How to Fight Anxiety with Nutrition

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If you consistently struggle with feelings of anxiety, insomnia, low energy, panic attacks and mood swings, it may be time to take a look at how and what you are eating.

People often forget that what we put into our bodies directly impacts our minds. If we aren’t nourishing ourselves with healthy food and we are overloading on sugar and caffeine, we tend to be in a constant state of blood sugar imbalance, which affects the chemicals in our body and in our mind. If we are rushing around while we eat, our body may have trouble digesting our food and turning it into the nutrients we need to keep in balance.

Anything we eat or drink determines how stable our blood sugar will be. When we eat highly processed meals, it quickly raises our blood sugar and then it comes crashing down soon after. We may then appear hungry and struggle with cravings and irritability. When we are on this blood sugar rollercoaster, our body perceives it as a major stressor, which then tells the adrenal glands to produce the stress hormone cortisol.

Here are 5 tips for keeping your blood sugar and stress hormones in balance.

Pay Attention to What You’re Eating

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First of all, focus on what you are eating. Would you notice a difference between starting your day in your car with a candy flavored iced coffee and muffin rather than eggs and green juice at your kitchen table? You most likely will if you are paying attention to the way you feel afterwards.

It may be easier to start adding certain foods in rather than keeping a huge list of food to avoid. Feeling deprived is not the way to go when you are trying to make healthier choices in your life. This will stress your body out even more, which will mean that you will store fat and toxins, leading to even more anxiety and sickness.

Incorporate Mood Balancing Vitamins and Minerals

Keep in mind that you want to be incorporating protein and specific vitamins and minerals each time you eat. Important vitamins and minerals to keep your mood balanced are B-complex vitamins, vitamin D, magnesium, omega-3 fatty acids, and the amino acid L-theanine.

B-complex vitamins including B1, B6, B12, and folic acid have been known to reduce panic attacks and balance blood sugar. They also help to convert the amino acid tryptophan into serotonin, which is the “feel good” hormone in our bodies that helps to keep our moods stabilized. You can find these vitamins in certain whole foods such as almonds, asparagus, spinach, eggs, beans, and brown rice.

Many people are deficient with vitamin D levels, which is linked to anxiety, depression and seasonal affective disorder, especially in the winter months. Vitamin D can be found in eggs and fatty fish like salmon.

Magnesium is known as a calming mineral and helps with restlessness and irritability. You can find magnesium in dark, leafy greens such as spinach and kale.

Omega-3 fatty acids have been known to decrease depression, anxiety and anger. You can get it from fish such as mackerel, salmon, and herring. Other ways to get omega-3 fatty acids into your body are through flax seeds, walnuts, and chia seeds.

Finally, we have the amino acid L-theanine, which has a calming effect and reduces our reaction to stress. Tea is the only way to get this amino acid naturally.

Start Your Day Off Right

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Starting your day with a large nutrient dense breakfast containing protein and omega-3 fatty acids is a good place to begin. Research has shown that eating a large breakfast will reduce insulin resistance, which will help balance blood sugar and also protect against type 2 diabetes.

Some delicious balanced breakfasts are gluten free toast with smashed avocado and an overeasy egg, a smoothie with ½ avocado, blueberries, spinach, almond milk, and flax seed or oatmeal with cinnamon, sunflower seed butter, coconut oil, and chia seeds.

Of course you can take supplements for any of the above, especially if you are struggling to eat a variety of organic whole foods. It is recommended to do the research before purchasing supplements. You want to make sure it is a reputable company who takes pride in their products.

Nourish Your Digestive System

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Anxiety has been associated with common gastrointestinal disease. Research from neurobiologists at Oxford University have preliminary evidence of this connection. During their study, 45 adults took a prebiotic, a supplement to nourish the good bacteria in their gut. After three weeks, one test showed that subjects who had taken the prebiotic paid less attention to negative information and more attention to positive information, meaning they had less anxiety compared to the placebo group. This is a similar effect that has been known among people who have been taking anti-anxiety medication. Additionally, they had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

We need to nourish our digestive systems since it is now being shown there may be a connection to our brain and the way we respond in certain situations. Eating whole foods, fermented vegetables and supplementing properly can heal our guts and ultimately help us to feel happier. If you notice you struggle with digestive issues along with anxiety, you may want to reach out to someone who specializes in supplements and nutrition for gastrointestinal concerns.