IT’S NOT only adults who find themselves stressed!

In this Wednesday’s episode of How Healthy Are You? Elsa helps a family with their 10-year-old son who has become shy and withdrawn from family and social life, preferring to spend his time playing computer games.

The problems of childhood anxiety are on the rise, says Suzanne Condren (right), a psychotherapist with Owen Connolly Counselling Centre who feature on this week’s show. The counsellors were brought in to the Educate Together School in Portrane to teach children how to deal effectively with stress and develop coping mechanisms early on in life.

“People wrongly assume that children don’t suffer from stress but it can have an impact on them,” says Suzanne. “Generally speaking, kids are more anxious these days — and that could be down to any number of factors the way that society itself is going or because their parents may have anxiety issues. If you are an anxious parent, then chances are you will have an anxious child as kids are very sensitive to their parents’ feelings.”

Suzanne says teaching children how to deal with stress is essentially telling them there is nothing wrong if they find themselves worried about things and how to calm themselves down when they feel particularly fraught.

“It’s getting children to notice how they are feeling physically and emotionally,” says Suzanne. “It’s trying to normalise stress and fears. We let the kids know that it is not unusual to have worries and that everyone has certain worries. We also let them know what we can do when we have certain worries and stresses.”

One effective technique for children is concentrating on breathing. “The workshop is run over 10 weeks,” says Suzanne. “In the first week, we take a reading of each child’s breathing pattern using emWave software. The next three sessions are dedicated to practicing the belly breathing technique along with some psycho-education around positive thinking. An exercise that is very effective for mastering the belly breathing is ‘Teddy Surfing’. The child lies flat on the floor and places a small teddy on their tummy. As they breathe their belly moves and the teddy rises and falls, in other words he is surfing on their belly! Another exercise we use is a laughter meditation. It involves evoking belly laughs as this promotes belly breathing. It is also a good ice breaker.”

- Elsa Jones

If you are prone to anxiety or low mood it’s important you pay particular attention to your lifestyle habits. Looking after your diet, taking regular exercise and employing stress-management techniques are all vital components, and are even more powerful when done together. Sinead is living proof that an integrated whole body approach is what works best.

I created a nutrition plan for Sinead based on her health history. My main focus was to eliminate the food and drink that were contributing to her feelings of anxiety and low mood. They included caffeine, alcohol and sugar. From a nutrition point of view, a diet high in ‘good mood foods’ and low in ‘mood zapping foods’ can help balance how you feel physically, mentally and emotionally.

The key to understanding the connection between the food we eat and our mood lies in understanding a little about how the brain functions. The brain communicates by chemical substances passed from one nerve cell to the next. These chemicals, called neurotransmitters, are made in the brain from the food we eat. One of the neurotransmitters that is most sensitive to diet and influential in affecting mood is serotonin, also known as the ‘happy hormone’.

Our bodies produce serotonin from an amino acid called tryptophan which comes from food. This is a calming and relaxing chemical. When produced, feelings of stress and tension decrease, and our sleep cycle is regulated. Women are three times as prone to low moods as men. The cause of this lies in the fact that women are prone to low levels of serotonin. A deficiency can be brought on by many factors including hormone imbalances, blood sugar and nutritional deficiencies.

However, we can boost our mood naturally. One of the ways we can do this is by increasing our consumption of tryptophan-rich foods. Found in protein-rich food this is the building block for serotonin production which helps us feel alert and content. Foods high in tryptophan include, nuts, turkey, eggs, fish, such as mackerel (inset), beans and cheese.

In order for tryptophan to be converted into serotonin, it requires several other vitamins and minerals.

The B vitamins play a crucial role in the production of serotonin. A deficiency in B vitamins can lead to depression. Stress or anxiety can easily deplete our body stores of these vitamins leaving us open to low mood and anxiety, so it’s important that we consume foods rich in B vitamins on a daily basis such as oats, brown rice, fruit and green leafy vegetables.

Sample ‘Good Mood’ menu

Breakfast: Poached eggs on soda bread
Snack: Handful of nuts with a banana
Lunch: Tuna and chick pea salad
Snack: Cottage cheese with blueberries
Dinner: Stir-fried turkey and vegetables served with brown rice

- Elsa Jones

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Q. I’ve recently turned 40 and have noticed that my skin has aged significantly in the past couple of years. What can I do diet-wise to help my skin look healthy and fresh again?

A. Getting your five-a-day is vital when it comes to maintaining a healthy complexion as fresh fruit and vegetables supply the skin with much-needed vitamins and minerals as well as fibre and water. Along with nourishing and cleansing the body, vitamin C in particular will strengthen skin capillaries and collagen. Great sources of vitamin C are peppers, berries and citrus fruits. Beta-carotene (found in apricots, carrots and mangoes) and vitamin E (in avocados and spinach) all neutralise the effects of free radicals which can contribute to premature ageing.

Potassium is important as it helps regulate fluid balance in the cells and so combats fluid retention. Eating the skin on fruits and vegetables ensures you get extra potassium.

I’d also suggest you start the day with a glass of warm water with half a lemon squeezed into it, this effectively switches on the liver and kick-starts detoxification. Avoid over-consuming coffee, tea and alcohol, which will dehydrate the body.

Q. I’m considering adopting a vegetarian lifestyle because I’m health conscious and would like to make some positive dietary changes. But I have heard mixed views on vegetarianism. What’s your opinion?

A. Nowadays many people are choosing a vegetarian diet for a variety of reasons. Many are conscious of over-consuming animal protein or saturated fat; others choose a vegetarian way of life for ethical reasons.

The benefits of adopting a vegetarian lifestyle include a healthier heart, lower blood pressure and a reduced risk of developing diabetes and even cancer. The type of vegetarian you choose to be will dictate your nutritional requirements. Vegetarians avoid meat, fish and poultry. Those who include dairy products and eggs in their diets are called lacto-ovo vegetarians while vegans eat no meat, fish, poultry, dairy or eggs.

Vegetarians generally have lower cholesterol levels than meat eaters and heart disease is less common.

Some of the vitamins and minerals that a vegetarian needs to be mindful of include iron, vitamin B12, calcium and zinc. A diet that contains good amounts of beans, lentils, nuts and seeds should address these nutritional requirements easily, although vegans often require a vitamin B12 supplement.

Elsa Jones is a nutritional therapist and presenter of How Healthy Are You? on TV3. Elsa offers one-to-one consultations to meet your individual health requirements as well as group nutrition courses

- Elsa Jones

Q. I find myself getting really sleepy in the afternoons to the point where I could fall asleep at my desk. Any suggestions?

A. One of the most common causes of afternoon slumps is low blood sugar. By making a few simple changes to how and what you eat, you can keep your blood sugar levels balanced, and feel energised and alert throughout the whole day.

What you eat for breakfast can dictate your energy levels for the rest of the day, so make sure you have a balanced breakfast which includes protein and complex carbohydrates. Think porridge or sugar-free muesli with ground nuts and seeds, or try eggs or nut butter on brown bread.

If a sandwich is the easiest option for your lunch, make sure it’s a healthy one. Always include complex carbohydrates, such as brown bread, with protein, such as chicken, tuna, egg or hummus, and salad.

Homemade soups with beans, lentils or chick peas are another great lunch option. Try making a batch of soup at the weekend, then freezing it.

It’s important to reduce the amount of sugar and refined carbohydrates in the diet. Make sure that you have healthy snacks close to hand at all times so that you have no excuse to give in when temptation strikes. Healthy snacks include natural yogurt with fruit, raw nuts and hummus, or nut butter on oatcakes.

Q. What are the health benefits of eating beans and lentils? Also, do I need to soak them prior to cooking, and if so, why?

A. The bean family is a cheap, tasty and non-perishable food that can be easily incorporated into any cuisine. Beans are a delicious source of protein, fibre, B vitamins, iron, folate, magnesium and many phytonutrients, and should be consumed regularly. They help our bodies deal with and resist stress. Scientific research also suggests that beans may help prevent certain types of cancer, including breast and prostate cancer.

If time is an issue, tinned beans are fine but go for ones with no added sugar and rinse them well. If you’re going to use dried beans, then they should be soaked, particularly harder ones, such as pinto and kidney beans. In addition to shortening their cooking time, soaking beans will make them more digestible and enhance their benefits.

Beans are notorious for causing wind, but soaking them will remove the indigestible complex sugars from the outer coating of the beans that causes flatulence. In addition, their phytic acid may reduce the bio-availability of zinc and iron, making it more difficult for your body to use these nutrients. Soaking will reduce the effects of phytic acid on mineral absorption.

Elsa Jones is a nutritional therapist and presenter of How Healthy are You? on TV3. Elsa offers one-to-one consultations to meet individual health requirements as well as group courses. See www.elsajonesnutrition.ie