Six Foods You Need to Avoid If You’re Stressed at Work

You spend a large portion of your day at work, so it’s not hard to see how your corporate wellness impacts the rest of your wellbeing. Work stress feeds into the rest of your life, which, in turn, has a negative influence on your overall health. Therefore, we’re always trying to find ways to reduce workplace stress and, thanks to registered dietician/nutritionist Keri Gans, MS, RDN, CDN, author of The Small Change Diet, we now have the answer: your food. According to Gans, what you eat may contribute to your stress load and, since diet is one of the things in life you have any control over, it’s a good place to start when dealing with workplace stress.

 

1. Avoid foods high in caffeine: The Stress Management Society states that while caffeine can be stimulating when you’re tired, foods and drinks with caffeine also contain the neurostimulator theo-bromine. Gans explains, ‘Both theo-bromine and caffeine have been proven to increase stress levels. Caffeine can also cause a loss in concentration, which can result in poor work output and thus more stress on the job. If you need coffee or tea in the morning for that boost, make sure you do so in moderation or you won’t be able to reduce work stress.’

 

2. Foods rich in sodium: ‘Sodium can cause the body to retain water, possibly leading to hypertension and an increase in stress,’ Gans warns. ‘Thankfully, sodium is fairly easy to monitor in a diet; make sure you read all product labels. Natural and whole foods will have less sodium than those in packages, but keeping hypertension at bay also means keeping up with an exercise routine.’

 

3. Junk foods: Not only do junk foods get in the way of your weight loss plans; they can also hinder your efforts to reduce work stress. Gans notes, ‘Snacking on potato chips, candy and baked goods may temporarily relieve hunger, but it rarely lasts any length of time. This can cause an energy crash later in the day and can lead to chronic hunger, which can make work that much more difficult to get through. What’s more, junk foods lack the vitamins and minerals the body needs to manage stress throughout the day.’

 

4. Fatty foods: There is research that indicates if you eat a fatty meal you will increase the negative effects of stress on your heart. ‘Most people don’t realize it, but starting the day out with a high-fat dairy product could be sabotaging that goal to reduce work stress,’ Gans cautions. ‘The more stressed the body feels, the less likely it is to perform well throughout the day, and as most of us now, poor performance is one way to drastically increase job stress.’

 

5. Alcohol: Gans advises, ‘Most jobs don’t allow drinking on-site, but if you go out for a business lunch steer clear of those alcoholic drinks. Alcohol stimulates the release of the stress hormone cortisol even though it may seem like it lowers your inhibitions. Also, drinking heavily at night can make you sluggish for work in the morning and make you less likely to pick up on important job facts throughout the day.’

 

6. Fizzy Drinks: If you steer clear of alcohol on business lunches, don’t replace your usual tipple with a glass of fizz! The Stress Management Society asserts that you should avoid fizzy drinks if you are feeling stressed at work. Gans comments, ‘When the body is under pressure, a build-up of carbon dioxide and lactates in the body can result in a condition called “acidosis”, which can harm health. The high levels of carbon dioxide in beverages aggravate that condition; therefore soft drinks need to be considered as an unnecessary addition to your diet.’

Categories: caffeine, day nbsp, junk foods, reduce work, sodium, steer clear, Stress, stress gans, stress management, stress nbsp, work stress, workplace stress

How to Reduce Salt in Your Diet without Missing Flavour

There’s no denying you have too much salt in your diet (unless you’re in a very small minority of Brits who can boast such as wellness claim). Still, just because it’d be better for your wellbeing if you cut down your salt intake, it doesn’t mean you have to compromise on flavour. Here are some low-sodium meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner that taste great without boosting your blood pressure.

 

1. Banana and nut porridge: There is absolutely no sodium in this delicious and comforting breakfast, making it the perfect way to start a winter’s day. Packing your porridge with bananas, nuts, and cinnamon is a great way to rise and shine, being completely devoid of cholesterol and providing just 310 of your daily calorie allowance. Plus, in each serving of this protein-packed breakfast you will find nine grams of fibre, and plenty of blood pressure-lowering potassium in the bananas.

 

2. Granola: While there is a little salt in granola – about 22mg or so – comparatively it’s a little amount and granola is still mega beneficial for your heart. The best thing to do is to cut your prep time down and make a big batch for the week on Sunday night. That way, you can grab this breakfast first thing and not have to think about food again until lunch. As well as being filling and heart-healthy, granola is contains three grams of fibre and three grams of protein per serving.

 

3. Crispy potato hash browns: You don’t have to give up your favourite breakfast side dish, you just need to make a few small changes to make it a little less salty. Using a combination of cooking oil and high heat, rather than the oil traditionally used for frying, this recipe offers the same taste but with only 97mg of sodium.  Plus, each serving of this classic dish yields only 97 calories and less than one gram of fat – what a winner.

 

4. Beetroot, Orange, and Ricotta Salad: When lunchtime rolls around, why not tuck into a nice bit of beetroot? Combining this colourful vegetable with salad, orange and ricotta provides you with 94g protein per serving, even though the calorie count is just 132. This lunch is sweet and salty, despite having only 88mg sodium, so you can satisfy your taste buds without hurting your waistline.

 

5. White bean and roasted garlic dip: If you’re a chips-and-dips kind of snacker, but can’t afford the sodium content, have a go with this 94mg wonder. Grinding up white beans gives you four grams of fibre and seven grams of protein, while using garlic and lemon juice to season this dip cuts the sodium count, which can be sky-high in other savoury dips.

 

6. Pappardelle with lemon gremolata and asparagus: Containing 106mg of sodium, this is the saltiest dish we’ve come across so far but it is dinner we’re talking about here. Combining lemon gremolata with asparagus and pappardelle pasta gives you an amazing burst of vitamin K, five grams of protein and two grams of fibre. Aside from keeping you feeling full all night – and thus helping you to avoid unhealthy snacking – this zesty, fresh dish has only 179 calories per serving.

 

7. Minted gin froth: Bet you didn’t expect to find cocktails on this list! A minted gin froth contains no sodium at all, but that’s not the only reason why you can enjoy it, guilt-free. While being minty and refreshing, a minted gin froth contains no fat and very few calories, so look online for exciting, healthy recipes.

Categories: blood pressure, gin froth, grams, Granola, Hash Browns, lemon gremolata, minted gin, nbsp, Protein, Salt, serving nbsp, sodium

Salt Shakers: How to Consume Less Sodium In Your Diet

Having too much sodium in your diet can lead to a whole host of health problems, and the main issue is that most of us don’t know how much sodium we’re getting. Although your body needs sodium to transmit nerve impulses, maintain fluid balance and help in the contraction and relaxation of muscles, you need less than 2,300 mg a day – which is about 1,100 less than the average diet contains. So, what can you do to cut back on sodium?

 

1. Eat fresh: You’ll find low levels of sodium in most fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as in fresh sources of meat. However, you should steer clear of bacon, hot dogs, sausage and ham.

 

2. Look on the label: If you really can’t get over your love for processed foods, at least pick the ones that say “low sodium” on the label. Still, it’s better to buy plain, wholegrain rice and pasta than those found in ready-meals or with added seasonings. When buying any food items, watch out for salt-containing ingredients like monosodium glutamate (MSG), baking soda, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, disodium phosphate, sodium alginate, sodium citrate and sodium nitrate. You should also avoid products with more than 200 mg of sodium per serving, and make sure you know how many servings are in a package

 

3. Revamp your recipes: It may not be the way your grandmother made it but you should remove salt from recipes whenever you can. Often, you won’t even notice salt is gone, especially in hearty meals like casseroles, soups, stews and other main dishes. If you need a little more inspiration, find cookbooks that focus on guarding your wellbeing against high blood pressure and heart disease.

 

4. Cut down on condiments: Although they don’t make up a huge part of your diet, condiments are not worth the salt-content they give you. There’s sodium in soy sauce, salad dressings, sauces, dips, ketchup, mustard and relish, so it’s better to flavour your food with delicious herbs, rather than throwing on some sauce at the end. Fresh or dried herbs, spices, zest from citrus fruit, and fruit juices can really help to jazz up your meals.

 

5. Be suspicious of substitutes: Let’s get this straight right now; sea salt is not a good substitute for table salt – they have the same sodium content. You can get “light” salts which contain a mixture of table salt and other compounds, but this often means that you use even more of the light salts to achieve the salty taste you’re used to. Plus, a lot of these substitutes contain potassium chloride which, when eaten in excess, can threaten your wellbeing. This is certainly the case if you have kidney problems or if you’re taking medications for congestive heart failure or high blood pressure that cause potassium retention.

 

6. Learn the lingo: Manufacturers make cleverly-worded claims about the sodium content of food, so you need to learn the difference between good marketing and a low-sodium product. If it says sodium-free or salt-free, there will be less than 5 mg of sodium in each serving. The label “very low sodium” indicates a sodium content of 35 mg or less per serving, while “low sodium” means a serving containing 140 mg of sodium or less, and reduced or less sodium means that the product contains at least 25% less sodium than the regular version. For a product to be “light” in sodium, the sodium content needs to be reduced by at least 50% from the regular version and, finally, unsalted or no salt added means that no salt has been added to the food, but the product, or some of its ingredients, may still be naturally high in sodium.

Categories: blood pressure, high blood, light salts, Read the label, regular version, Salt, sodium, sodium content, sodium means, substitutes, table salt

How to Tell if You Are Getting the Right Amount of Salt

A little-discussed aspect of diet and nutrition is the amount of salt that the average person takes into their diet. Recent figures show that the average American diet contains twice the necessary daily amount of salt. To protect your wellness and wellbeing, you should start to become aware of how much salt you are taking in and to actively try to reduce the salt and sodium in your diet.

 

Currently, the recommended daily amount of salt is less than 2,400mg, which represents less than one teaspoon of salt per day.

 

Of course, there are always people who are suffering with the other end of this problem, and taking in too little salt can be as dangerous as taking in too much. A low sodium diet puts anyone with a chronic illness or the elderly at risk of a condition called hyponatremia (also known as low blood sodium).

 

This condition is very difficult to diagnose without a blood test, and symptoms can include headaches, nausea, confusion, loss of consciousness and lethargy. The elderly are most at risk from this condition as the human body becomes less able to metabolise sodium as it gets older.

 

Some medications can also interfere with the body’s ability to absorb sodium: medicines that are particularly bad for this include pain medications, diuretics and antidepressants. Those who have a chronic illness such as Addison’s Disease, dehydration, hypothyroid, cirrhosis and heart or kidney failure are also at increased risk of developing a problem absorbing sodium, and so should be aware of the symptoms and see their GP if they feel it is necessary.

 

Too much salt can be very dangerous for those with high blood pressure. In these instances, a strict allowance of no more than 1,500mg of salt per day is recommended. Research has shown that those who have high blood pressure and keep their sodium levels under control prevent their blood pressure from rising and also allow their blood pressure medication to work more efficiently. Too much salt can result in a worsening of blood pressure symptoms such as shortness of breath and swelling, and it can also lead to weight gain.

Categories: Blood, blood pressure, Chronic Illness, high blood, Intake, levels, nbsp, pressure, Salt, sodium

New Evidence Could Help People On A Low Sodium Diet

Following a specific diet or nutrition plan can be hugely difficult, and a low sodium diet can be especially tricky because there is salt in absolutely everything. Now, scientists have discovered a mechanism in fruit flies that help to regulate sodium levels. This could potentially improve the wellbeing of humans, as the mechanism could possibly translate to human beings, too.

 

Human beings crave salt, and yet taking in too much salt can lead to high blood pressure, dehydration, weight gain and kidney damage. The current advice in the United States is that adults should restrict their salt intake to around 2,300 milligrams per day, but this new mechanism could mean that we don’t need to protect our wellness in this way, as our bodies would be able to figure it out for themselves.

 

This research seems to show that humans have an internal device which helps to regulate the intake of salt. In addition, it appears that a person’s salt tolerance levels may vary from person to person, with some requiring more than others. This was tested on the fruit flies by adding different concentrations of salt to the tongues of fruit flies and then monitoring their reactions.

 

Low levels of salt seemed to please the fruit flies, which were attracted to it and took it in eagerly. As the levels increased, the flies became averse to the salt and found it repellent. This change in attitude towards the salt suggests an internal regulation system, which was inbuilt into the flies to protect their health.

 

When the tongue tastes salt, it sends messages to the brain to let it know what the substance is. When there is a little salt, it appears to taste better and sends a message to the brain to feel attracted to it. At higher levels, the message from the brain tells them that the salt tastes bad, and that they should not take it into their body.

Categories: Intake, regulator, sodium