Stress Intervention: Intrapersonal

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3) Nutrition and Stress

(i) A balanced diet:

To be healthy, we need to maintain a balanced diet that provides a variety of nutrients -- protein, carbohydrates, fats, minerals,

vitamins, and water. The food pyramid suggests the appropriate variety and amount of foods. It is divided into four layers.

From the bottom to the vertex of the pyramid, it starts with breads, cereal and rice group(carbohydrate), next, it is the vegetable

group and fruit group, then it is milk, yogurt and cheese group, and the meat,poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs and nut group; lastly, it is

fats, oils and sweets group. If we ingest too much or too little of particular nutrients,it can lead to malnutrition and illness, e.g.

coronary heart disease.

(ii) Avoid stimulants

There are certain food substances that can produce a stressful response, for example, cola, coffee, tea, chocolate and nicotine in

tobacco.They contain caffeine that increases metabolism, the release of stress hormones, heart rate and blood pressure. They also

raise one's alertness, too.

(iii) More vitamins B & C

When we are under stress, a great amount of vitamins B and C is released. The depletion of vitamins B and C leads to anxiety,

depression, stomach upset, muscular weakness and insomnia. Also, it reduces the production of adrenal cortex and hence lowering

our ability to deal with stress. To prevent deficiency in vitamins B and C, we have to intake more cereals, green leafy vegetables,

liver, or fish as well as more citrus fruits, tomatoes, cabbages and potatoes respectively.