Eating healthy isn't just good for your body, it's good for your brain... but you already knew that. Didn't you?

Sometimes it just takes a reminder for us to get on the healthy eating track or have fallen off it for a bit. I know I need a reminder at least once a week to make sure I am at least TRYING to make the right food choices for my brain and my stress levels.

It's hard because I love ice cream. A lot. I have been tempted for years to become an ice cream connoisseur!

But the truth is, comfort foods are bad for stress and can lead you to feeling burnt out. Comfort foods make us feel lethargic and less able to deal with stressors that occur.

Foods to Avoid

Foods to avoid when you really need to deal with some stressors would those high-fat foods like meats and cheeses and, of course, ice cream.

Caffeine is a big one too. I love coffee and it makes for a fantastic routine in the mornings, but if I'm ever in a high-stress time or I'm attempting to avoid burnout, caffeine is one of the first to go. In fact, I cut out all caffeine for almost an entire year of my undergraduate degree and it helped my stress and anxiety in a BIG way.

One more thing to avoid is sugars. While they can help us feel calm and they are SO YUMMY, they also cause us to crash and burn ...out.

Stress Relief Helpers

Carb-rich, high-fiber foods can help us out when we're struggling. Quite a bit of research shows that these foods allow us to produce more hormones (like serotonin) that relax us. Some great examples would be sweet potatoes, minestrone soup, or cooked veggies over rice. I like to make Poké or Buddha bowls for dinner most nights because they look and taste fantastic! As a bonus, they're great for reducing stress levels.

Fruits and veggies... I probably don't even need to explain. Fruits and veggies seem to be the foods that are good for everything. Let's just call them the miracle foods and agree to eat a bunch of them throughout our busy, sometimes stressful weeks. Deal?