Beat stress with food

2. Eat some sugar, but not too much
Seretonin, which is the body’s very own zen hormone (it makes you feel calm and happy) is made from the amino acid tryptophan. However, to benefit from you also need a hit of the hormone insulin. This is stimulated by eating sugar. Too much sugar (a tray of Krispy Kreme, perhaps?) and your blood sugar is far too high, leading to a rebound depression (‘I wish I hadn’t eaten all those doughnuts!’). Just a little bit is enough to calm you down.

Stress fix
Avoid high protein diets if you are stressed as the lack of sugar will keep you hyper. When you feel stress coming on, have a palmful of dried apricots or raisins to help boost seretonin.