If you’re like millions of other Americans, you probably feel a profound urge to eat something incredibly unhealthy when under a great amount of stress. That powerful compulsion is both physical and psychological in nature. Because many of us have strong positive associations with sugary and starch heavy foods like chocolate chip cookies, macaroni and cheese and French fries because of their connection to happy childhood memories. On the other side of the equation, when you become stressed out our body floods our bloodstream with cortisol, a hormone that ramps up our alertness and reflexes. Unfortunately, excess cortisol also causes us to crave foods that are high in fat and sugar.
When faced with those cravings, the best solution is not to ignore them out of hand, but rather to consume other more nutritious food that will satisfy hunger without negatively affecting our body mass index. For instance, apple slices and peanut butter are a great stress snack. The healthy fats in the peanut butter will help fill you up, and so will the fiber packed apple. You can also curb your hunger pains with some smoke salmon. As a lean proteins filled with omega-3 fatty acids, salmon makes for an excellent lunch as it will actually keep you satisfied until dinner.
Read the full article here: How Stress Affects Your Appetite