Make Comfort Food an Art

What do you do when you’ve had a day of people getting on your nerves?

Well depending on how you handle stress and conflict, responses can vary. Some people come home and fuss about the challenge to whomever will listen for the rest of the evening or maybe even the week. Others may hold it in indefinitely until one day they explode with anger. Still others may stress eat everything they know will add unwanted pounds and then later get depressed about the unwanted pounds. These answers only add to the problem of the stress that is already building up, yet all of them have a common thread: they all are ways you may be trying to relieve yourself of stress.

There is a better way.

There are several healthy ways to relieve stress. There’s exercise, meditation, yoga, and a host of other methods, but did you know there’s also art? Yes, art!

It has been shown that expressing your creativity can reduce cortisol levels. In the study, “Reduction of Cortisol Levels and Participants’ Responses Following Art Making,” published in Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association it was reported that regardless of your talent level, stress can be significantly reduced in the body with just 45 minutes of artistic expression. This means that you don’t even have to be talented at the art form itself. Just engaging your mind is enough.

Now, let’s take a look at food. Food can be soothing, and foods with healthy fats can do the trick. Here’s another thing about food, taking the time to prepare it and making it look nice on your plate is an art. So essentially, if you take the time to make a nice looking healthy meal, you can actually kill three birds with one stone: (1) you can reduce the stress that the conflict created; (2) you can make a wholesome delicious meal for yourself; and (3) you can give yourself the chance to talk out the challenge with yourself and settle on your way forward. Who knew making your own meal could be so grand? (See? Fast food can’t do that for you.)

Well, what can you make? The possibilities of healthy comfort foods are endless, but here’s one I made after a very frustrating phone call chock-filled with nonsense. It was simple: guacamole wrapped in hydroponic lettuce served with flax and vegetable tortilla chips. Your chips don’t have to be the chips I chose. You can go with flax crackers, or a multigrain chip with no trans fats. The point is, it’s okay to comfort yourself with something delicious and healthy.

So, the next time they are irritating you at work, just begin to plan that wonderfully artistic meal you’re going to create later on that will heal your body, mind and soul. Just thinking about it will jump start your internal shift.

Happy food creation!

P.S. Feel free to try my simple guac recipe.