there is another way of treating stress, called magnesium. Magnesium is a substance, which is being used for the treatment of depression, since the early times. Even though in the review of electrolytes and depressive illnesses, magnesium wasn’t given much preference, they were observed as altering clinical depression. Form modern studies, it has been found out that magnesium is an effective agent when it comes to treating human stress and depression (Eby III and Eby, 2010, pg652). The side effects of magnesium malnutrition are also studied and the studies have concluded that it harms the neurological order of a person, makes them depressed, disturbs their behavior, leads to headaches, muscle weakness and psychotic behavior. A study was conducted on magnesium intake, by Hordaland Health Study and the sample of this study consisted of 5708 patients. The study found out that there is an inverse relationship between magnesium intake and depression, irrespective of the race, gender, body type and blood pressure; the study showed a significant relationship between the two, as per the statistics (Eby III and Eby, 2010, pg653). In case a person feels so depressed, that it leads to a decrease in their IQ, memory and attention, then this means that there is a loss in the magnesium level and it worsens the state of stress the person is in (Eby III and Eby, 2010, pg654). However, there has not been much research done on how magnesium and stress are related. In addition, the human body needs nutrients and vitamins, to survive longer and stay healthy, thus, a person should make sure that they consume the right vitamins, to stay away from stress. There are eleven B vitamins, which are known as the B-Complex, collectively. These B Vitamins play an important role in fighting stress because they are involved with the cellular energy metabolism. This cellular energy metabolism is known as glycolytic and it converts the carbohydrates in the body into glucose. B Vitamins are also necessary for a well functioned nervous system (Presser., 2009, pg1). In stressful situations, B Vitamins deplete in the body; these situations may include work overload, infection, poor diet and drug or alcohol abuse. Vitamin B-1 is used for the purpose of producing stomach acid, which is used in digestion. If there is a drop in Vitamin B-1, then this would lead to depression. Thus, lack of these Vitamins, directly relates to stress. References Eby III, G., & Eby, K. (2010). Magnesium for treatment-resistant depression: a review and hypothesis.Medical Hypotheses, 74(4), 649--660. Ozier, A., Kendrick, O., Leeper, J., Knol, L., Perko, M., & Burnham, J. (2008). Overweight and obesity are associated with emotion-and stress-related eating as measured by the eating and appraisal due to emotions and stress questionnaire. Journal Of The American Dietetic Association, 108(1), 49--56. Presser, A. (2009). B-Vitamins. Literature Education Series On Dietary Supplements. Ritchie, J. (n.d.). Combating Stress with a Balanced Nutritional Diet (1st ed., pp. 1--27). Stress Management Society and Body Chef. Read More