November
2001
Nutrition
for Troubled Times
By
Angela Starks |
|
|
Focusing on your diet at a time like this, when families
have lost loved ones, and when the threat of terrorist attacks hangs
heavy in the air, may seem like the last thing you would want to do.
It seems petty and irrelevant, or indeed it may not occur to you at
all. But ironically, in the midst of stressful times, a little consideration
about what you eat can make a profound difference to your state of mind
and your ability to cope, from lifting your spirits during the day to
helping you sleep better at night. As a nutritional counselor, I see
food not just as something to enjoy, but as a powerful medicinal tool.
After all, food contains chemicals just like drugs do, and with just
a little basic knowledge we can tap into nature’s own Prozac.
When we are anxious or depressed, our relationship with food usually
takes a detour to one extreme or the other. Either we tend to binge
on comfort foods (note: your ice cream may be ‘tofu’ and your
chocolate ‘organic’ but that doesn’t make them healthy)
which does us no good in the long run and may prolong our misery due
to the destabilizing effect on our brain chemistry and blood sugar levels;
or else we may lose our appetite altogether and thereby miss out on
valuable nutrients that would otherwise have a therapeutic effect. The
middle ground between bingeing and complete fasting is simply to eat
wisely, choosing foods for their nutritional content rather than their
fleeting tastes and habitual associations.
Eating food in its natural, raw (i.e. uncooked) state is the best—and
in some cases the only—way to benefit from its full complement
of nutrients and life-giving properties. (When Hippocrates said “Let
food be your medicine and medicine be your food,” he wasn’t
talking about potato chips.) But not everyone is going to make it to
100 percent raw foodism, or even veganism, in this lifetime. Dietary
improvement is usually quite a long-term process with long-term solutions.
Having said that, there’s nothing to stop even the hardened junk-foodie
from benefiting from some raw quick-fixes at times of stress. With these
considerations in mind, I’d like to share with you a few of my
favorite remedies.
For stress or anxiety, juice five leaves of kale, half a head of green
cabbage, and half a head of romaine lettuce. Drink immediately, to help
calm the nerves or to cut through a dull, stress-induced headache. This
drink is also a great preventative measure; consume 30 minutes before
any event that you anticipate to be nerve-wracking. If your anxiety
is persistent, drink this green cocktail each morning to start your
day and each evening to prepare for sleep. Kale, green cabbage and lettuce
together provide a sodium-potassium balance which keeps us centered.
All three contain an abundance of alkaline minerals, especially calcium
and magnesium, which have a tranquilizing effect on the body and mind.
(Many seeds and nuts are high in calcium and magnesium too.) Lettuce
has a particularly soporific quality and can even induce sleep when
taken in large quantities. Raw green leaves also have the same effect
as alkaloid substances, such as those found in marijuana—except
that their more gentle, healthy high lasts much longer. For this reason,
they lift the spirits as well as calm the nerves. If you don’t
have access to a juicer or a juice bar, try to at least eat a large
green salad once or twice a day. Include plenty of avocado and/or olives,
whose fat content has a grounding effect.
It is especially important to maintain potassium levels in the body
during times of stress. Fresh fruits and vegetables are the food categories
with the highest potassium and lowest sodium contents, especially avocados,
bananas, tomatoes, and peaches.
To break a bout of the blues, eat one melon—or more if you can
handle it—every morning for breakfast. For proper digestion and
assimilation, eat them on an empty stomach and avoid other foods until
lunch time. Melons are rich in the B-complex vitamins, which bolster
the nerves at times of depression and yet also calm the nerves during
high arousal states like anxiety. Basically, they have a balancing effect,
and will take you in whichever direction you need to go.
Spells of depression are often associated with moments of low sugar
levels, so any type of fruit can be eaten throughout the day to keep
the blood sugar up. Avoid cooked or refined carbohydrates, such as baked
potatoes, French fries, breads, cakes, and cookies, which can cause
erratic blood sugar fluctuations. The ability to use the body’s
glucose stores (the form of sugar that results from the metabolism of
dietary carbohydrates) depends on the presence of a whole host of micronutrients,
especially vitamins B3 and B6, chromium, zinc and manganese, which are
present in higher quantities in food that has not been cooked. (The
B vitamins are especially delicate, water-soluble, and heat sensitive.)
Virtually any nutrient deficiency can exacerbate or even cause depression,
from a lack of vitamin C (another heat-sensitive nutrient) that may
result in lassitude and even hysteria, to lack of a B-vitamin, known
as folic acid, which may cause symptoms from insomnia to, at the extreme,
delusions. Obtain vitamin C from fresh, organic fruits—especially
kiwis, citrus fruits and berries—and folic acid from spinach, broccoli,
wheatgerm, sesame seeds and avocados.
We can’t talk about stress without a mention of the adrenals, those
small endocrine glands that lie just above the kidneys. The inner portion
of each adrenal gland—the medulla—is functionally related
to the sympathetic nervous system and secretes adrenaline and noradrenaline.
These hormones stimulate many body processes related to the “fight
or flight” response, as well as maintain control over numerous
involuntary bodily functions, including the rate and depth of breathing
and the beat of the heart. An abnormal adrenal response, either deficient
or excessive hormone secretion, significantly alters an individual’s
response to stress. Often the adrenals become exhausted as a result
of the constant demands placed upon them. An individual with adrenal
exhaustion may feel stressed out, tired and prone to allergies, while
an individual with excessive adrenal activity is likely to have high
blood pressure, anxiety, depression, and elevated blood sugar levels
(the latter can also cause depression, thus a vicious cycle can ensue).
It is therefore important to support your adrenal glands to help them
support you, and for this the key nutrients are vitamin C, magnesium,
and the B-vitamins, especially pantothenic acid (vitamin B5). Sources
of pantothenic acid include cauliflower, broccoli, and tomatoes.
Last but not least: oxygen is a food too, and a potent mind-changer.
So remember to breathe. Get out into a park or take a trip to the countryside
if you can, and take some long, deep breaths. While you’re out
there, engage in some gentle aerobic exercise—actually prescribed
for depression by some forward-thinking doctors nowadays. From vitamin
B6 to element O2, nature is a cornucopia of free remedies.
Angela Starks is a certified nutritional counselor, specializing
in cleansing and raw foods. She practices in Manhattan and New Paltz
and can be contacted at (845) 255-7978 or nyretreats@mindspring.com.
