Most people when they’ve had a long and particularly difficult day can’t think of anything worse than spending their last few precious hours at home before bed time slaving over the oven and cooking healthy food. In most cases, people’s gut instinct will be to eat out or to pick up the phone and order a take away. While this saves time and fills you up, it’s not always the best course of action to take. In this article we will look at how cooking your own meals can be an effective method of stress relief and explain why a healthy, balanced diet is good for your mind.
Healthy, nutritious food is one of the quickest routes to stress relief. Fresh food is much more likely to be packed full of the essential nutrients that your body needs and less likely to include the fats, oils and processed ingredients that can leave you feeling groggy, tired and unable to perform to your best ability the following day.
By preparing and cooking food yourself, you set yourself up for a task which you are certain to be rewarded for. While your day might be stressful, with jobs left incomplete and no finish line in sight, the process of cooking a meal allows you to set a goal and to achieve it.
In addition to this, if you prepare all the food on your plate yourself then you can be sure that there are no nasty surprises, such as added sugars or fats which can heighten your risk of diabetes and cause weight gains which can leave you feeling blue.
Foods with high vitamin and mineral levels actively help to reduces stress levels but what are some of the foods you should avoid?
One common way to aggravate stress is to drink tea, coffee, energy drinks and anything with caffeine in it. While you may have an initial perk from drinking caffeine, the stimulation can leave you feeling a lot worse once it wears off, as well as causing unwanted side effects like anxiety and insomnia.
Take away foods are a quick and easy fix when you’ve had a long day and don’t feel like cooking but they tend to be full of fats and carbohydrates which can induce stress. A healthy balanced diet is a sure fire way to make sure you get all the vitamins that you need, as well as helping you to lose weight which can make you feel better about yourself.
Finally, preparing and cooking food with your partner or children can be a great way to spend your time together and help you unwind, thinking and talking about something other than work, or even just letting off some steam.
For more information on reducing stress in your day to day life, see our guide ’20 proven ways to wind down and relax’ .
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