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What to eat and how to control nerves when the Argentine national team plays, according to nutritionists and psychologis
🇦🇷 Argentina /Health & Science

What to eat and how to control nerves when the Argentine national team plays, according to nutritionists and psychologists

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Argentinians experience significant emotional and physical stress while watching their national soccer team play, impacting appetite and digestion.
  • Nutritionists and psychologists recommend strategies to manage stress, including mindful eating and avoiding stimulants like caffeine and alcohol.
  • Healthy alternatives like water, fruit juices, and non-carbonated drinks are advised, alongside eating before matches to prepare the digestive system.

The intense emotional rollercoaster of watching the Argentine national soccer team play can significantly impact the physical well-being of fans. Increased heart rates, tense shoulders, and pent-up emotions are common manifestations of the stress experienced during matches, turning the act of cheering into a demanding physical exertion.

Certainly, stress modifies digestion.

— Yael HasbaniSpecialist in Culinary Medicine, explaining the physiological effects of stress on the body.

This sustained tension can disrupt appetite, alter mood, impede digestion, and even trigger physical symptoms such as headaches and stomach discomfort. To mitigate these effects, specialists in nutrition and mental health propose various strategies aimed at reducing the impact of stress on the body.

When watching an important match, the brain enters fight or flight mode and focuses on survival; therefore, it has to choose which bodily functions to prioritize and which not to.

— Yael HasbaniDescribing the body's response to stress during soccer matches.

Nutritionist Yael Hasbani explains that stress directly affects digestion due to the strong connection between the gut and the brain. When the brain enters a 'fight or flight' mode during an important match, it prioritizes survival functions, often relegating the digestive system. This can lead to slower digestion, feelings of heaviness, bloating, acid reflux, and even nausea.

Stimulant drinks like energy drinks, coffee, and alcohol are the most harmful for these occasions. They increase adrenaline levels, spike cortisol, and cause reflux in predisposed individuals.

— Yael HasbaniWarning against the consumption of certain beverages during high-stress events.

Stimulant beverages like energy drinks, coffee, and alcohol are particularly detrimental, as they can increase adrenaline and cortisol levels. Hasbani recommends healthier alternatives such as water, fruit juices, and non-carbonated drinks. Both Hasbani and Germán Busch, coordinator of the coronary unit at Hospital Universitario Austral, emphasize the importance of eating before a match to prepare the digestive system and manage the stress response.

Eating before is the golden rule.

— Yael HasbaniRecommending a key strategy for managing stress and digestion during soccer matches.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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