While we’ve seen and heard about this on countless occasions, most likely few were those who ever believed that any doctor in their right mind would ever recommend eating as the best way to fight stress. Yet, it is possible – just not ice-cream, chocolate and cake like we’ve seen women in movies do, but fruits and greens. And plenty of them.

It’s been proven that food can fight stress, so doctors say now that, instead of fighting the urge and thus adding more fuel to the fire of an already stressful situation, we might as well give in and, at the same time, do something to take the edge off. However, we must be careful about what it is precisely that we’re eating so, if we’re to do it either way, we could just as easily make sure it’s healthy for us. So, next time we feel that our boss is this close to really getting the best of us with their almost impossible demands, worry not. Have an apple instead.

Another means of fighting stress through eating is by sticking to a healthy diet. Not once, it has been underlined that a poor regime can have effects as negative as overeating, smoking or drinking. Aside from making the pounds pile on, an inadequate dietary plan can also increase stress and cause lack of concentration at the workplace. Foods like oily fish, nuts, fruit and whole grains are highly recommended, as also are vegetables, which are rich in vitamins and minerals. Moreover, there is no such thing as overdosing on these last ones, nutritionists tell us, so the more, the better.

Sticking to a physical routine is also a must to completely eliminate stress, but perhaps not as much as avoiding big meals is. We all know that eating heavily leads, in time, to a decrease in the satiety feeling, just like we’re well aware that, by staying hungry for longer, our productivity and energy level go down. So, instead of waiting for the lunch hour to feast on high fat, high calorie foods, we could replace them with healthy snacks that we’re to have throughout the day to keep the energy level up at all times.

Since we’re on the topic of healthy snacks, we might as well mention that doctors and nutritionists alike tell us that we must go all out there and make sure we have at least one green veggie a day, as well as a dish of whole grain foods. Again, there is no ODing on vegetables, milk or soy.

With these in mind, remember that there are several ways to efficiently eliminate stress. Eating, as it turns out, is one of them, with the sole mention that, in order to avoid “side-effects,” it must be healthy eating.