Try our power breakfast, lunch and dinner plan to boost your energy and your mood

When we feel stressed, the first thing we tend to do is reach for immediate fixes, in the form of high fat and sugar-filled foods. However, indulging in these kinds of comfort treats will not do you any favours in the long run. In fact, they may even make you feel more anxious and inhibit sleep. Most of us succumb to illnesses when we're feeling low, stressed or depressed. Ironically, it is at these times, when we should be concentrating on our diet, that we're probably stuffing our faces with foods like chocolate, crisps and alcohol, which only satisfy us in the short-term.

Take a look at the following menu, which incorporates various foods to help you cope with stress and feel more energetic and alert. Aim to include foods with a variety of colours, to ensure that your diet looks appealing, which usually means it also contains all the stress and disease fighting nutrients available in a diverse diet. All recipes below serve two people.

Power breakfast

1 bowl Swiss muesli
A handful each tropical dried fruit and sunflower seeds
1 glass calcium fortified soya milk
1 glass of vegetable juice, like V8

Energy sustaining lunch

1 bowl of Quinoa salad with nuts and raisins
(Combine 110g quinoa with 300ml water, boil and simmer for 10 minutes, then cool. Next, add 25g each raisins, pine nuts and canned mandarin orange segments, along with 1 tbsp chopped mint leaves, 1 chopped spring onion, 1 tbsp olive oil and pinch salt and pepper).
1 bowl of tomato sweet pepper soup
(Roast 4 yellow peppers in the oven on the highest setting for five to 10 minutes or until charred. Put them in a plastic bag and let them steam for 10 minutes. Then remove peppers from the bag, peel off the skins and coarsely chop. Sauté 2 finely chopped onions in 4 tsp oil for about 10 minutes, then combine 12 medium chopped and de-skinned tomatoes, 1-2 litres vegetable stock and roasted peppers and bring to boil. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Transfer soup to food processor and blend until smooth. Return to pan and heat through. Serve with fresh, chopped basil over the top).

Tension releasing dinner

Barley and vegetables pilaf
(Fry a small chopped onion and 2 crushed garlic cloves in 1 tbsp olive oil. Then add 1 chopped courgette and cook for 5 minutes. Next, add 150ml chicken stock, bring to the boil, add 3 ripe tomatoes and cook for about 3 minutes. Finally, add 110g cooked pearl barley, 110g toasted pine nuts, a handful of chopped basil, add pinch cayenne pepper and salt and pepper to taste).
1 sliced peach served over 125g low fat ricotta cheese

Stress reducing snacks

1 papaya
1 slice pumpernickel bread with fruit spread
1 glass of carrot or tomato juice
1 handful of lychees or kumquats