5 Ways to Deal with Junk Food Cravings Due to Stress

Stress can have all kinds of unfavorable effects on your body, and that includes a dramatic increase in your blood sugar levels that can leave you craving for, ironically, sugar.

That’s basically how stress eating comes into being — you feel stressed, you eat a lot of junk, you feel relieved, you wind up guilty, you feel anxious that can cause stress, and you consume junk all over again!

Breaking the stress eating cycle is easier said than done. But why break it if you can keep that cycle from coming into being in the first place?

So if you’re someone who is leading a very stressful everyday life and prone to stress eating, too, keep on reading this article — below you will come across some really simple tips and tricks on how to deal with junk food cravings brought about by too much stress.

Take a Break

Walking for 15 to 20 minutes — it’s a cost-free and highly effective way to put that stress-induced sugar craving to rest. Taking a quick walk outside allows you to take a break from it all as it’s an excellent stress-reducing activity. Also, it is something that can take your mind away from mouth-watering treats.

Besides, fitness experts highly recommend doing aerobic exercises such as walking on most days of the week to stay mentally and physically fit.

Listen to Music

Can’t take a walk outside because of bad weather? No worries! In order to beat junk food craving, simply put on a pair of earphones and then listen to your favorite songs — chill-out or up-tempo, it’s completely up to you.

Spending a few minutes listening to music helps reduce stress and ultimately make stress eating go away.

Related: Benefits of HUMMING Regularly

Have a Glass of Water

A lot of people, including those who are at risk of making terrible decisions due to high levels of stress, often mistake thirst for hunger. The problem with this is that since junk food cannot really make thirst go away, it’s likely for you to wind up eating more just to make that hunger (which is actually just thirst) go away.

Each time you feel that you are hungry, consider reaching for a glass of water. Wait for 10 to 15 minutes — if that hunger goes away, then it’s not hunger.

Drink Cinnamon Tea

Health experts say that the taste and smell of a cup of cinnamon tea is very good at fending off cravings for junk food. What’s more, it helps to counter the negative effects of stress such as increased cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar.

To make yourself a cup of cinnamon tea, simply allow a cinnamon stick or a teaspoon of ground cinnamon to steep in a cup of boiling water for several minutes. Feel free to add a little honey to taste.

Eat on Time

It was mentioned earlier in this article that sugar cravings are brought about by an elevation in the blood sugar as a result of stress. Well, there is a way to keep the levels of sugar in your bloodstream from spiking dramatically, and that’s by having your meals on time.

Just see to it that your meals are packed with high-quality protein and whole grains as they are very good at keeping the levels of sugar in your blood stable.

Source: menshealthmag, mayoclinic; Photo by pixabay