These eating habit mistakes could lead to stress and burnout. 3 changes to make

In a recent study conducted by the nonprofit Virsa Foundation, experts surveyed 14,626 Americans about their eating habits between January 2020 and September 2021 to understand how nutritional choices contribute to mental resilience, burnout reduction, and recovery from infectious diseases.

They found that people following a whole-food, plant-based (WFPB) diet or a vegan diet reported higher levels of mental clarity, emotional stability, and better coping mechanisms during the peak of stress and burnout amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as compared to those following a standard American diet (SAD). 

Participants answered questionnaires about how often they ate certain foods, and whether they followed a special diet (vegan, vegetarian, Mediterranean, et cetera). Researchers noted that those who didn’t fit into a specific diet category or who didn’t report eating mostly WFPB were frequently consuming meat and dairy, ultraprocessed foods, soda, and fast food, with less frequent consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and high-fiber foods, which they categorized as followers of SAD.

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Those following a WFPB or vegan diet also experienced significantly lower stress levels—51% of those respondents reported they had no stress at all. Additionally, those following a WFPB or vegan regimen exhibited greater emotional resilience, confidence, and control. On the flip side, those adhering to a SAD were significantly more likely to experience feelings of nervousness, emotional distress, and anger.

“These findings highlight how food is a powerful tool for resilience, recovery, and long-term health,” said Virsa Foundation founder and president Nivi Jaswal in a press release. “To address burnout at its roots, we must rethink how we approach nutrition, health and wellness, and public health as a whole.”

The two-way street of diet and stress

High stress levels can lead to inflammation. Additionally, they can cause you to reach for foods high in salt, fat, and sugar, which, in turn, can increase inflammation, raising your risk of developing a chronic disease like obesity or diabetes..

“When we’re stressed and overwhelmed and emotionally upset…we find comfort in comfort foods,” Jaswal tells Fortune. In the study, however, Jaswal observed that people eating a whole-food, plant-based diet had better psychological resilience and ability to handle stressful situations when they arose. “Those people were eventually able to experience a better stress response,” she says.

“They also—seemingly from our study—had that extra bandwidth to overcome that desire to reach for an unhealthy snack, but they were able to supplement and replace that with a healthier behavior instead,” such as choosing a healthier snack or opting for movement over snacking, Jaswal says.

3 tips to cater your diet for mental resilience

• Add more plants into your diet. “If you want performance—physical, psychological—choose plants where possible,” she says.
• Be aware of the level of processing your food has undergone. “Regardless of whatever choice you’re making, be alert of where on the scale of processing that might be,” she says.
• Look for options other than food when you’re stressed. Because science shows we are more likely to choose less healthy options during moments of stress, Jaswal encourages challenging yourself to see if you’re experiencing true hunger, or if you might benefit from walking or standing up and moving to de-stress, or simply drinking some water. She adds that this can help you to get in tune with your hunger cues if you’re used to stress-eating.

For more on nutrition:

• 5 gut-healthy habits this top nutrition expert swears by
• Researchers warn that eating this amount of chicken per week could increase your mortality risk
• The healthiest agers followed this diet, according to a sweeping 30 year longevity study
• This dietician warns of one major issue with American diets. Here are her 4 tips to fix it