Nutrition for Stress: How to Support Your Body When Life Feels Hard

Stress is a topic I’ve discussed with nearly every client I have ever worked with in the last 11+ years as a Registered Dietitian. It’s something I personally struggle with too.

Stress often comes from caregiving, work, life events, health challenges, relationships, finances, past trauma, and domestic or global events. It can also come from underfueling, poor sleep, and exercise (especially overtraining).

An important thing to understand about stress is that it’s cumulative. Wherever it’s coming from, it all goes into the same bucket.

Similar to inflammation, stress isn’t always a bad thing, and the goal is not to eliminate it entirely. That’s not realistic or desirable. However, chronic stress or repeated spikes in stress can take a real toll on both physical and mental health.

In this post, I’ll walk you through nutrition and lifestyle strategies that you can try to better support your body during times of stress.

Understanding Cortisol and the Stress Response

Before diving into practical tips, I want to briefly discuss how the body responds to stress.

Cortisol, often referred to as the "stress hormone," plays a central role in the body’s sympathetic nervous system (i.e. your fight or flight response). It’s also involved in blood sugar regulation, metabolism, immune function, gut health, and more.

Here’s the short version of how this works. When the brain perceives a stressor, whether that’s a true threat, a perceived threat, or something physiological (e.g. low blood sugar or high intensity exercise), it activates the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis, also known as the HPA axis. This leads to a series of hormonal signals that ultimately cause the adrenal glands to release cortisol.

Cortisol then helps mobilize resources so the body can respond to the stressor. Once cortisol levels rise, they signal back to the brain to slow the process down through a negative feedback loop.

An increase in cortisol isn't always a bad thing, despite what the wellness world may lead you to believe. Cortisol is actually meant to rise sharply when you wake up (i.e. the cortisol awakening response) to regulate your blood sugar and get you going in the morning. Then, cortisol is supposed to gradually decline throughout the day.

Problems arise and disrupt this natural pattern when stressors keep stacking up. If you experience frequent stress throughout the day, cortisol may be repeatedly stimulated without much opportunity for the body to shift into a rest and digest (i.e. parasympathetic) state. Over time, this can leave you feeling run down, tired but wired, or stuck in survival mode.

Why Nutrition Matters During Times of Stress

When you’re stressed, food is often the last thing you want to think about, unless cooking happens to be relaxing for you. Unfortunately, not eating enough adds another layer of stress to the body.

This is something I often see with active clients who rely on training as a stress outlet, but let fueling fall behind. Skipped meals and snacks or consistently underfueling, whether intentional or not, contributes to stress.

What Happens When You Don't Eat Enough

Inadequate or inconsistent intake can impact your body plus your stress levels in many ways:

• Carbs may be lacking relative to activity level, leading to reduced exercise and cognitive performance (the brain uses carbs as a primary energy source)

• Your body may be forced to use the protein you consume (or even your own muscles) as an energy source, which is far from ideal

• Digestion may be thrown off, further disrupting appetite and increasing the risk of overeating later

• Sleep may suffer, which adds yet another stressor

Eating balanced meals and snacks every two to four hours helps provide steady energy and key nutrients that your body needs to function optimally. Consistent intake also prevents you from reaching any extremes in hunger and fullness, and often leads to better sleep, all of which can reduce overall stress on the body.

Practical Strategies When Stress is High and Appetite is Low

If stress is lowering your appetite, liquid options can be easier to tolerate. Examples include smoothies, drinkable yogurt or kefir, soup, juice, protein shakes, or milk/soy milk.

Bland or simple foods can also be helpful when you're not in the mood to eat. Something like a bowl of cereal with milk plus sliced almonds absolutely counts when eating feels hard, especially if the alternative is not eating at all.

Comfort Foods and Emotional Eating

Many people naturally gravitate toward sweets or comfort foods when they’re stressed. This is normal, and emotional eating itself is not a problem.

Where it can become tricky is when these foods are eaten on their own, in large amounts, or after periods of restriction. These situations can lead to digestive discomfort, poor sleep, and/or a restrict-binge cycle that ultimately increases stress.

It's worth noting that we all eat for many reasons beyond hunger, and pleasure is an important part of eating. Emotional eating in itself is not "bad." You may simply feel better, physically and mentally, when comfort foods are eaten more mindfully and as part of a more nutritionally balanced meal or snack.

That often looks like not letting yourself get overly hungry and pairing comfort foods with other nutrients, like carbs plus protein and/or fiber.

Examples include:

• Pasta with chicken and vegetables

• Pizza with vegetable toppings or a side salad

• Cookies with a glass of milk or soy milk

• Chocolate with dried fruit and nuts

This isn’t to say you can never just have plain pasta or pizza, or that you always need to pair your dessert with something else. Of course you can. But I encourage you to pay attention to how these things feel in your body, and to keep in mind the overall context of your eating day.

Lean into Easy Food Options

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, focus on what’s easiest. Convenience foods (e.g. prepared soups or frozen meals), grocery store shortcuts (e.g. pre-cut veggies, frozen cooked rice), and takeout can be incredibly supportive tools if they help you eat consistently.

I have a few blog posts on make ahead and quick meal and snack ideas to get you started:

• 11 Easy Breakfast Meal-Prep Recipes

• 5 Easy Make Ahead Lunch Recipes

• 5 Easy Dinner Ideas for Families On the Go

• Travel Snack Ideas

Remember, something is always better than nothing. Try not to get stuck chasing the “perfect” choice when what your body really needs is nourishment. In an ideal world, you would enjoy every meal and snack and tick every nutrient box, but in reality, sometimes you just need to choose something, eat it, and move on.

Alcohol Intake and Stress

It can be tempting to reach for a drink when life feels like too much. I'm definitely not going to sit here and tell you that you should never drink ever again. However, it is important to recognize that alcohol adds to your overall stress load.

Alcohol can suppress immune function and disrupt sleep and gut health, among other negative health impacts. While it may feel relaxing in the moment, it may not feel so great later on.

If you regularly drink and are trying to better manage stress, it can be helpful to reflect on your relationship with alcohol.

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• Is drinking more of a habit or something I truly enjoy?

• Which drinking instances are most important to me (e.g. drinking at home or on a weeknight vs socially or out to dinner)?

• Would another beverage (e.g. mocktail, NA beer, herbal tea) feel just as satisfying on certain days?

• How do I feel after I drink (consider mood, sleep, digestion, etc)?

There is a time and place for alcohol if you choose to include it. Paying attention to frequency, quantity, and how it makes you feel can go a long way when it comes to improving stress and overall health.

Other Ways to Support Your Body When Stressed

Nutrition is just one piece of the puzzle. I’m of course not a trainer or therapist, but I want to briefly mention the many other ways to support your body when stress is high.

Exercise is incredibly beneficial for both mental and physical health, but it should feel supportive rather than depleting. This means adjusting training intensity or volume based on how your body feels (especially during demanding seasons of life), planning regular rest days, and always prioritizing fueling before and after workouts.

I often encourage clients to build a variety of coping tools outside of exercise so that movement doesn’t become the only way they manage stress. Think about activities that bring comfort, joy, or make you feel more present, like reading, music, creative outlets, spending time with pets, connecting with friends, or going for a walk. If you know me or follow me on social media, you're probably aware that my go-to is sea glass hunting on my local beach.

Here are some additional ideas to help you manage stress:

• Be mindful of screen time and media consumption (especially social media and news)

• Keep a "joy" or gratitude journal (this is very helpful for me), where you write down one or two positive moments or wins from the day

• Take a mental health day when needed, if able

• Protect your time and energy by being intentional with commitments and who you spend time with

• Get support from loved ones or a mental health professional when needed

• Check in with your body regularly throughout the day to identify basic needs that you may be ignoring (e.g. are you hungry or thirsty, do you need to get up and stretch, go to the bathroom, go outside etc)

Final Thoughts

Hopefully these nutrition and lifestyle strategies give you a starting point for supporting yourself during times of stress.

Also, while there clearly are many things you can do to manage stress, please keep in mind that there are also limits. Your season of life and the broader world you’re living in matter.

As one of my clients recently said, “I wish I could reduce my stress more, but I can’t get rid of my kids!” With two young kids myself, I can most definitely relate.

Looking For More Support?

If managing stress feels overwhelming and you want help supporting your body with nutrition that actually fits your life, I'm here to help. I have a few options for you to work with me, so you can choose what feels most doable for you right now.

Inside my Fuel for Life Crew membership, you’ll get ongoing support focused on fueling consistently and building sustainable habits during demanding seasons of life.

For just $39/month (cancel anytime), you get:

• Access to all past and future masterclasses and downloadable resources in my library

• Individual support from me

• A private Slack community of active people navigating similar challenges

  
  

This is the easiest and most cost effective way to get guidance, support, and reassurance when stress is high and nutrition feels hard.

If you’re looking for deeper, more personalized support, I’m currently accepting new 1:1 nutrition coaching clients. I offer 3 and 6 month coaching programs and work with a limited number of clients to ensure each person receives the individualized attention and depth of support needed to create meaningful, lasting change.

Learn more about my 1:1 coaching services. You can also listen to this short but detailed podcast episode all about what it's like to work with me as a 1:1 client.

Don’t just take it from me. Here’s what one client shared recently:

"Working with Claire has been a total game changer for me. I'd always struggled to figure out what healthy eating looks like - and swung from being overly restrictive to overly indulgent in the process. I worked with several other dietitians in the past, but Claire was the only one who helped me achieve flexibility and balance in my diet. Her down-to-earth and practical approach has helped me make sustainable changes. I would have never imagined that making such simple shifts could lead to such a dramatic improvement in the way I feel!"— Lisa Z.

Read more client testimonials here.

If you’re curious whether working together is a good fit, fill out a new client inquiry form and we’ll schedule a free discovery call to talk through your goals and next steps.