Today’s life is dominated by tasks which require people to act swiftly and to be flexible. Many people have long working hours in particular in the UK. The American Psychology Association states one third of Americans are living under extreme stress, and about half of the adult population believes their stress has increased over the last 5 years (APA, 2009). Working related stress did contribute to about 13.5 million lost working days in Britain in 2007/2008 (HSA, 2009).

Stress is generally speaking simply a reaction of the body to deal with changing environments and it is an important physical response which enables us to deal with sudden changes such as a fire quickly and effectively. However, stress which is not resolved and occurs chronically effects the body negatively and has been indicated to harm psychological and physical well being. Persistent stress has been shown to increase the risk of diseases such as depression and heart disease (Medline Plus, 2009). Other physical symptoms commonly associated with stress are fatigue, headaches, digestive problems, change in appetite or difficulty falling asleep and recurrent infections.

There are many food companies which claim their products will help you coping with stress but does this hold any scientific evidence?

When the body reacts to stress the brain activates neurons which need serotonin to function properly, hence it can be assumed that the needs for serotonin are increased in stressful situations. This may partly explain why many people tend to consume sugary foods such as chocolate in stressful life situations as these often increase serotonin levels in the blood. Serotonin is produced by the body from tryptophan an amino acid which is supplied by proteins in the diet. However studies increasing protein content and decreasing carbohydrate content in diets were shown to be unsuccessful in having positive effects on the serotonin levels in the brain (Baba et al., 2004). Other studies put forward a diet high in carbohydrates and low in protein to increase serotonin levels in the brain, because carbohydrate increases the uptake of tryptophan of the brain and this means more serotonin can be made available (Koppeschaar et al., 2000).

Another important hormone pathway in stress regulation is hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis a hormonal pathway which increases cortisol levels in the blood. Cortisol has important effects on energy metabolism of cells and therefore it was thought to affect appetite control however recent studies indicate the effects of stress on appetite are complex.

People who suffer from chronic stress seem to increase their energy intakes and gain weight. Until now it is not clear whether these weight gains can be attributed to stress related hormonal changes or to adaptive coping behaviours, it is thought to be likely that both might contribute to higher energy intakes commonly found in chronic stress conditions (Baba et al., 2004).

Finally cognitive function and ability is often found to be decreased during chronic stress and studies on cognitive diseases such as Alzheimer’s strongly support the preventive function of fruit and vegetables which supply high amounts of antioxidants, hence it could be assumed these may improve concentration and physical coping during stressful periods (Baba et al., 2004) but current evidence is scarce and not yet conclusive.

Therefore it appears that a healthy balanced diet high in carbohydrates and low in proteins may help to cope with chronic stress. It may also prevent progressive weight gains and could potentially reduce the health associated risks for chronic heart disease and cancer, however simply taking supplements and pills without aiming for a healthy diet might cause more harm than good and most importantly other life style changes such as increasing exercise, sleep and improving coping strategies for stress might be just as important to tackle chronic stress (Nakamura et al., 2005).

APA (2009) http://apahelpcenter.org/articles/article.php?id=165 (accessed 12.09.09)

Baba, Y., Chuman, H., Kaji, R., Miyamoto, K., Nakaya, Y., Ohimori, T., Rokutan, K., Takeda, E. and J. Terao (2004) Stress Control and Human Nutrition, The Journal of Medical Investigation, 51, 139-145

Crofford, L.J., Brown, M.B., Brucksch, C.B., Demitrack, M.A., Engleberg, N.C., Korszun, McClure, L.A., and E.A.Young (2004) Basal circadian and pulsatile ACTH and cortisol secretion in patients with fibromyalgia and/or chronic fatigue syndrome, Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 18, 314–325

HSE (2009) http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/stress/ (accessed 12.09.09)

Koppeschaar, H., Markus, R., Panhuysen, G and A. Tuiten (2000) Effects of food on cortisol and mood in vulnerable subjects under controllable and uncontrollable stress, Physiology and Behaviour, 70(3-4), 333-42

Medline Plus (2009) http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/stress.html (accessed 12.09.09)

Nakamura, K., Shi, H., Shimbo, M. and T. Takano (2005) Dietary supplement consumption among urban adults influenced by psychosocial stress: its pronounced influence upon persons with a less healthy lifestyle, British Journal of Nutrition, 94, 407–414

Andrea Zick Nutritionist London

Esteem Fitness Personal Training London and the South East