Food to Help You Manage Stress

When stress sneaks in, it doesn’t just affect your mind — your body feels it too. Hormones like cortisol rise, your sleep might suffer, and you may crave comfort food for a quick energy hit. While food alone isn’t a magic cure for anxiety or chronic stress, choosing the right foods can strengthen your resilience: nutrients help regulate your nervous system, lower inflammation, and keep your blood sugar stable, which all make stress easier to handle.

A Whole-Food, Plant-Centric Foundation

A helpful way to think about stress support is to focus on foods that keep your body steady. A Mediterranean-style pattern — plenty of vegetables, fruit, legumes, whole grains, olive oil, nuts, and fish — gives your system a calm, consistent base to work from. These foods are naturally rich in fibre and antioxidants, which help take the load off your nervous system when stress hormones are running high.

Here in New Zealand, the Heart Foundation highlights leafy greens, berries, legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and oily fish as some of the most effective anti-inflammatory choices. These are everyday ingredients most of us already buy; the shift is simply choosing them more often, especially on days that feel a bit pressured.

Key Nutrients That Help You Cope

Magnesium

Magnesium is one of the quiet achievers of stress support. It plays a role in how nerves fire and how the body regulates tension, yet many people don’t get enough from food. Eating more leafy greens, legumes, nuts, seeds and whole grains is an easy way to top up — and these foods tend to be satisfying without being heavy. If you think of magnesium as a “steadying” nutrient, you won’t be far off.

Omega-3 Fats

Omega-3 fats are another big player. These long-chain fats (found in salmon, sardines, mackerel and other oily fish) help reduce inflammation and support the parts of the brain responsible for mood regulation. Including fish once or twice a week can make a meaningful difference, and it fits easily into simple meals like grilled salmon with greens, or sardines on wholegrain toast.

Colourful Veggies & Berries

Leafy greens and brightly coloured berries do more than look good on the plate. They’re loaded with antioxidants and plant compounds to help protect the brain from the wear and tear of ongoing stress. A New Zealand-led study found that raw fruit and vegetables — especially dark leafy greens and berries — were linked with better mental wellbeing than their cooked or processed counterparts.

It doesn’t mean everything needs to be raw, only that fresh produce carries valuable nutrients that help your body stay resilient. Berries in particular are rich in flavonoids, which help reduce oxidative stress — the type of internal “rusting” that ramps up when life gets demanding.

Whole Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates sometimes get an undeserved bad reputation, though the right ones are a real asset during busy or stressful periods. Wholegrain bread, oats, brown rice and kumara release energy slowly, helping keep your blood sugar steady. When your energy doesn’t spike or crash, you’re less likely to hit the mid-afternoon wall or reach for fast, sugary fixes.

Gut-Health Foods

There’s also growing interest in how the gut communicates with the brain. A fibre-rich diet — think legumes, vegetables, whole grains — feeds the beneficial bacteria in your gut, which in turn produce compounds that influence inflammation, mood and even how clearly you think. Adding fermented foods such as yoghurt, kefir, kombucha or sauerkraut can help support that system. It’s another example of how small daily choices create a sense of stability from the inside out.

Dark Chocolate & Nuts

For those moments when you want something comforting, nuts and a little dark chocolate can be surprisingly effective. Nuts and seeds provide healthy fats and magnesium, while dark chocolate (70% cocoa or more) contains polyphenols linked to calmer mood responses. A small portion is enough — a square or two, enjoyed slowly, is often all you need.

Foods to Limit or Avoid When Stressed

Some foods can worsen how stress feels in your body. According to Nutrition for Mental Health guidance:

• Ultra-processed foods (takeaways, sugary snacks, “junk food”) can spike inflammation and disrupt mood.

• Refined sugars: Simple sugars can give a quick boost, but they often lead to a crash in energy and mood.

• Caffeine and alcohol: While a cup of coffee may feel soothing short-term, caffeine stimulates stress hormones. Alcohol, too, might help you unwind temporarily — but over time it can interfere with sleep and increase rebound anxiety.

Practical Tips for Your Weekly Menu

Here are some simple, stress-conscious meal ideas you can adapt to what’s available locally:

• Breakfast: Porridge made with rolled oats, topped with sliced banana, berries, and a sprinkle of seeds or nuts.

• Lunch: A big salad with mixed greens, quinoa (or brown rice), chickpeas, avocado and olive-oil-lemon dressing.

• Dinner: Grilled or baked salmon (or local oily fish) with kumara or potato, plus steamed greens.

• Snacks: A handful of mixed nuts, some natural yoghurt, or a small piece of dark chocolate.

Why it Matters

Eating well isn’t only about physical health — it shapes how resilient we feel day to day. In New Zealand, surveys show many of us struggle to get enough fruit, vegetables and whole foods into our routine, which means we miss out on the nutrients that help stabilise mood and energy. When stress becomes part of everyday life, this gap can make it harder for the body to cope.

Local research has highlighted that diets low in ultra-processed foods tend to support better mental wellbeing, partly because they reduce inflammation and the blood-sugar swings that can heighten stress. It reinforces the idea that small, consistent food choices add up — swapping a processed snack for nuts or fruit, or choosing a vegetable-heavy meal even on a busy night.

Broadly, New Zealand’s health organisations are placing more emphasis on food environments that support both mental and physical wellbeing. The push for easier access to nutritious, affordable food reflects what many of us already feel: eating well shouldn’t be complicated, and it plays a genuine role in how steady and supported we feel during stressful times.

Putting It All Together

Food isn’t a stand-alone cure for stress — but when used wisely, it becomes a powerful tool in your stress-management toolbox. The key is consistent, balanced eating: choosing whole foods, healthy fats, fibre-rich carbs, and gut-supporting foods while limiting the processed junk, excess sugar, caffeine, and alcohol that can amplify tension.

Pairing good food with other stress-relief habits — like sleep, social connection, movement, and mindfulness — will make the biggest difference. And if stress is affecting your day-to-day life in more serious ways, don’t hesitate to reach out to a health professional or a registered dietitian.