Stress relief: How diet and lifestyle can help reduce stress and anxiety

Potatoes

Who doesn’t love this comfort food? Turns out it’s totally legit to crave starches like potatoes when stressed. It’s called hedonic hunger, or eating for pleasure rather than to fuel your body. “We don’t need the calories, but since we’re hardwired to be attracted to high-calorie foods because they give us energy, we tend to seek out fatty or sweet foods when we’re stressed,” explains Martica Heaner, PhD, an exercise physiologist and adjunct associate nutrition professor at Hunter College in New York City. Instead, reach for potatoes, which contain fiber, potassium, vitamin C, and other nutrients.