Reasons Why Your Diet May Be The Culprit Of Your Anxiety
If you are struggling with excessive and/or frequent nervousness you may be searching for reasons why your diet may be the culprit of your anxiety. What I can tell you from my personal experience is there is a very good chance the types of foods and beverages you are consuming is playing some role, but to what degree is difficult to determine since anxiety has many different levels, and many possible causes including brain chemistry, heredity, and life experiences.
The first thing you must accept is that anxiety is a normal response but most would agree is feels anything but normal. It is your fight or flight survival mechanism kicking in when faced with real or imagined danger.
The three hormones most often associated with anxiety are adrenaline, noradrenalin, and cortisol. Too little of these hormones and we might feel tired or lethargic, too much and we go into anxiety overdrive. So in essence we are trying to balance these hormones each and every day in a way that allows us to feel in control and achieve our maximum potential.
For example most of us have a few cups of coffee, tea, or soda each day to help trigger a mild adrenaline response to get us going (both mentally and physically). That's great as long as we don't drink too many caffeinated beverages and then encounter a stressful situation that puts us over the top. It is the old unexpected double-whammy that causes our bodies to be jolted into fight or flight and triggers anxiety symptoms such as sweating, dilated pupils, indecision, heart palpitations, irritability, tremors, and difficulty swallowing.
If you struggle with anxiety your diet and beverage consumption must leave you with enough room to absorb the shock without shutting down.
Recently I had an interesting conversation with a professional who found that when he got under pressure at the office he would start to shake. I had experienced the same thing years ago and suggested he curtail the amount of caffeine he was consuming during his morning commute and lean towards high protein breakfast foods rather than surgery snacks or simple carbohydrates. That was all it took to get rid of his tremors. Of course he was lucky because tremors could be a sign of some very serious conditions and should be checked out by a medical professional.
Reasons why your diet may be the culprit of your anxiety – Things to Avoid or Reduce
Simple carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates metabolize quickly and create a quick burst of energy – not a good thing for someone with anxiety. Examples of simple carbohydrates to reduce, or better yet avoid, are white bread, white rice, potatoes, processed cereals, pasta. Foods you can feel comfortable about replacing them with are whole wheat bread, brown rice, whole grain cereals (low sugar), beans, and lentils.
Caffeine. By now you likely surmised that caffeine would be on our don't consume list. I would suggest that moderation is the key here since most of us aren't prepared to give up our morning coffee, tea, or soda quite yet.
Salt. Our nervous systems need potassium to function efficiently and salt depletes this important mineral. Once again moderation is the key.
Sugar. Sugar is the arch-enemy of the anxious. It spikes blood sugar and hormone levels in exactly the same way as do simple carbohydrates. Reducing or eliminating simple sugar from the diet is perhaps the single most important thing a person can do to reduce, or possibly even eliminate, unwanted anxiety.
Reasons why your may be the culprit of your anxiety – What to eat
Generally speaking a combination of low-fat protein, green leafy vegetables such as kale (though all vegetables are good), whole grains such as flax, seeds and nuts, foods high in vitamin B, beans, eggs, and foods high in omega 3 fatty acids such as salmon are considered to be some of the best choices for those struggling with anxiety.
Note: You will run across articles stating that fruits are a must for those with anxiety. I totally disagree unless they are eaten with the pulp. They simply don't work for me and make me very nervous. The worst offender for me, even with the pulp, is the universally loved banana.
In conclusion, I have given you a number of reasons why your diet may be the culprit of your anxiety but recognize that we are all different and what might work for me might not work for you. Nevertheless, what I can tell you for sure is that the fundamentals listed above have worked well for me.
Additionally, besides diet some may feel they need a little extra help. If this is you there are a couple of herbal anxiety relief products (MindSoothe, PureCalm) that are consistently highly rated that just might be worth checking out.
The first thing you must accept is that anxiety is a normal response but most would agree is feels anything but normal. It is your fight or flight survival mechanism kicking in when faced with real or imagined danger.
The three hormones most often associated with anxiety are adrenaline, noradrenalin, and cortisol. Too little of these hormones and we might feel tired or lethargic, too much and we go into anxiety overdrive. So in essence we are trying to balance these hormones each and every day in a way that allows us to feel in control and achieve our maximum potential.
For example most of us have a few cups of coffee, tea, or soda each day to help trigger a mild adrenaline response to get us going (both mentally and physically). That's great as long as we don't drink too many caffeinated beverages and then encounter a stressful situation that puts us over the top. It is the old unexpected double-whammy that causes our bodies to be jolted into fight or flight and triggers anxiety symptoms such as sweating, dilated pupils, indecision, heart palpitations, irritability, tremors, and difficulty swallowing.
If you struggle with anxiety your diet and beverage consumption must leave you with enough room to absorb the shock without shutting down.
Recently I had an interesting conversation with a professional who found that when he got under pressure at the office he would start to shake. I had experienced the same thing years ago and suggested he curtail the amount of caffeine he was consuming during his morning commute and lean towards high protein breakfast foods rather than surgery snacks or simple carbohydrates. That was all it took to get rid of his tremors. Of course he was lucky because tremors could be a sign of some very serious conditions and should be checked out by a medical professional.
Reasons why your diet may be the culprit of your anxiety – Things to Avoid or Reduce
Simple carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates metabolize quickly and create a quick burst of energy – not a good thing for someone with anxiety. Examples of simple carbohydrates to reduce, or better yet avoid, are white bread, white rice, potatoes, processed cereals, pasta. Foods you can feel comfortable about replacing them with are whole wheat bread, brown rice, whole grain cereals (low sugar), beans, and lentils.
Caffeine. By now you likely surmised that caffeine would be on our don't consume list. I would suggest that moderation is the key here since most of us aren't prepared to give up our morning coffee, tea, or soda quite yet.
Salt. Our nervous systems need potassium to function efficiently and salt depletes this important mineral. Once again moderation is the key.
Sugar. Sugar is the arch-enemy of the anxious. It spikes blood sugar and hormone levels in exactly the same way as do simple carbohydrates. Reducing or eliminating simple sugar from the diet is perhaps the single most important thing a person can do to reduce, or possibly even eliminate, unwanted anxiety.
Reasons why your may be the culprit of your anxiety – What to eat
Generally speaking a combination of low-fat protein, green leafy vegetables such as kale (though all vegetables are good), whole grains such as flax, seeds and nuts, foods high in vitamin B, beans, eggs, and foods high in omega 3 fatty acids such as salmon are considered to be some of the best choices for those struggling with anxiety.
Note: You will run across articles stating that fruits are a must for those with anxiety. I totally disagree unless they are eaten with the pulp. They simply don't work for me and make me very nervous. The worst offender for me, even with the pulp, is the universally loved banana.
In conclusion, I have given you a number of reasons why your diet may be the culprit of your anxiety but recognize that we are all different and what might work for me might not work for you. Nevertheless, what I can tell you for sure is that the fundamentals listed above have worked well for me.
Additionally, besides diet some may feel they need a little extra help. If this is you there are a couple of herbal anxiety relief products (MindSoothe, PureCalm) that are consistently highly rated that just might be worth checking out.
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