Stress: The Very, Very Important Foods To Avoid

Men, you need stress. You know that. A little stress is healthy for you; it drives you to act! But there's a huge, huge problem when you're stressed too often or your stress is too high. It's going to trigger lots of health issues, both physically and mentally. Men, you know you have the power to manage your stress! You have to keep it under control.

Healthy stress management has many parts. Meditation and exercise are great, so great, natural stress management techniques. Mindfulness for stress is another one, men! Obviously, you've also got cognitive behavioral therapy for stress too. And yes, men, eating healthy matters! They're all talking about it. Everyone. Of course, that means you've got to avoid certain foods when you're stressed!

Ice Cream

Ice cream's great, right? The best! Men, you'll often eat this for comfort. Yes, many, many of you do! It's very soothing, everyone knows that! But it's not all sunshine. Men, ice cream triggers huge, huge physical and mental health issues! You already know why: ice cream is full, so full, of sugar. This is going to make your blood sugar spike so, so high and then crash soon after. This is very, very bad, even if you don't have diabetes!

Men, you know to expect crashes in your energy, including fatigue and lethargy, when your blood sugar drops. When you eat ice cream and then your blood sugar crashes, there's another effect. Men, your brain's going to release the stress hormone. Yes, cortisol! This is going to wreck your sleep and immune responses. You'll crave unhealthy food and likely fall into a cycle of higher stress too! So men, don't reach for ice cream when you're stressed.

Canned Soup

Canned soup is so easy to make. The easiest, in fact! It's a great, great meal, right? Yes, men, you know it's convenient. It's healthy too, because of the veggies? No! Men, don't eat canned soup when you're stressed. It's easy, but it's not worth it! There are nasty, nasty ingredients in canned soup. One of them is the sodium. Yes, the salt! There's so much salt in canned soup. So much. Most kinds are going to have at least 1000 mg in each can. Yes, it's below the recommended 2000 mg per day. But men? You know your doc says to keep your intake low, even as low as 500 or 600 mg sometimes! You know what happens when you eat way too much salt every day: high blood pressure, fluid retention, kidney disease, and many more health issues. So many more!

Canned soup's also got lots of preservatives. The biggest is MSG. Yes, you know about that one! It'll hurt your central nervous system when you eat lots of it. MSG triggers drowsiness, headaches, nausea, and chest tightness. Men, don't reach for soup when you're stressed and it has these nasty ingredients. Not worth it!

Coffee

You like coffee, right? Of course you do. Coffee's the best, the very best! It's a great way to wake up in the morning. But hold your horses, men. Avoid drinking coffee when you're stressed! You're likely, so likely, to drink lots of it. The reason it's not good when you're stressed is down to why everyone drinks it in the morning: caffeine. Caffeine's going to give energy, yes. Of course, men, it'll also make your stress rise thanks to its effects on your central nervous system. Your system is going to overreact, triggering a faster heart rate, high blood pressure, and high, high anxiety!

Obviously, men, you know about another huge effect of lots of caffeine in coffee. It's so huge, everyone is talking about it! Too much caffeine means you're not going to sleep well. You won't. You'll have problems falling asleep, or you'll keep waking up! It's clear, men. Avoid coffee when you're stressed so you don't drink too much!

Processed Meat

Men, you eat lots and lots of hot dogs, sausages, jerky, and deli meat. Yes, so much of these meats! Hold your horses on these when you're stressed, though. Men, they're all processed meats! That means they've got chemicals, preservatives, and other unhealthy ingredients. Yes, so many nasty little things in them. Two huge examples? Sodium and MSG, obviously! They make processed meat taste so good, so very good. Obviously, though, eating lots of them mean health issues, including more stress and lots of energy crashes.

Men, eating a lot of processed meat all the time means your risk of chronic illnesses skyrockets. It does. Everyone's talking about it! The conditions, obviously, are things like COPD, high blood pressure, and heart disease. Of course, this meat's got sodium nitrite in it too. That's what keeps its color bright and flavor up. Sadly, this ingredient's also a major, major trigger for a high cancer risk. Yes, including stomach cancer. Sad.

Fried Foods

Fried food is a convenient option. It's so fast and easy! Men, you know the ones you like: french fries, fried chicken, onion rings, and burgers. You've got to avoid eating them when you're stressed because of all the oil. This oil's full of trans fat! You know what happens when you eat lots of trans fat. They're all talking about what happens. Yes, obesity is a huge, huge issue to expect! Fried foods also have lots of calories. The oil does this, as does the breading! Men, this triggers obesity too, and other health issues.

Men, eating lots of fried food makes your type 2 diabetes risk get so much higher. So much higher! The highest. You'll see insulin resistance when you eat 2 fried meals every week too. Your risk will be even high when you're eating more than that! There's more too. Men, frying food makes acrylamide! This makes your cancer risk a lot higher because, yes, it's a carcinogen.