When her father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, registered dietitian and mbg Collective member Jess Cording, R.D., CDN, developed a taste for butter. “For some reason, one of the foods I really wanted to eat all the time was radishes cooked in butter,” she says on this episode of the mindbodygreen podcast. “It was the most random thing.” She adds that it’s a common physiological response to crave high-fat, high-energy foods when stressed (so her affinity for butter made perfect sense), and your body may physically crave certain nutrients when faced with emotional hardship.
Cording’s newest book, The Farewell Tour: A Caregiver’s Guide to Stress Management, Sane Nutrition, and Better Sleep, is a great resource for those struggling with terminal illness in their families—it’s an incredibly moving must-read—and in our podcast interview, she does touch on how she used food to nurture her physical and mental health. “Having a balance of protein, fat, [and] complex carbohydrates spread through the day, limiting sugar…those things were huge for me,” she says. In terms of specific foods, though, Cording has a few standouts. Find them below: