Diets for Anxiety

Anxiety attacks are the most frequently occurring mental condition across the United States, affecting more than 40 million individuals. While your health-care provider might suggest medication for regularly occurring anxiety incidents, know that you have an alternative measure to exhaust prior to subjecting yourself to the potential side effects of prescription drugs.

Anxiety

• Women are the primary target of anxiety attacks, as they are roughly twice as likely as men to be affected. The existence of an anxiety disorder greatly increases your risk of requiring professional health care, as you are five times more likely to visit a doctor and six times more likely to be placed in the hospital for psychiatric disorders than individuals who are not affected with anxiety. Thus, taking all potential steps to mitigate the effect of anxiety on your life can help you in more ways than one.

Anxiety and Diet

• While diet is not an outright cure for anxiety issues, adhering to proper dietary standards can certainly tip the scales in your favor when waging war against anxiety. A balanced diet can help balance your mood, increasing brain-chemistry balance and increasing production of chemicals designed to keep your naturally calm and under control.

Implementing an Anxiety-Free Diet

• Controlling your anxiety begins with controlling your blood sugar--this will keep your energy level constant, avoiding the potential mood swings that can occur when the body is unbalanced. To keep your blood sugar stable, consume low-glycemic carbs spaced out in frequent, small meals (five or six) throughout the day. Low-glycemic carbs are carbs listed on the glycemic index as having a mild effect on blood sugar. Examples of these carbs include cucumbers, spinach, apples, oranges, cherries, pears and broccoli. Whole grains are also less troublesome to blood sugar than white-flour items, so make substitutions where necessary to keep your blood sugar, and mood, stable.

Foods to Avoid

• Avoid or harshly limit caffeine consumption while on an anti-anxiety diet. Caffeine can make you jittery and hyperactive, more prone to overreact to ordinary stimuli. Furthermore, avoid alcohol consumption, as alcohol can cause anxiety-like symptoms as it is processed by the body. Finally, avoid any foods to which you know you are allergic or intolerant, as the stress on your system in digesting incomparable foods can act as a trigger for anxiety.

Other Trigger Foods

• Go one step further in your fight against anxiety, keeping a food and mood log to track how consumption of various foods affects your feelings of anxiety. Through keeping a record of your anxiety attacks across a month or two, along with the foods consumed in close proximity to those attacks, you will be able to uncover the specific triggers that most affect you, allowing you to optimize the results of your anti-anxiety protocol.