My safe foods
Foods that help me to cope with difficult times.
Each of us reacts to stress and challenges differently. For some you get the urge to empty your whole fridge and to snack on something constantly. For others you might loose your appetite completely. I belong to this group, usually if i am super stressed my stomach starts to act up, either it stops working completely or makes me run to the toilet multiple times a day.
Due to living with these weird gut issues my whole life, i have developed a list of safe foods that i can handle under stress or otherwise difficult situations when my tummy does not want to eat everything i normally do.
Please note that i am not a dietitian this is based on my own experience please consult an expert/certified professional before making any dietary changes.
What are my safe foods?
Yogurt: Either unsweetened with honey and granola or the one that has strawberries already added to it. probiotics do good things for your gut.
smoothies: Usually those ready made ones that you can buy from the store. I find that smoothies are easy to digest plus you get some necessary vitamins and nutrients as well.
oatmeal: Both the instant kind and regular oatmeal. I usually eat this with different toppings. whenever my tummy is acting up and i cant seem to get anything down oatmeal is usually a good choice.
bread with some butter and cheese plus a vegetable.
kombucha : I usually don`t drink soda (except a ginger beer in very rare occasions) But kombucha is yummy and a fun way to get more probiotics for gut health.
blueberry soup : I think that the Swedish people invented this originally. You can make this by boiling some blueberries in water and sugar then blending the mixture with a thickening agent and mixing it all together. we have the option of buying different berry soups already made. This is usually eaten with oatmeal or i also drank it by itself.
vegetable soup : I often add carrots ,potato,vegetable stock and cream. Again this is easy to digest and comforting.
mixed vegetable chicken noodle stir fry or(sometimes i replace chicken with tofu)
Dried mangoes : mango is one of my favorite fruits i love snacking on these as a replacement for chocolate or candy even tho i also enjoy my favorite sweet treats in moderation.
peppermint tea or ginger-lemon tea : both of these a great for soothing our stomachs and easing digestive discomfort.
Here we have it, a short list of some of my safe foods that i can usually stomach even in the most difficult circumstances. Overall my relationship with food is quite healthy and on normal days i get in plenty of different types of food. when life gets tough the most important thing is to eat something. I acknowledge that if this was my everyday diet it would lack plenty of important nutrients but occasionally it is okay to eat a diet that is more bland as we cant necessarily easily digest everything when feeling anxious and overwhelmed. It is important to show our guts some love and allow it to rest as well.
you might have noticed that this list does not include those very common comfort foods like pizza,fries,chips etc. that is because eating greasy and heavy meals in excess would only irritate my guts more. However i do enjoy occasional pizza,fries or a burger but because our mind and body is connected everything we eat directly affects our moods so the last thing i want to do is to give my gut something difficult to digest when its already feeling uncomfortable.
do you have safe foods that help you to cope with difficult times?
