Stress calories: what to eat during crises

When a crisis tries to “eat” a person, they look for something to eat.

From the author: This text was originally compiled in Ukrainian and translated into English. He continues a series of conversations with professionals from various fields of activity about the causes, essence, and consequences of crises — business, reputation, cancel culture, war, etc.

This conversation is dedicated to responding to stress on a physical level, in particular through healthy eating.

I am sure you will find something interesting from this interview and take it for personal use.

Reputation and Сrisis Advisor Sergii Bidenko interviewed Natalia Samoylenko, a nutritionist, endocrinologist, founder of the Samoylenko Nutrition Clinic and author of books on healthy eating: how to help yourself survive stress with the right food, what the top five foods should be on a business person’s menu and what to eat when you have no time for it.

Sergii Bidenko: During crises, people need strength and energy to fight stress. So, my first question is: how does stress affect eating behaviour? How can you tell if something is wrong with it?

Natalia Samoylenko: Stress response is reflected in different levels of health — physical, emotional, and energy. Eating behaviour also changes under the influence of stress hormones. These changes manifest themselves differently during acute and chronic stress. For example, at the beginning of the war, we were all under acute stress, and many people complained of a decreased appetite, and many did not want to eat.

Why does this happen? The task of acute stress is to mobilise the body’s resources and accumulate energy to solve the issue of survival at a short distance. This happens under the influence of stress hormones. They stimulate some organs and systems’ functions, while others become less important. For example, immunity, reproduction, or digestion. And if you look at natural examples, you will hardly notice a wild animal running away from a predator and chewing grass, picking leaves or juicy fruits on the run.

And people also have no desire to eat under acute stress. This is normal. But this reaction does not last for years and months. As a result of the acute stress response, adaptation to the stressor (the best course of action) or exhaustion (which is undesirable because it leads to illness) can occur. If the stressor is repeated, then acute stress is replaced by chronic stress. This is what is happening to us now.

What if one stress is superimposed on another? Negative emotions, crises, personal events do not stop, depleting all internal resources? The system may not be able to withstand it, and as a result, we have an increase in cases of diseases of the cardiovascular, nervous, and endocrine systems. Add to that the stress of an unhealthy and chaotic diet. Which will close the circle of unhealthiness.

As a doctor who deals with various medical cases daily, I can confidently say that our health is a matter of our own hands. And if we are responsible and conscious, we can maintain and even improve our health.

From my observations, my brain and body react differently to situations of shelling. The brain signals the body about the danger. Accordingly, the body quickly tenses, blood pressure rises, and breathing speeds up. And after the alarm goes off, the brain switches to prolonging life faster than the body. And in fact, the brain “forgets” to give the “off” signal to the body, which continues to be stressed by the danger. How can you reconnect mind and body in such a situation?

Physical activity can be a logical combination. Muscle work is what you need to curb stress hormones. Do any physical exercise that pleases you.

How it works: under the influence of stress, stress hormones are produced, which trigger the primary reaction — fight or flight. And if we need to run away from an attacker or be strong and fight well, we need muscles and activation of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. All this will work under the influence of cortisol.

It turns out that to avoid the negative consequences and symptoms you described, you need to go for a walk, dance, or do some other physical exercises after the air raid.

Any physical activity is the right way to deal with stress.

This is the right way to implement all those changes and reactions that occur under the influence of stress hormones. But it’s not entirely physiological to “eat” stress.

There are simple rules that help avoid many problems:

- Rule #1: your level of physical activity should be higher under chronic stress than when you are at rest.

- Rule #2: you should have a regime of activity, rest and sleep.

Sleep helps us recover, reduce cortisol levels, and prepare for new challenges the next day.

- Rule #3: make it a rule to eat three meals daily, regardless of stress. There should be breakfast, lunch and dinner, with about 5–6 hours between them.

When the diet is chaotic and includes endless snacks, it is a “blow below the belt” for the metabolism and the hormones that regulate it.

Sometimes, the harm from not-so-healthy foods can be negated by maintaining a proper diet.

When you don’t have breakfast and lunch, sooner or later, you will still want to eat, and usually, it will be something that is “at hand”. And if you have a balanced breakfast, lunch and dinner, you will not want all this junk food. As a result, you will succeed in stress correction, improved well-being, and proper communication between cells and insulin.

What are the top 5 products that should be on a CEO’s or top manager’s menu to be effective in their work and during business crises?

You need to learn to eat stress properly, or rather, to gnaw it down. And you can do this by choosing foods that require prolonged chewing. Avoid anything that has calories and is drunk quickly (for example, smoothies). The reason is that chewing is excluded from digestion, and the chewing muscles are not stressed. And this is important — when we chew for a long time, our cortisol levels drop.

After 20 minutes of chewing, cortisol decreases by 20–25%.

What can you choose from products that require long chewing and, at the same time, provide benefits in terms of macro and micronutrients?

1. Sauerkraut. It is a trendy dish nowadays. I believe that every Ukrainian woman and man should be able to cook sauerkraut because it is a source of fibre and beneficial bacteria. Sauerkraut contains vitamin C and B vitamins. So make it with your own hands. It is advisable to add less sugar and not to add vinegar at all.

It is a product with prebiotic properties. This means that when you eat sauerkraut, you will grow beneficial bacteria that live in your intestines. They need proper care, they need to be fed and nurtured.

2. Nuts. They also require long chewing and are high in healthy fats.

I highly recommend walnuts, as well as almonds and hazelnuts. They are also delicious, which is why nuts are the №2 food in our ranking, which form the diet of a businessman.

3. Egg. An ideal protein that contains everything we need to build, protect and renew the body — immunity, hormone synthesis and much more.

People often ask about the cholesterol they contain, which negatively affects blood vessels. Eggs have long been rehabilitated in this regard. They include not only cholesterol but also anti-cholesterol substances, healthy fats, and many vitamins.

The essence of an egg is to give life, and the concentration of nutrients in the yolk is maximum, so eggs are incredibly healthy. For example, they are convenient and quick to prepare for breakfast, and you can afford six eggs a week.

4. Carbohydrates. We know that simple carbohydrates are harmful, make us overweight, and increase sugar levels. But let me remind you that other carbohydrates are helpful, which are absorbed very slowly, do not raise glucose and insulin levels so quickly, provide us with energy and are also a source of fibre, vitamins and minerals.

In winter, root vegetables, for example, can be carbohydrates. I’m a fan of beetroot. Moreover, it contains quite a lot of iron, which will be helpful for girls. And Ukrainian beetroot, in my opinion, is the most delicious. For some people, carrots may be their favourite root vegetable, especially if you don’t cook it but crunch it raw. Raw carrots can be a tremendous anti-stress food source of essential carbohydrates.

In addition, carbohydrates include cereal products. These are buckwheat or wholemeal breads. If you ate the bread with an egg and sauerkraut and drizzled olive oil over it, you did everything right.

5. Pleasant and sweet. Everyone loves sweets. And I am a fan of diets without strict prohibitions. It is better to give preference to sugars of natural origin. For example, fruits and dried fruits (prunes, dried apricots). I advise you to pay attention to kiwi, it contains a lot of vitamin C, fibre, and folate. Kiwi reduces the cardiovascular risks that cortisol increases.

What should a business lunch of the anti-crisis headquarters look like so its participants can work effectively and have resources?

I propose to solve this problem by forming the so-called “Harvard plate”, now a benchmark in nutrition. It includes the following:

- half of the plate is vegetables that are relevant to the season (for example, greens or sauerkraut, which we have already mentioned, cucumbers and tomatoes in summer). Raw, sauerkraut, or cooked. Cooked vegetables can also be on this plate;

- We divide the second half of the plate in half: one quarter is carbohydrates, and the other quarter is protein. A good carbohydrate option is baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, and vinaigrette. Or it can be any wholemeal porridge.

- fish, poultry, meat, legumes — lentils, beans, mung beans, chickpeas.

- healthy fats are an essential ingredient: olive oil, walnuts and other nuts (which can be sprinkled on top of vegetables), avocado, and seeds (flaxseed, sesame). Fats make you feel full for a long time, so you won’t feel like snacking.

This lunch will help your brain work, making you efficient and energetic.

If a person is hated and “cancelled”, they find themselves in social isolation and experience psychological pressure. What should be done in terms of nutrition in such situations? Should those around them force the person to eat correctly?

The answer will depend on the psychological state of the person.

Perhaps the first aid will not be in the form of food at all but in the work of psychologists or psychiatrists.

Therefore, first of all, I would advise you to critically assess the condition of the person next to you. Perhaps it’s not your help or that of a nutritionist that they need.

The second step is to leave the person alone if the disturbing symptoms have already been removed, but the person is not hungry, then you should leave them alone. It will not be a big deal if they skip some meals. But you should not replace them with cakes or sweets. Because this is a vicious circle, as we have already said. This will definitely not make her happy, but on the contrary, it will worsen her condition.

If a person is ready to eat, it should be a diet that increases their stress resistance. All the things we have already discussed. That is, compliance with the regime of meals, the correct plate structure.

And the third is drinking enough fluids. Lack of water becomes an additional stressor, and all our organs and systems must drink daily. Therefore, if a person does not want to eat under stress, you can leave them alone for a day or two. Let them drink water and herbal teas, which have an additional calming effect.

If you have people around you who care, love, and care for your diet, it creates a supportive environment with its healing effect.

What can you call the most interesting product of this year?

For me, no one product would be relevant for the whole year. I’m all for variety, for different colours on the plate.

As a nutritionist, besides beetroot, which I love in the winter season, I also recommend pumpkin. Firstly, it is beautiful. Secondly, it is healthy; and thirdly, pumpkin seeds are a source of zinc. They contain a lot of good fats for brain function and cardiovascular health.

My conclusion from what I have heard is that it is essential to combine structure and creativity in eating. On the one hand, there is structure: the Harvard plate, proportions, and on the other hand, you should treat food creatively, with an understanding of how to mix and balance it.

About author:

Sergii Bidenko is an award-winning Crisis and Reputation Advisor to business owners, top managers and supervisory board members.

The author of the book «Reputation Antistress» (in Ukrainian) about how to act before, due and after a crisis, with a foreword from Dr Charles J. Fombrun (the Founder and Chairman Emeritus of The RepTrak Company).

Among his awards are prestigious international recognitions: Davos Communications Awards, ICCO Global Awards and PRO PR Globe Awards for business projects and fighting against propaganda and misinformation.

His experience includes short-term projects when it is necessary to put out a reputation “fire” quickly and long-term chronic crises associated with litigation, corporate conflicts, conflicts with authorities, and protection against raider attacks.

Sergii Bidenko constantly publishes his observations and recommendations on reputation management in crises on social media and online media. As a volunteer, he actively participates in the projects of professional communities.

Co-founder and Chairman of The United PR Association of Ukraine. Global Advisory Board Member of the World Communications Forum Association (WCFA) and Board member of The International Communications Consultancy Organization (ICCO). Member of The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) community. Represents the international network of Eurocom Worldwide in Ukraine.