Feeling Stressed? Experts Share How It Could Be Due to Nutritional Deficiencies

Feeling stressed already in 2024? The start of a new year often sees people running on a busy schedule, which can lead to stress in many forms, including “nutritional stress.”

Said Marina Wright, a nutritionist in Melbourne, Australia News Week that stress and nutritional deficiencies have a “two-way” relationship, with each influencing the other.

“It’s important to note that it’s not just emotional stress that triggers your stress response. Anything that affects your body’s ability to handle challenges, including nutritional deficiencies, can keep your stress response on constant vigilance,” Wright said in a recent viral post from her Instagram account, @marinawrightwellness.

She told News Week: “During periods of stress, the body experiences an increased demand for nutrients due to increased energy needs, nutrient mobilization and the support needed for the stress response.”

Stress can interfere with the absorption of nutrients in the gut, and “when the body does not have the necessary nutrients necessary for optimal physiological function, it undergoes a state of stress called nutritional stress,” Wright said.

“This adds to the overall stress burden on the body, extending beyond emotional or psychological factors. The body’s inability to meet these nutritional needs can trigger the stress response,” said Wright, a functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner. and certified integrative nutritional health coach.

Several studies have shown that “diet and nutrition are critical not only for physiology and body composition, but also have significant effects on mood and mental well-being,” a March 2021 study in Limits in Nutrition said.

Study August 2020 i Nutrients said that dietary modification can prevent the development of “stress-related mental disorders, including major depression and posttraumatic stress disorder.”

Nutritional Deficiencies That Can Cause Stress

Here are some key nutritional deficiencies that can add to stress and affect your overall well-being, according to Wright:

• Magnesium: A deficiency in magnesium may be linked to increased stress levels. Low levels of magnesium, which are involved in muscle and nerve function, “can contribute to feelings of anxiety and tension,” Wright said.
• B vitamins, especially B6, B9 (folate) and B12: B vitamins are essential for the synthesis of neurotransmitters that affect mood, such as serotonin, which stabilizes mood, and dopamine, which affects how we feel pleasure. “Deficiencies in B vitamins can lead to increased stress and mood disturbances,” Wright said.
• Zinc: Zinc helps regulate the body’s stress response system. Low zinc levels were associated with increased production of cortisol, a stress hormone, the nutritionist said.
• Omega-3 fatty acids: Omega-3 fatty acids are essential for brain health and play a role in neurotransmitter function. “Deficits can contribute to mood disorders and heightened stress responses,” Wright said.
• Vitamin C: As an antioxidant, vitamin C helps fight oxidative stress, which is an imbalance between antioxidants and free radicals that can cause cell damage in the body. “A deficiency can impair the body’s ability to manage oxidative damage caused by stress,” Wright said.
• Vitamin D: Vitamin D deficiency “is linked to mood disorders and an increased risk of depression,” so adequate vitamin D levels are “essential for overall mental well-being,” the nutritionist said.
• Protein: Amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins, are “essential for neurotransmitter synthesis,” Wright said, and insufficient protein intake can affect mood and stress response.
• Vitamin A: This vitamin is essential for vision and immune function. “Vitamin A deficiency can affect overall health, which can contribute to stress,” Wright said.
• Iron: Iron is important for the transport of oxygen in the blood. Iron deficiency anemia can lead to fatigue and reduced stress resilience, the nutritionist said.

Are There Foods That Help Reduce Stress?

“Instead of focusing on specific foods, I believe a nutrient-dense diet that is balanced and varied is essential,” Wright said. This should include a combination of “minimally processed and nutrient-dense foods,” such as:

• Fruits and vegetables
• High quality meat
• Seafood, especially wild, fatty fish such as salmon and sardines
• Eggs
• Good quality dairy foods
• legumes
• Whole grain
• Nuts and seeds
• Spices

“In addition, the incorporation of fermented foods, such as yogurt, kimchi and kefir, can be very beneficial due to their probiotic content, supporting a healthy gut microbiome,” said the nutritionist.

How to Be More Resilient to Stress

“Stress resilience refers to the ability to adapt and bounce back from stressors, minimizing the negative impact on mental and physical health,” according to Wright.

Although it is impossible to eliminate stress from our lives, “it is possible to be more resilient to it or increase our stress threshold,” she said. “We can achieve this through dietary and lifestyle habits.”

Below are nutritionist’s tips to increase stress resilience:

Eat a Nutrient-Dense Diet, Balance Your Blood Sugar

A nutrient-dense diet and balanced blood sugar levels play key roles in “maintaining energy, supporting optimal brain function, regulating hormones, strengthening the gut-brain connection and reducing inflammation,” Wright said.

Support and Synchronize Your Circadian Rhythm

Our circadian rhythm, the body’s internal clock, “is the key to effective stress management,” Wright said. “A well-regulated circadian rhythm improves our ability to adapt and handle stress by improving sleep quality, boosting cognitive function and optimizing cortisol and melatonin release.” The latter is a hormone that regulates your sleep cycle and circadian rhythm.

For example, exposing your eyes to natural sunlight in the morning, ideally within an hour of waking up, and avoiding artificial light from electronic devices before bed “helps to align your circadian rhythm, increasing the effects this beneficial forward,” said the nutritionist.

Improve Vagus Nerve Tone, Nervous System Flexibility

“The tone of our vagus nerve is a barometer of how easily we can switch between stress and calm states,” according to Wright.

Vagal tone refers to the functioning of the vagus nerve, a cranial nerve that starts in a part of the brain that connects to the spinal cord and runs down through your neck and vital organs.

The nutrition expert said “a well-toned vagus nerve allows for a more fluid transition, promoting resilience and faster recovery from stressors.”

Practicing techniques used to regulate the nervous system, such as diaphragmatic breathing or meditation, “can help improve vagal tone and promote a balanced nervous system,” she said.

Exercise and Move Your Body Every Day

Wright said that regular exercise “reduces baseline levels of stress hormones and increases the hormonal response to sudden psychological stress.”

Regular exercise also induces “changes in gene expression [where information encoded in a gene is turned into a function] which improves mental stress resilience,” she said.

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