How many times have you thought, “there are not enough hours in the day to think about eating healthy”? You think about car pooling, picking the kids up from school, dropping them off at after school activities, homework, traffic, and so on. It can all add up and cause us to stress out and put our healthy eating habits on the back burner. You are not alone: according to research more than 28% of Americans claim to have stress eaten within the past month and of those, 49% have unhealthy stress eating habits on a weekly basis.
For those of us that usually reach for the candy or candy bars, potato chips or other “junk food” when we are stressed out, here are some healthy snack suggestions. These foods will not leave you feeling guilty, tired or stressed out about food choices. Choosing healthy snacks along with daily physical activity (such as walking, hiking, surfing) will help you keep your weight down and help to manage stress. If you tend to have cravings for sweet foods, keep fruits close by instead of reaching for the candy bars or candies. If you are a person that craves salty foods, unsalted popcorn, cheesy kale chips, dried nori (dried seaweed) or pretzels could be a healthier option. If you like to munch crunchy foods dried chickpeas, almonds, or celery are healthier options. By keeping healthy snacks close by, you will be able to “grab” them when in a bind. Besides eating healthy snacks, meditation and physical activity will help greatly to relieve stress. You may not be able to control your stress all of the time, but you can get in control of what you eat by keeping healthier foods already prepared and close to you. Preparing healthy snacks is a great activity for the family! Put on some great tunes and go to town! By adding in your healthy snacks you will be on your way to a less stressful, healthier life!
| If you have these cravings… | Instead of this: | Eat this: |
| Salty | Beef Jerky | Unsalted popcorn, cheesy kale chips, dried nori or pretzels |
| Sweet | Candy Bars | Fruits or granola mix |
| Crunchy | Potato Chips | Chickpeas, almonds, celery or dried wasabi peas |
Submitted by: Sheena Johnson, Nutrition Student at the University of Hawaii, 2016. This article was composed as part of a Community Nutrition course taught by Dr. Jinan Banna At the University of Hawaii at Monoa.
References:
- Flegal KM, Carroll MD, Kit BK, Ogden CL. Prevalence of obesity and trends in the distribution of body mass index among US adults, 1999-2010. JAMA. 2012;307(5):491-497.
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Clinical guidelines on the identification, evaluation and treatment of overweight and obesity in adults: The evidence report (NIH Publication No. 98-4083). 1998. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/ob_gdlns.pdf
- Bjorntorp P. Do stress reactions cause abdominal obesity and comorbidities? Obes. Rev. 2001;2(2):73-86.
