Imagine
that test week is approaching; you haven’t started your revision because lots of homework is due. Then, you also realize
that this string of tests and homework goes on relentlessly until the term ends. Would you be extremely frustrated and worried?
Would you reach for a bag of comfort food (such as French fries, potato chips, or cookies) in attempt to eat your stress away?
After all, the word “stressed” spelt backwards is “desserts!” If this scene sounds familiar, you may
be interested to know that there is a scientific basis to explain why you can effectively relieve your anxiety by consuming
sweet and fatty comfort food. Although these foods take care of the stress, you could be gaining extra fat and getting a pound
closer to the “Freshmen 15”—the notorious 15 pounds that many first-year college students gain. The good
news is that scientific evidence shows that healthier alternatives (to potato chips) can help you to both reduce stress and
avoid gaining too much weight.
How do comfort foods reduce stress?
There is a biological reason to explain why college
students binge on comfort food during test week. When you are chronically stressed, your adrenal gland produces glucocorticoids
(GCs), a type of stress hormone that signals your body to seek out carbohydrate-laden food. Eating carbohydrates lowers the
GC level in your body and lowers your stress response, making you feel better (Dallman et
al, 2003).
The
effects of GCs on stress response have been shown in a recent study by Dallman et al
(2003). In their experiments, they used rats, which are surprisingly good models of human physiological processes. To simulate
chronic stress, they increased rats’ brain concentration of cortisol (a rodent version of GC). As cortisol concentration
increased, rats responded by drinking more sugar water, eating more lard, and gaining abdominal girth. This effect explains
why you may unconsciously self medicate to reduce stress while doing an all-nighter, and may gain weight as a result.
Dallman
et al’s study also found that GCs work differently in the long term than
they do in the short term. If rats’ stress was prolonged, they kept eating and drinking. In another experiment, the
same researchers found that fatter rats were less biologically responsive to stress than control rats. This suggests that
you can eat more and gain weight to combat chronic stress because you are less likely to feel stressed if you are fatter.
However, being fat is not your desired outcome!
What healthier stress-relieving foods exist?
Since students tend to prefer eating food that
can be purchased on their way to class, it is highly likely that they would rather grab a hamburger made ten minutes ago than
stand in line for a turkey sandwich (no mayo). However, there are some healthier stress-relieving alternatives to fast food
that are just as convenient.
Oranges,
for example, are obviously healthier than French fries, but researchers have also discovered that the Vitamin C in citrus
fruits acts as a stress busting antioxidant. Campbell et al (1999) show that Vitamin
C lowers the level of stress hormone in laboratory rats. Stressed rats that received a daily dose of 200mg of Vitamin C showed
lower blood concentrations of stress hormone than rats that received no Vitamin C. This suggests that you can try to consume
citrus fruits or take Vitamin C tablet supplements to relieve stress.
Furthermore, a study by Markus et al (2000) found that
stress-prone individuals might cope with pressure better if they tailored their diet to fuel the brain with tryptophan. It
is used by the brain as a building block of serotonin, a hormone that relaxes people. Markus et al’s investigations required subjects to fast overnight. Then they each had either a chocolate drink
laced with a low concentration of tryptophan or another that had a higher concentration of tryptophan, for both breakfast
and lunch. After lunchtime, against a backdrop of loud industrial noise, each volunteer spent 20 minutes at a computer screen
calculating math sums. Markus et al noted that volunteers’ level of brain
serotonin dropped and they felt stressed after being given the tryptophan-low drink. On the other hand, these volunteers showed
increased brain serotonin levels and they did not feel as stressed after consuming the tryptophan-rich drink. Since these
results show that trypotophan may replenish the serotonin that chronic stress depletes, you could eat more tryptophan-rich
foods like turkey, cashews, soy beans or tuna to reduce your stress level. Also, tryptophan produces serotonin only when your
stomach is empty so you can consider snacking on a piece of turkey while working late at night.
Another
way to relieve stress is to eat healthy carbohydrates. A study done by Wurtman et al
(2003) showed that carbohydrates increase the plasma concentrations of tryptophan, which in turn increases the amount of serotonin
produced, causing the person to be more relaxed. You could try to include high-fiber,
carbohydrate-rich foods such as baked sweet potatoes, minestrone soup or sautéed vegetables over rice. Healthy carbohydrates
are alternatives to fat-laden carbohydrates such as potato chips, although they may not be as convenient.
Eat right to avoid succumbing to the “Freshmen 15”
You
probably already knew that eating a bag of potato chips while studying can help you feel more relaxed, but now you know that
there also exist less fattening and equally effective stress-reducing alternatives. Certainly it takes lots of determination
to eat right and reduce stress, but once this is achieved, you may well be on your way to a “Freshmen 15”-free
college life.
Bibliography
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