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Food That Causes Anxiety

Many factors cause anxiety, including food. With proper information and counseling, anxiety levels can decrease and healthy nutrition can increase. Finding the proper balance will vary per individual.

  1. Caffeine

    • Caffeine is a known stimulant that can increase the adrenaline in your system. This will increase the "fight or flight" defense mechanism, causing anxiety and panic.

    Low-Fat Dairy Foods

    • Excessive amounts of low-fat dairy can cause an overabundance of calcium. The calcium throws off the magnesium levels, which causes high rushes of adrenaline.

    Salt

    • Salt intake reduces potassium in the body. Potassium is needed for proper function of the nervous system. Salt increases blood pressure putting stress on the system, which can cause anxiety.

    Processed Foods

    • These "instant" foods are full of preservatives, artificial flavors and saturated fat. The human body was not made to handle these so intake puts stress on the body.

    Sugar

    • Don't add extra sugar to a diet. Too much will rob the body of highly essential nutrients. Nutrition deficiencies lead to anxiety. Artificial sweeteners are known to cause anxiety as well.

    Spices

    • Spices like cayenne pepper, chili powder, turmeric and garlic powder contain salicylates which speed up the metabolism, causing that "edgy" feeling. That feeling can result in anxiety.

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