Foods to Avoid With Anxiety

A healthy, well-balanced diet can boost anyone's mood. If you're suffering from anxiety, however, there are certain foods that you should be careful to avoid and others that you should add to your diet.

Alcohol

• Some people with anxiety tend to turn to substances like alcohol as an escape and to feel better about themselves. Unfortunately, even though a beer or a couple of glasses of wine might prove to be momentarily calming, these beverages will dehydrate the body, increase hyperactivity in the nervous system and raise alertness, leaving you more anxious than before. Try to moderate your alcohol intake as much as possible, or leave it out of your diet altogether.

Caffeine

• Since it is a stimulant, caffeine can heighten stress levels and anxiety, as well as induce panic attacks in persons prone to them. If you are a coffee or tea drinker, try switching to decaffeinated varieties. Caffeinated sodas should be avoided as much as possible, but are available decaffeinated if you need a drink with a little more flavor than water.

Salt

• Salty foods like chips should be pared down as much as possible in an anxiety patient's diet. Depleting the body of potassium, an essential mineral for nervous system function, salt raises blood pressure and, with it, anxiety. Try not to consume more than one gram of salt each day.

Sugar

• The more sugar you consume, the more hyperactive you are likely to become. The more hyperactive you are, the more emotional disturbances you are likely to experience, including anxiety. Mood swings are more likely to occur when there is a lot of sugar in your system. When it combines with starches in the stomach, it ferments and breaks down into alcohol, which raises stress and anxiety levels. Chocolate should be avoided because of its sugar and its caffeine content.

Vitamin B

• A diet without sufficient Vitamin B can worsen anxiety problems. Foods that have high Vitamin B content have calming effects on the body. Vitamin B12 specifically has a direct response on the nervous system, making it less susceptible to anxiety disorders. You can get Vitamin B by eating soy, eggs, cheese, meat, poultry and seafood. The more green vegetables and fruits you eat, the better. Balance out your diet with brown rice and whole grains.

Water

• With so many processed soft drinks, power drinks, energy drinks and more available, it is more than likely that most people are not drinking as much water as they should be. Water is essential for the transport and distribution of nutrients, chemicals and hormones to vital organs. The less water you drink, the more dehydrated you are likely to become, the more toxins will build up in your system and the more anxious you are likely to feel. Drinking at least eight glasses of water a day is ideal.