5 Tips to Stress Less with Holiday Nutrition

Boosting Moods and Energy During the Festive Season

Stress-Less Tips for the Holiday Season

For many, Christmas brings joy and relaxation, but for others—especially mums—it can be a whirlwind of pressure. With school out, there’s a break from the usual routines like homework, school lunches, and pick-ups, but new challenges take their place. Hungry teens, “I’m bored” complaints, and the drive to make the season memorable can all add to the pressure and stress levels.

While the holidays may never be entirely stress-free, they can be less stressful. Whether your pressure comes from entertaining, feeding, or managing family activities, this post will share tips to help you stress less through good nutrition and health behaviours. By using food as a tool to manage stress, you can still create those cherished holiday memories while looking after your own well-being.

Let’s dive in!

Why food matters in managing stress.

If you have been reading my blogs, you would know that food plays an important role in our ability to cope with life. There are many reasons for this:

Lack of food can reduce energy and motivation (1)

1. - Our body is constantly using the food we eat to create the energy we need for daily life. If we are not eating enough during the day our motivation and energy will gradually decline over the day and our stress levels can increase.

Lack of food can increase the stress response (2)

1. - Some of us have an intense need to eat at certain times and the longer we leave it before eating the more heightened our emotional state becomes. I found this to be very common for one of my children. They didn’t recognise hunger cues and when they were a toddler would have massive melt-downs for no apparent reason. Give them some food and all was right in the world again. This happens to adults as well. We have just learnt to manage hunger a bit more subtly. Although the term Hangry is a word because it actually happens and we can become more aggressive or short-tempered when we are hungry. Eating regularly can help us stress less.

Nutrients matter (3, 4)

1. - As we know, it is not just about filling the tummy. The key purpose of eating is to provide the nutrition that our body needs to function. If we keep putting food into our body that is not full of naturally occurring micronutrients then we may be depriving our brains from what it needs to help us to cope with life.
  - Anti-inflammatory foods also help with reducing brain inflammation which then reduces the stress response.

Quality matters (3,4)

1. - A lot of foods that we eat these days provide a quick fix to hunger but don’t satisfy our body’s needs. Fast is not best. Bring back slow food. Slow to eat, slow to digest. It will then gradually release the nutrients and energy to get through the day and provide satisfaction after eating. High sugar, high salt, high saturated fats and trans fats, high alcohol and soft-drink intake are all nutrient depleted and are linked to depressive symptoms and anxiety. Reducing these types of foods will help your body to stress less.

Nutrient deficiencies (4)

- Nutrient depleted foods contribute to nutrient deficiencies. As mentioned before, the food we eat is critical for managing stress. Are we getting enough omega-3 fats, magnesium, zinc, iron etc? If it is not in our food, how will we get enough?
- Inflammation affects our brain and some foods that lack nutrients are known to be pro-inflammatory, like ultra-processed foods, highly sugared foods, saturated and trans fats, as well as highly refined grains such as white breads. Reduce these and the inflammatory response decreases and will again help your body and mind to stress less.

Common Pitfalls and how to navigate them

These pitfalls will increase the stress response:

Skipping meals.
- Sometimes we want to save room for the special meal we are going to have, but this can lead to over-indulgence due to excess hunger. Instead, have smaller meals earlier in the day to manage hunger later and avoid becoming “Hangry”.
Buying snacks on sale.
- Buying food that is on sale for the holidays can save us money, but can also just add to the struggle of not eating it before the planned date. Then if we do eat it, we then may need to buy more food to make up for what was already eaten. If this is a common problem for you then you are not actually saving money. If you do want to take advantage of the sales, find a way to store the food that you buy so that it is not a temptation to eat it before the designated date. Make it hard to access, and out of sight. The less un-healthy snack food we eat, the more nutrient rich foods we are likely to eat which may help with reducing the stress response.
Food abundance and indulgences.
- If you are planning on having some indulgences during this time of year, think about what your body needs each day for its dose of nutrients. Can some of those indulgences tick the box for being nutrient dense? As an example of this, we need calcium, so a platter with cheese will provide some of this requirement. We need the micronutrients from fruit and vegetables, so can the food we eat include fruit and veg. Maybe you can load your plate with salads or vegetables. Maybe dessert can include some fruit.
- Christmas Yoghurt Parfait
Extra or Excess Alcohol.
- This is one of the main ones for nutrient depletion. This is related to how alcohol is treated as a poison in our body and damages the gut lining as well as playing havoc with the gut microbiome. As this article from Johns Hopkins University states, it is “because alcohol is technically a toxin, our bodies will always prioritize the breakdown of alcohol over food, delaying or decreasing the availability of nutrients”(7)
- Alcohol provides a momentary buzz, but it can also impact our anxiety and stress levels, particularly the next day or so. Think about what you could do to reduce alcohol intake. Consiser trying a non-alcoholic or “alcohol removed” options. I have tried a few and some are not too bad. Work on keeping your water intake equal to, or more than, alcohol intake. It helps to have a pre-thought out plan for how you will achieve this.
Too Busy to Exercise.
- If you are serious about managing stress, exercise can really help. Even small amounts can be of benefit. Exercise is one of those “three for the price of one” benefits: it increases endorphins, increases exposure to sunshine and thus Vitamin D (essential for mental wellbeing) (5,6) and gets us out in nature (unless you can’t get outside). All three of these features assist our overall mental health and sense of wellbeing.

Foods to focus on

Omega 3 fats – help reduce inflammation

1. - Walnuts, chia seeds, oily fish, linseeds, pasture raised meat and eggs. Many of these can be added to meals. An example might be adding walnuts to a salad or chia seeds and linseeds to porridge.

Low GI foods – help manage energy fluctuations

1. - Wholemeal or wholegrain options will give a slow release of energy. This could mean simple swaps or gradual swaps. Whatever works best for your family. White bread to wholemeal, white rice to brown or brown basmati, white pasta to wholemeal or pulse pasta.

Protein – helps with satiety

1. - Eggs, legumes, nuts, seeds, dairy plus the animal proteins including fish. 20 to 30g per meal is a good amount of protein to aim for. Combine some of these to get your protein needs:
    1. 30g of protein in about 100g of steak
    2. 10g – 14g in 2 eggs (depending on the size)
    3. 6g of protein in 30g of almonds
    4. 9g protein in 1 cup of milk
    5. 10g of protein in 40g cheese
    6. 8g protein in 2 slices of multigrain bread
    7. 11g protein in 1 cup chickpeas

High fibre foods – good for the gut and the brain

1. - This one is going to be of benefit to your gut health which affects your mental health.
  - Focus on grainy breads, vegetables, fruit, and especially legumes like chickpeas, edamame beans, lentils, and other beans.

Fermented foods – good for gut and brain health

1. - Yoghurt, kimchi, sauerkraut as well as many other fermented foods all contribute to a healthy gut and good gut bacteria. This has a direct flow on effect for mental wellbeing.

Snacks – healthy options to include for providing nutrients that we need to stress less

- Nuts, seeds, fruit and veg with dips like hommus will all provide great nutrients.
- Add some dark chocolate to the mix for enjoyment and the nutritional benefits.
- Yoghurt with fruit and nuts is delicious and nutritious. Make the yoghurt into more of a chocolate mousse with added cocoa and maple syrup. You could even give it a festive feel with raspberries or pomegranate arils.
- Unless you have an extreme fussy eater, don’t feel that you must provide processed snacks like chips, biscuits or other packaged snack food for everyday snacks. Most teens will eat healthier food if it is available and easy to access. Save the less healthy options as occasional food. Most of us grew up this way and survived.
- Encourage cooking. If they want to have less healthy snacks encourage them to make their own. It will be more nutritious than packaged snacks.

Final thoughts

The food we eat has a significant impact on how we—and our families—handle stress. While creating a healthy diet requires planning and intentional effort, the rewards are well worth it. By keeping a record of what works, you’ll also create a go-to resource for smoother holiday seasons in the future.

If these ideas feel overwhelming, start small. Focus on one change at a time and build on it gradually. Each day offers a fresh opportunity to lay the foundation for better habits and a calmer holiday season.

Above all, cherish your time together this Christmas. Wishing you and your loved ones a joyful and peaceful holiday season!