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Find Inner Peace, Plant-Based: Managing Stress with Food in Your 40s

Plant-Based Health For Women

Author: Plant-Based Susy

How to find your inner peace once again

We at Vegan Suzy rely on a plant-based diet to find our inner peace and manage our stress levels as we embrace the wild, wonderful 40s.

When approaching midlife, we enter a vulnerable time as we start experiencing the hormonal changes of perimenopause. These hormonal fluctuations are often paired with unruly mood swings, stress, anxiety, and feelings of depression.

Following a plant-based diet can help you manage stress in your 40s by restoring hormonal imbalances. The best vegan foods that can help you manage stress during midlife are whole grains, plant-based proteins, herbal teas, complex carbs, and phytoestrogen, magnesium, and B-vitamin-rich foods.

Ladies, you can find your inner peace once again by leveraging the amazing benefits of plant-based foods. Here’s how you can manage stress and anxiety with food in your 40s.

Reduce Stress and Anxiety with a Plant-Based Diet

You can minimise stress and anxiety symptoms by following a well-balanced, healthy vegan diet.

Research shows that a diet filled with whole, plant-based foods — whole grains, legumes, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds — is positively associated with mental health benefits, including lowering stress and anxiety.

We Tend to Stress More in Our 40s

While stress and anxiety are a common struggle in today’s society, as we enter our 40s era, stress tends to be more prevalent (and a lot more intense).

As we hop onto the perimenopause roller-coaster (most often between ages 40 and 45), our bodies experience a sudden drop in oestrogen (estrogen), accompanied by symptoms like stress, anxiety, mood swings, and, dare I say, hot flashes.

What you eat in your 40s and onwards matters more than ever. A plant-based diet can help you minimise symptoms of stress and anxiety while ensuring you are best prepared for your later years — think bone, heart, and brain health.

Blood Sugar Spikes Trigger Stress and Anxiety

Have you ever heard of the diet-stress relationship? Well, certain foods trigger blood sugar spikes that increase stress and anxiety. Here’s how:

Regularly eating foods that cause spikes and troughs in our blood sugar tends to wreak havoc with our hormones. These hormonal imbalances trigger the release of cortisol, a stress hormone that sets off symptoms like anxiety, irritability, weight gain, and sleeping issues. It can also exacerbate perimenopause hormones.

Pairing a magic combination of plant-based carbs, protein, fibre, and fats can help balance the release of glucose in your bloodstream. This release keeps your blood sugars stable throughout the day, taking the edge off feelings of stress and anxiety.

Achieving Stable Blood Sugar to Manage Stress at 40

Here are five tips to achieve stable blood sugar levels and manage stress:

Eat high-quality plant-based proteins like lentils, beans, quinoa, nuts, and seeds.
Eat more dietary fibre.
Limit your intake of refined carbs like sugar, juices, and white flour.
Include healthy fats like avocado, nuts, olives, flaxseeds, and olive oil.
Consume small to moderate amounts of alcohol.

Following these tips will also support healthy hormone production and your overall health and wellbeing.

The Best Plant-Based Diet for Managing Stress Over 40

A healthy, balanced vegan diet has many correlations to reduced stress and overall health.

We don’t only stress more as we age; incorporating nutrient-rich foods into our diet becomes more and more important as it takes more effort for our body to absorb vitamins and nutrients.

Here’s our comprehensive guide to the best foods to include in your plant-based diet in your 40s (and beyond) to help manage stress.

Find Inner Peace with Phytoestrogen-Containing Foods

Phytoestrogens are biochemical compounds that naturally occur in plants and act similarly to oestrogen hormones in our cells and bodies. Phytoestrogen-rich foods are particularly beneficial to perimenopausal and post-menopausal women.

Symptoms like stress, anxiety, depression, and other mood swings often accompany perimenopause.

Focus on incorporating phytoestrogen-rich vegan foods into your diet to manage your oestrogen levels and combat symptoms of stress and anxiety.

Proteins also help keep us fuller for longer, curbing overeating (often a response to stress and anxiety).

Here are our favourite plant-based food groups rich in phytoestrogens:

Flaxseeds: Mix them into your cereal, smoothies, and baked goods, or use them as a plant-based egg replacement.
Soya: Include soya-based vegan foods into your diet, like tofu, tempeh, miso, soya milk, and edamame.
Nuts and Seeds: Cashews, almonds, peanuts, sesame seeds, and sunflower seeds are great sources of phytoestrogens. Sprinkle them into your salads, veggies, whole grains, or sauces.
Fruits: Peaches, strawberries, blueberries, pomegranates, and nectarines are sweet, tasty ways to boost your oestrogen (estrogen).
Garlic: Garlic is nearly a staple in all cuisines for very good reasons. You can add it to pretty much any savoury dish.
Cruciferous vegetables: Add veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and kale to your diet to boost your phytoestrogen intake.

Reduce Stress with Plant-Based Proteins

Consuming the right amount of plant-based dietary protein is a straightforward way to help manage stress and anxiety.

Stress affects our blood sugar levels by activating the “fight or flight” response. Proteins help stabilise your blood sugar by slowing down the release of sugars in your bloodstream.

Proteins also release tryptophan, an essential amino acid associated with mood support and producing serotonin. Serotonin is largely responsible for our well-being and feelings of happiness.

Proteins also help keep us fuller for longer, curbing overeating (often a response to stress and anxiety).

Vegan Susy’s favourite 15 plant-based proteins for women over forty includes:

Legumes
Nuts and seeds
Tofu
Tempeh
Grains
Seitan
Quinoa
Oats
Spirulina
Nutritional Yeast
Hemp seeds
Sprouted grains
Plant-based protein powders
Mushrooms
Green vegetables

Remember to add a variety of plant-based proteins into your diet to ensure your body receives all nine essential amino acids.

Shake Off Stress in Your 40s with Complex Carbs

Healthy carbs can boost serotonin, which helps boost our mood and reduce stress.

Steer clear from simple, refined carbs and opt for whole, complex carbs like sweet potatoes, whole grain bread, quinoa, brown rice, legumes, oats, and beans.

Whole carbs generally offer tons of fibre. New findings suggest that healthy, high-fibre foods can reduce the effects of stress on our gut and even help manage stress and anxiety.

Omega-3 is an Anti-Stressor

Omega-3s are liquid gold for women over 40. Not only do they help manage stress, but they also play a huge role in improving your sleep, general health, and menopausal transition.

Omega-3s increase our endocannabinoid production (bear with us; we’ll explain shortly), which impacts stress resistance.

This complex term simply refers to a cell-signalling system that regulates bodily functions like our mood and sleep quality. Endocannabinoids improve our mood, reduce stress and anxiety, and allow us to feel calm.

The best plant-based omega-3 sources include:

Algal oil
Hemp seeds
Chia seeds
Flaxseed
Walnuts
Brussel sprouts
Vegan-friendly supplements

Make B Vitamins Part of Your Stress-Free Diet

Foods rich in B vitamins help contribute to a healthy body and managing stress.

B vitamins are natural mood boosters. Here’s how:

Vitamins B1, B2, B7, and B9 help calm your nervous system and stabilise your moods.
Vitamin B3, B5, and B6 helps increase the productions of the happiness hormone serotonin.
Vitamin B12 gives us a boost of energy when stressed and helps neutralise toxic amino acids released during stress.

If you’re in your 40s, ensure you include these eight important B vitamins in your diet to help manage stress.

Sip on a Calming Cup of Tea to Manage Stress in Your 40s

It’s time you put the kettle on. Drinking a cup of herbal tea can help you mind inner peace and manage your stress and anxiety in your 40s.

Herbal teas are filled with healthy antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds that protect your body from stress.

We love unwinding after a stressful day with these soothing herbal teas:

Chamomile
Lavender
Peppermint
Lemon balm
Matcha green

High-Fibre Food Helps Manage Stress and Anxiety

Eating high-fibre, gut-friendly foods like whole grain cereals and breads, whole wheat pasta, beans, vegetables, fruits, and nuts can help reverse the effects of stress in our gut and body. It can even lower psychological stress itself.

The combination of modern lifestyle stressors, westernised diets, and age-related hormonal issues can cause stress our gut and bodies.

Empty carbs like chips, candy, and soft drinks cause blood sugar crashes that induce stress, anxiety, irritability, and fatigue. Replace your refined foods with whole, plant-based, fibre-rich foods.

We at Vegan Susy have a collection of free weight-loss recipes designed to up your fibre intake and satisfy the mind, body, and soul.

Combat Stress with Anti-Inflammatory Foods

Anti-inflammatory foods can help our bodies combat stress in our 40s.

There is an interplay between stress, inflammation, and our emotions. We tend to stress more in our 40s due to perimenopause, and evidence shows that perimenopause is pro-inflammatory due to hormonal imbalances.

Cooling inflammation is essential for a healthy perimenopause transition and limited stress.

Consuming refined sugars, highly processed foods, unhealthy fats, and animal foods can increase inflammation, triggering a stress response. However, while foods can contribute to inflammation, they can also reduce it.

A healthy, plant-based diet can help drop inflammation and stress.

Your cheat sheet to anti-inflammatory vegan foods is rich colours — think berries, oranges, dark leafy greens, peppers, tomatoes, ginger, and turmeric.

Treat Stress and Anxiety in Your 40s with Prebiotic-Rich Foods

A study from Molecular Psychiatry suggests that prebiotic-rich and fermented foods (aka, a psychobiotic diet) can help us feel less stressed. These foods also help support a healthy gut and digestive health.

Naturally rich prebiotic foods include fibre-rich foods like garlic, chicory root, dandelion greens, whole oats, onions, artichokes, asparagus, bananas, apples, pears, and flaxseeds. Fermented foods like kimchi, sauerkraut, kefir, and yogurt are naturally rich in probiotics.

Magnesium-Rich Foods Help with Your Body’s Stress Response

“I 'm a nutritional practitioner, and I recommend magnesium to practically all my clients, to be honest, but definitely to the perimenopausal and menopausal clients.” — A. Vogel

Magnesium strongly impacts the part of the brain responsible for regulating our stress hormones. Low levels of magnesium (hypomagnesemia) can cause an increase in our perceived levels of stress and anxiety.

We recommend including magnesium-rich foods to help calm your nervous system and manage stress:

Pumpkin and chia seeds
Almonds and cashews
Greens like kale, Swiss chard, and spinach
Black beans
Soya milk and edamame
Whole grains like brown rice
Dark chocolate (yes, you can enjoy this treat in moderation)

A Plant-Based Pantry List to Manage Stress in Your 40s

As a woman in your 40s, maintaining a healthy diet is essential to finding inner peace, managing stress, and achieving overall well-being. Here are our top tips for a practical pantry filled with stress-wicking vegan foods:

Plan your meals: Before going shopping, be intentional about including healthy, plant-based foods that will help reduce stress. Then, plan your meals and snacks ahead of time to help you steer clear from impulsive and unhealthy quick fixes high in refined sugars, carbs, and fats.
Aim for variety: Include a diversity of plant proteins, fibre, complex carbs, and vitamin-rich foods.
Mix up recipes: Experiment with new recipes that feature vegan foods that help manage stress. Getting creative will diversify your food intake and keep your mealtimes fun.

If you aren’t up for the challenge of meal-planning, Vegan Susy has a simple vegan meal plan for women over 40 that is easy to follow and really tasty.

Foods to Avoid in Your 40s to Prevent Stress

As we continue to age, we need to be more mindful of which foods cross our lips. We need to deliberately make healthy lifestyle changes to manage stress and stay healthy.

To make life a little easier, we have highlighted the foods you should not eat in or after your 40s:

Processed meats, eggs, and dairy
Refined carbs
Fast foods
Fatty foods
Sugary drinks
Energy drinks
Limit coffee
Reduce alcohol consumption

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I eat in my 40s?

Eat a well-balanced vegan diet focusing on rich sources of protein, fibre, phytoestrogens, omega-3s, and B vitamins to manage stress in your 40s.

What foods are best for managing stress in your 40s?

Whole, plant-based foods like whole grains, vegetables, fruit, legumes, and nuts are best for managing stress in your 40s. Other great stress relievers include herbal teas and dark chocolate.

Can a plant-based diet make me peaceful?

Plant-based diets centred around whole foods can lower stress and anxiety and make you feel more peaceful.

How can a plant-based diet help with stress in your 40s?

A vegan diet rich in whole grains, plant-based proteins, and phytoestrogens helps balance hormones, stabilize blood sugar, and reduce stress.

What are the best plant-based foods for stress relief?

Foods like flaxseeds, tofu, nuts, whole grains, leafy greens, and herbal teas support mood balance and stress reduction.

Conclusion:

“Let Food Be Thy Medicine.”

Eating a well-balanced plant diet can help women in their 40s find inner peace and manage stress and anxiety.

Choose healthy vegan foods rich in protein, fibre, phytoestrogens, complex carbs, Omega-3s, B vitamins, prebiotics, and magnesium to flourish in your 40s.

💚 "Happy Plant-Based Eating & Exercising!" 💚

Plant-Based Susy

Plant-Based Nutrition Professional & Weight Loss Coach

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