Every Day With Rachael Ray

30s Best Foods for Your

YOUR GOAL: FIGHT STRESS, FEEL HAPPIER AND SLEEP BETTER!

Maintaining a fulfilling career while managing a household and caring for young kids can leave you feeling overextended and stressed to the max. These foods help boost your mood and energy levels during the day—and even improve your chances of getting deep, restorative sleep.

20s Best Foods for Your

Walnuts Snacking on walnuts may help soothe your stress. In a recent study, adults who ate nine walnuts and a tablespoon of walnut oil a day experienced less of a blood-pressure spike in response to nerve-racking situations. Plus, a daily dose of any nut has been shown to cut your risk for heart disease.

have kids, you’ll be happy to hear that avocados are a solid source of folate, which can also help improve fertility. And they contain a potent antiaging mix of vitamins B and E, plus “good” fat that helps keep skin supple.

YOUR GOAL: FALL IN LOVE WITH ENERGY-REVVING CONVENIENCE FOODS.

You’ve entered the “real world” (career, bills, living on your own), and you’re maintaining a packed social calendar. Maybe you’ve started a family, too—or you’re planning to. Amid all that chaos, these easy-prep foods make healthy eating practically foolproof.

Grab-and-go veggies Kick your junk-food habit with snack-worthy produce—anything you can slice and dunk in hummus. Bell peppers and cauliflower are rich in folate, a B vitamin that helps prevent birth defects and depression. Filling up on raw veggies can also curb breakouts, says dietitian Ashley Koff.

Low-fat greek yogurt

Getting three servings of calcium-and vitamin-D-rich dairy every day is the no-fail method that most experts recommend to strengthen bones before 30, when you start losing bone mass. Mozzarella string cheese sticks are another great on-the-go option.

Oatmeal Tame the muscle tension that accompanies stress with foods high in magnesium like oatmeal, pumpkin seeds, apricots and even chocolate pudding. “Magnesium is a natural muscle relaxant,” explains dietitian Chrissy Barth, so it also helps ease menstrual cramps and alleviate headaches.

“Light” tuna A no-prep source of protein, canned tuna is rich in omega- 3 fatty acids, which have been shown to boost fertility and fight depression, Grotto says. “Light” tuna has a fraction of the mercury found in albacore (good news if you’re trying to get pregnant— mercury can harm your baby). Also, go for water-packed instead of oil-packed—more of the precious omega-3s will stay in the fish instead of leaching into the liquid.

Coconut water This low-calorie thirst-quencher (and hangover remedy) is one of nature’s top sources of potassium (most women in their 20s get less than half the recommended amount)—a mineral that helps keep your skin glowing and metabolism running smoothly, Koff says. Other key sources include sweet potatoes, bananas and sunflower seeds.

Frozen fruit

Women in their 20s are more likely than those in any other age group to choose sugary foods. To satisfy sweet cravings, Koff suggests keeping a stash of frozen fruit. Berries, mango slices and pineapple chunks are perfect for tossing into smoothies or yogurt, “and you don’t have to worry about them going bad,” Koff points out.

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Edamame To sleep easier, try tryptophan-rich soy-based foods, like edamame or tofu, at dinnertime. Also abundant in turkey and dairy, tryptophan plays a key role in producing the sleep-inducing hormones serotonin and melatonin, Barth says.

Lentils

Legumes like lentils and beans
deliver an energy-sustaining
combo of protein, fiber and
antioxidants, says dietitian
Bonnie Taub-Dix, author of Read
It Before You Eat It. Pair them
with veggies like spinach and red
onions to boost their antioxidant
power even more—this will help
you hedge off the
aging effects of
pollution and the
sun, Koff says.

Quinoa “Young women tend to eat a lot of refined flour in white bread and pasta,” Koff says. But opting instead for fiber- and nutrient-packed whole grains like quinoa (which also offers protein) helps trim belly fat, says dietitian David Grotto, author of 101 Foods That Could Save Your Life.

Chicken (and eggs)

This age group often falls short on high-quality, hunger-squashing protein, Koff says. Rather than reaching for fatty processed meats, stock up on chicken, lean beef or eggs. (If you’re pregnant, they’re a top source of choline, a nutrient essential to brain development.)