Stress is often associated with many internal and external aspects of our lives. We often associate the phrase “one thing leads to another” with stress, as it often does. This can lead us to adopt an unhealthy lifestyle, and poor diet is at the heart of this. Whether we eat too much or not enough, it is still considered unhealthy. The definition of health is “a state of complete physical, social and mental well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. In order to maintain complete health, we need to focus on our diet or what we eat daily. Whether we choose to devote our stress levels to eating too much or too little, both can have dangerous and worrying consequences, subjecting our bodies to even greater physical stress. Certain foods are crucial for our body and allow us to maintain balance. diet and these include fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains (Olphin/Hesson, 2007). People regularly associate eating disorders such as bulimia or anorexia with external or internal stressors in their lives. Whether it's work, school, or even self-perception, it's easy to express emotions in a simple action like eating. When our body experiences acute stress and initiates a fight or flight response, our appetites are suppressed (Torres, 2007). When people think of stress eating, they tend to associate it with overeating, or "comfort eating" as some call it. Eating things we love releases a chemical called dopamine in our body, meaning you can become almost addicted to the feeling, without realizing the effect it can have on our body; before it is too late (Olphin/Hesson, 2007). One of the following topics...... middle of paper ...... but everywhere in the world, problems like this need to be properly addressed. It is crucial that children learn from an early age the importance of eating a healthy, balanced diet and the effects it can have on their bodies, so that when particular stressors in life become a problem , they are able to deal with it safely and effectively. reasonable manner. Works Cited http://stress.about.com/od/dietandsuppliments/a/stressnutrition.htmTorres, Susan and Nowson, Caryl 2007-11, Relationship between stress, eating behavior and obesity, Nutrition, vol. 23, no. 11-12, pp.887-894. Zellner, D., Loaiza, S., Gonalez, Z., Pita, J., Morales, J., Pecora, D., and Wolf, A. (2006). Food selection changes under stress. Psychology and Behavior, 87, 798-793.http://www.cnbc.com/id/36919883Stress Management for Life: A Research-Based Experimental Approach by Michael Olphin and Margie Hesson