CAN DAIRY HELP YOU FEEL LESS STRESSED?
It seems like an entity responsible for what’s happening to the Earth and humanity messed things up and completed a 10-year plan within a couple of years by mistake. All the events happening over the last few years are overwhelming by themselves. And piling up over all the struggles we already have to deal with, these events create even bigger stress for us. It’s fairly difficult to stay calm while trying to sort out our daily issues, keeping up with the speed of life and everything that is happening in the world and impacting us.
The arguably worst thing is that we can’t really do much to change all the things for better. So at Milky Day, we prefer to take a stoic stance and try to see all the bad events as something that just happens and that we have to go through. But when we see that there are things we can change for the better — we, by all means, do that.
One of the things we can change is the way we respond to stress. While all the psychological tricks such as taking bad stuff that’s happening as an inevitable part of life work, we also seek ways to make our bodies more stress-resistant. After all, our nervous system is quite a physical part of our bodies, and while it creates non-physical things like thoughts and emotions, the fact that it’s a physical part makes us believe that we can impact it with physical things.
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There are a lot of medications that help relieve stress. However, being loyal to everything natural, we try to turn to natural remedies. It’s proven that diet can impact the way we handle stress. And in the case of dealing with negative things, diet plays quite a significant role.
In this article, we want to figure out whether adding dairy to our diets can make us calmer and more resilient. We’ve already done our research on all the health benefits of milk, so the mental part seems to be the logical next step.
The connection between nutrition and stress exists
The first thing you might think of when trying to come up with foods and drinks that soothe might be some chamomile or mint tea. If you spend a bit more time in the tea aisle in a supermarket, you will definitely find herbal blends designed for calmness and better sleep. But the link between foods, drinks, and mental health doesn’t end there.
Research shows that protein can help fight depression and anxiety. Frankly, if you think of it, it doesn’t come as a surprise, considering that protein is the main building block in our bodies. A diet full of protein doesn’t just give us more energy but also helps our nervous system deal with all the challenges we face.
Another thing that impacts our mental health is the health of our gut. It’s a well-known fact that an unhealthy gut can make us more anxious, stressed, and depressed — and vice versa. Medicine knows a lot of examples of when gut issues were caused by the psychological condition of a patient — and when the psychological issues were caused by gut issues. So in addition to increasing our protein intake, we should take care of our gut health if we want to be really stress-proof.
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How does dairy impact our mental health?
First of all, dairy is rich in protein. And as we’ve already mentioned, protein is quite a good remedy for our stress-ridden minds. By increasing our intake of dairy, we will inevitably increase the protein intake thus helping our bodies to be stronger and our minds to become more resilient. After eating protein, we can notice our mood improving — and that protein being tasty makes the effect even more pronounced. Since dairy is usually delicious, it’s able to hit both the protein and taste targets.
Also, fermented dairy is known for its benefits to the digestive system. It works as a probiotic, helps fight harmful bacteria, and saturates the gut with good bacteria. By just drinking a cup of kefir or eating a cup of yogurt daily, you will improve the health of your gut significantly.
You might think that the mental health benefits of milk end just there, and you will be wrong. Probiotics dairy contains are proven to help people to relieve anxiety and depression symptoms. Also, milk contains phospholipids that are integral for keeping our brains healthy boosting our focus, concentration, and mental energy in general. They also can help to reduce the negative effects of stress and help us stay positive despite any bad things that might happen in our lives.
Not to mention all the other micronutrients and vitamins milk contains. They help our bodies to be healthier and stronger — it’s crucial for dealing with stress because health issues definitely don’t help us stay positive and resilient.
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Finally, dairy is a great help for improving our physical shape as it helps us build muscles faster and recover from workouts. That’s another great benefit because studies show that regular physical activity helps us stay mentally healthy. So enjoy your favorite dairy and let all the steam out while working those muscles!
But what if I’m lactose intolerant?
Well, that’s not really an issue today with all the lactose-free products available on the market. You can find lactose-free anything — from milk and yogurt to cheeses and fermented dairy. And if you can’t find a lactose-free version of your favorite dairy, you can always take lactase tablets before eating milk-based products to help your body digest lactose correctly and avoid all the nasty symptoms of lactose intolerance.
Milk and dairy products are an integral part of our diets for a good reason. They help us to stay both physically and mentally healthy. And let’s face it — they taste so good. Delicious and healthy foods can lift our mood and help us recover from stress. Since dairy is just the right example of such food, we can’t really think of a better alternative.
So let yourself indulge in your favorite dairy and enjoy all the benefits it brings!
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