Did you know that there are useful foods to relax your nervous system? They have a sedative and relaxing action. Discover also the best vitamins and minerals.
It is becoming increasingly clear that food can influence our mood. In fact, there are a wide variety of scientific studies that, at one point or another, have found that depending on the lifestyle and diet we follow, we will tend to feel more or less happy.
Food nourishes us and provides us with certain nutrients, compounds and substances that act directly on our nervous system. As a consequence, depending on the effect they have, they can help activate us, improve our state of concentration, maintain a higher level of alertness, or even relax.
A good example is coffee, and particularly caffeinated foods and drinks. You probably know that caffeine is a substance with an exciting capacity, especially useful when we need to wake up and stay more active, since it acts on the nervous system by stimulating and exciting it.
On the contrary, there are also foods that can help us feel much better, improve our mood and act as wonderful relaxants. This is the case of the foods that we offer you.
The 7 best foods that help you relax
There are certain foods that affect the adrenal glands, by stimulating them and forcing them to produce cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline; as we have already seen, three hormones that our body secrete in stressful situations.
Among precisely the different foods that may be capable of producing stress we find coffee, alcohol, sugar or chocolate, as well as the consumption of excess carbohydrates.
But there are also foods that, as we have indicated, help reduce stress levels in our body, avoiding stimulation of the adrenal glands.
Take good note, the idea is to take these certain foods when you feel that you are stressed or nervous; they will help you regain mental health and inner peace:
- Lettuce: Helps calm the nerves, control palpitations and help our body relax.
- Wheat germ: It has a very diverse amount of B vitamins, which, as we know, are necessary for a correct balance of the nervous system.
- Banana: It is a fruit necessary for the proper functioning of the nervous system, being rich in magnesium. It is essential to overcome anxiety and resist stress.
- Garlic: Although it is not entirely clear, several studies indicate that garlic can help fight both depression and stress, by slightly increasing the level of serotonin in the brain.
- Almonds: They improve blood circulation while helping to prevent heart disease.
- Avocado: Contains essential fatty acids, phospholipids and vitamin B6 essential for neurons, helping to protect cells from stress damage.
- Yogurt: Yogurt is a wonderful natural food, full of beneficial bacteria for our health. It also contains vitamin D and calcium.
3 vitamins that relax
There is no doubt that eating in a balanced way is practically essential to be able to keep both our body and our own mind in order, avoiding that –for example- stress or anxiety can affect our stomach, our nervous system and our defenses.
Not surprisingly, we already know the relaxation between food and stress, at the same time that we can also find good foods to relax.
Mainly, because they have sedative virtues, which together with the mere fact of feeling pleasure when we eat, the properties are even greater and much better. And is that in addition to certain foods, did you know that there are specifically certain vitamins with relaxing action?
- Vitamins of group B: As we have already seen in some posts, these vitamins are essential for the proper functioning and development of the nervous system. We find them in foods such as whole wheat and rice, soybeans, oats, nuts, lentils, seaweed (nori), and brewer’s yeast.
- Vitamin C: When we are in stressful situations, to produce the aforementioned adrenaline, large amounts of vitamin C are generated, so we will need, therefore, to increase the consumption of foods rich in this vitamin. We find it in foods such as oranges, kiwi, tangerines, blackberries, blueberries, cauliflower, algae (dulse), and red and green peppers.
- Vitamin A: From vitamin A, many functions stand out, among which we find that of keeping the walls of nerve cells in good condition, and they help to reduce the wear and tear that occurs in mucous membranes during stress or tension. We find it in: eggs, meat, milk, cod liver oil, cabbage, melon, carrot, seaweed, and cheese.
Minerals that help relax the nervous system
There are also certain minerals with a relaxing action, which is very useful when it comes to relaxing our nervous system. We will discover which are the most interesting and suitable:
- Magnesium: It is mainly part of the different and diverse nerve cells, so its consumption is certainly essential for the proper functioning of the nervous system. Deficiency of this mineral in situations and states of stress, will contribute to increase it, so it is highly advisable to avoid its deficiency. We find it in almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, beans, ginger, whole grains and wheat flour.
- Potassium: It is a mineral whose reserves are considerably consumed by chronic stress, even causing depression, nervousness and insomnia, when its deficiency is high. We find potassium in high amounts in banana, beets, avocado, broccoli, cauliflower, cherry, plum, apricot, and peach.
- Zinc: When we are faced with situations that generate stress, this negatively affects the absorption of zinc, which causes a decrease and that it is consumed more quickly by our body. Like potassium, low levels of zinc can lead to depression, irritability, and depression. We find zinc in chicken, turkey, rye, oysters, corn, milk, walnuts, almonds, and chickpeas.
As we can see, there is nothing better than following a healthy lifestyle, based on a balanced and varied diet, rich in fresh, healthy and natural foods, as the most optimal way to ensure an adequate and correct intake of ideal nutrients not only for our nervous system, but for our health in general.
