Stress Awareness Month - Understanding Stress and Nutrition; Gut and Brain Connection #BeTheChange

The Link Between Stress and Nutrition - Stress Awareness Month 2026 #BeTheChange

By Chloe Plummer, Nutrition Advisor and BSc (Hons) Nutritional Therapy Student

April is Stress Awareness Month, offering a chance to pause and consider how we look after our overall wellbeing. You can also join the wider conversation using the hashtag #BeTheChange.

Stress is part of everyday life and, to some extent, unavoidable.

However, when it becomes ongoing or difficult to manage, it can start to impact both mental and physical health. One area that is often overlooked in this is nutrition.

What we eat can play a meaningful role in how we experience stress, as well as how we support our wellbeing and mental health.

Preparing a healthy meal - the gut and brain connection

How Stress Impacts Eating Behaviours

Stress doesn’t just influence what we eat, but also how and why we eat.

During stressful periods, many people notice stronger cravings for foods high in sugar or fat. These foods can offer a short-term sense of comfort or a quick boost of energy, but they can also leave you feeling more anxious, drained, and less able to cope over time.

For others, stress can have the opposite effect, reducing appetite altogether. This can lead to skipped meals and a lower intake of essential nutrients, which may further impact energy levels, mood, and overall resilience.

There can also be a tendency towards more rushed or mindless eating, especially when feeling under pressure or overwhelmed. Eating in this way can affect digestion and make it harder to recognise hunger and fullness signals.

Becoming aware of these patterns is an important starting point. Rather than aiming for perfection, gently noticing your eating habits during times of stress can help you move towards more balanced and supportive choices over time.

How Your Diet Can Impact Your Stress Levels

Blood Sugar Balance and Stress Hormones

What you eat has a direct influence on cortisol, the body’s primary stress hormone.

Diets that are high in refined sugars and processed carbohydrates – such as sweet snacks, white bread, breakfast cereals, and pastries – can lead to sharp rises and falls in blood glucose levels. This ‘blood sugar rollercoaster’ can trigger increased releases of adrenaline and cortisol, which may leave you feeling:

• Anxious

• Irritable

• Fatigued

• Overwhelmed

• Tense

Supporting stable blood sugar is one of the most effective ways to encourage a calmer and more balanced stress response. Eating regular meals that include protein, healthy fats, and fibre can help maintain steady energy and mood throughout the day.

Swapping refined sugars and processed carbohydrates for more complex options such as oats, sweet potatoes, brown rice, and beans can support more consistent energy levels. This helps keep blood sugar stable and may reduce the intensity of the body’s stress response.

Gut Health and Stress Resilience

While blood sugar plays an important role, the gut is another key part of how we respond to stress.

A diet high in processed foods can disrupt the gut microbiome – the community of bacteria that supports digestion, immunity, mood, and mental wellbeing. An imbalance here has been linked with increased anxiety and reduced resilience to stress.

Stress itself also affects digestion. When the body perceives a threat, it prioritises survival over digestion, diverting resources away from the gut. This can reduce digestive secretions such as stomach acid and enzymes, and slow the movement of food through the digestive system.

Stress signals are communicated directly to the gut through the nervous and immune systems, influencing inflammation and sensitivity. Over time, this can contribute to digestive discomfort and further impact overall wellbeing.

Personalised Nutrition and Lifestyle for Stress Support

Supporting your body during times of stress begins with a foundation of whole, nutrient-dense foods. Regular, balanced meals that include protein, healthy fats, and fibre can help stabilise blood sugar and maintain more consistent energy levels throughout the day.

Reducing intake of ultra-processed foods and refined sugars may help limit blood sugar fluctuations and ease additional strain on the body. Being mindful of stimulants such as caffeine, and moderating alcohol intake, can also support the nervous system and improve sleep quality.

Small, consistent changes tend to be more effective than restrictive or unrealistic approaches. This doesn’t need to feel overwhelming. Starting with one or two manageable adjustments, such as improving breakfast or eating more regularly, can make a meaningful difference to stress resilience and overall wellbeing over time.

Key Nutrients

Magnesium Supports muscle relaxation and helps regulate the nervous system. Sources: leafy greens, nuts, seeds, legumes, dark chocolate

B Vitamins Important for energy production and the creation of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine. Sources: whole grains, eggs, meat, fish, and dairy

Vitamin C Used by the adrenal glands during periods of stress and supports immune function. Sources: citrus fruits, peppers, broccoli, kiwi

Omega-3 fatty acids Help regulate inflammation and support brain health. Sources: oily fish, walnuts, chia seeds, flaxseeds

Fermented foods Contain beneficial bacteria that support gut health and, in turn, mood and stress response. Sources: yoghurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi

The Role of Sleep in Stress and Nutrition

Sleep plays a key role in how the body manages stress, and nutrition can have a significant impact on sleep quality.

Poor sleep can raise cortisol levels, disrupt blood sugar balance, and increase feelings of stress and anxiety. At the same time, ongoing stress can make it harder to fall or stay asleep, creating a cycle that can be difficult to break.

Nutrition can support better sleep in a number of ways. Eating regular meals helps regulate blood sugar, which may reduce night-time waking. Including protein and complex carbohydrates in the evening can support the production of serotonin and melatonin, both involved in sleep regulation.

Limiting caffeine, particularly later in the day, and being mindful of alcohol intake can also improve sleep quality. While alcohol may initially make you feel sleepy, it can disrupt sleep later in the night.

Supporting sleep alongside nutrition is a simple but effective way to strengthen overall stress resilience and wellbeing.

Simple Swaps to Help Improve Your Stress Resilience

Personalised nutrition doesn’t have to be complicated. A few simple changes can make a noticeable difference:

• Swap white bread or pasta for wholegrain alternatives

• Limit yourself to one or two teas or coffees per day. After midday, switch to herbal or decaf options

• Aim to include oily fish (such as salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, or trout) twice a week

• Try to fill half your plate with a variety of vegetables – think in terms of “eating the rainbow”

• Choose snacks like yoghurt and berries, apple with nut butter, or hummus with carrot sticks instead of biscuits, chocolate, or crisps

How Personalised Nutrition Can Help

A Personalised Nutrition Plan aims to support the body’s internal balance so it can better manage stress. This may involve:

• Exploring your individual health history, diet, and lifestyle

• Identifying possible nutrient deficiencies or imbalances

• Supporting digestion and gut health

• Creating practical, realistic, and sustainable changes tailored to your needs

The focus is not on perfection, but on helping your body feel supported, nourished, and more resilient over time. If stress feels difficult to manage and you suspect your nutrition may be playing a role, personalised support can help you make sense of this and take practical steps forward.

Chloe Plummer is a Nutrition Advisor and final-year BSc (Hons) Nutritional Therapy student with the Institute for Optimum Nutrition and the University of Portsmouth, due to graduate in August 2026.

She provides personalised nutrition plans and evidence-based support for women’s health, working collaboratively with other healthcare professionals, including counsellors, to support her clients.

Learn more about Chloe and her approach to nutrition here

Preparing Food in a kitchen

References

Bear, T., Dalziel, J., Coad, J., Roy, N., Butts, C., & Gopal, P. (2021). The Microbiome-Gut-Brain Axis and Resilience to Developing Anxiety or Depression under Stress. Microorganisms, 9(4), 723. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9040723

Bremner, J. D., Moazzami, K., Wittbrodt, M. T., Nye, J. A., Lima, B. B., Gillespie, C. F., Rapaport, M. H., Pearce, B. D., Shah, A. J., & Vaccarino, V. (2020). Diet, Stress and Mental Health. Nutrients, 12(8), 2428. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12082428

Konturek, P. C., Brzozowski, T., & Konturek, S. J. (2011). Stress and the gut: pathophysiology, clinical consequences, diagnostic approach and treatment options. Journal of physiology and pharmacology : an official journal of the Polish Physiological Society, 62(6), 591–599.

Lopresti A. L. (2020). The Effects of Psychological and Environmental Stress on Micronutrient Concentrations in the Body: A Review of the Evidence. Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.), 11(1), 103–112. https://doi.org/10.1093/advances/nmz082

Naidoo U. (2020). Eat to Beat Stress. American journal of lifestyle medicine, 15(1), 39–42. https://doi.org/10.1177/1559827620973936

Vedantam, D., Poman, D. S., Motwani, L., Asif, N., Patel, A., & Anne, K. K. (2022). Stress-Induced Hyperglycemia: Consequences and Management. Cureus, 14(7), e26714. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.26714