Eating Well Can Help to Manage Your Anxiety

Anxiety is a mental health condition found all over the world. Most of you experience this somehow at some point in time. You can say that anxiety is a combination of various disorders like social anxiety and phobias. Also, conditions like constant feelings of tension, stress, worries, and nervousness can interfere with your daily life and can lead to anxiety. Some of you have severe anxiety, and for that you need medications. However, you may experience anxiety due to many reasons but one of the main reasons for having anxiety is lack of food intake. That is why eat well regularly without skipping meals. Let’s see what anxiety is and how you can manage it.

Anxiety disorders and their types

Anxiety is normal and you can have it at some point in your life or even regularly. This means that you might feel anxious or nervous if you face certain problems at your work, go to a job interview, take a test or make an important decision. These feelings are common and normal. However, if these feelings of anxiety create an extreme level of issue in doing certain things, then you have an anxiety disorder. An anxiety disorder is a mental health condition in which you may respond to certain things and situations with fear and dread. You might also experience some kinds of physical signs that show anxiety which include, a rising heartbeat and sweating.

Types of anxiety disorders:

Following are the several types of anxiety disorders:

• Panic disorder: in panic disorder, you get sudden, intense fear that gives you a panic attack. During this, you may have chest pain, a pounding heartbeat, and also be covered in sweat. Sometimes you may have a choking feeling or have a heart attack.

• Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD): in this anxiety disorder, you may feel an excessive amount of worries and tensions with or without any particular reason.

• Phobias: in phobias, you may experience an intense fear of certain things or situations. For instance, some of you have phobias of snakes, water, heights, etc.

• Social anxiety disorder: this disorder is also known as social phobia. In this, you may experience extreme fear of being judged by others in social situations or gatherings.

• Agoraphobia: in this anxiety disorder you may have an intense fear of being in a place or situation that might cause you to panic or you find it difficult to escape and feel helpless.

• Separation anxiety: it is mostly found in children as they are worried about being separated from their parents. But anyone can have this. In this condition, you may feel very anxious when your loved ones leave your sight.

• Selective mutism: it is a kind of social anxiety in which children speak normally at home but do not speak in public like at school.

Symptoms: Excessive fear or worry is the main symptom of anxiety disorders. Others depend upon the type of anxiety disorder you have. But some common symptoms include:

• Panic, fear, and uneasiness
• Sleep problems
• Unable to be calm and still
• Cold, sweaty, numb hands or feet
• Shortness of breath
• Heart palpitations
• Abnormal breathing (fast or slow)
• Dry mouth
• fatigue
• Nausea, dizziness
• Unable to concentrate
• Avoid feared objects or places intensely

Causes: anxiety disorders can be caused due to certain factors which include:

• Heredity: anxiety disorders can run in families and can be inherited from your mother or father or both.

• Stress from the environment: it can be caused due to seeing stressful events. And these events include childhood abuse and neglect, the death of a loved one, or seeing violence.

• Misuse of drugs: some of you used drugs to decrease certain anxiety symptoms with alcohol and other substances which caused anxiety disorders.

• Chemical imbalance: severe stress can change the chemical balance that controls your mood. Therefore, if you experience a lot of stress for a long period it can lead to anxiety disorder.

Does eating well manage your anxiety?

If you want to reduce or manage your anxiety or stress. You need to keep that in mind: Eat regularly and avoid skipping meals. Try to eat every three to five hours which helps you in balancing your blood sugar levels because if you have a low blood sugar level it may be stressful to you and increase the cortisol hormone. Cortisol is the hormone that is responsible for stress. Therefore, you need to eat certain foods that help in reducing stress by lowering your levels of cortisol, which include:

Fatty fish

Fatty fish includes salmon, mackerel, sardines, trout, and herring which are high in omega-3 fatty acids. These omega-3s help in the proper functioning of your brain function, reduce inflammation and mental health. Also, fish like salmon and sardines contain vitamin D which helps in reducing anxiety. Because some studies show that a deficiency of vitamin D increases mood disorders like anxiety.

Chamomile

Chamomile is a herb that is linked with reducing anxiety. It contains antioxidants and also has anti-inflammatory properties which may reduce your inflammation and reduce anxiety. Some studies show that the extract of chamomile helps in anxiety relief. Another study shows that if you consume chamomile extract for at least 8 weeks you may experience reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety. [1]

Eggs

Eggs are rich in protein and contain all the essential amino acids. These are required by your body for proper growth and development. Eggs are also a rich source of tryptophan which is a neurotransmitter that may be beneficial for reducing anxiety symptoms. Some studies show that low intake of protein and tryptophan contributes to higher anxiety levels. [2]

Turmeric

Turmeric is a spice that is used in cooking mostly in Indian and Southeast Asian families. There is an ingredient called curcumin present in turmeric which may help in lowering your anxiety by reducing inflammation and stress. Some studies show that if you are an adult with obesity you may reduce anxiety by taking 1 g of curcumin. [3]

Magnesium rich-foods

Magnesium is highly beneficial for reducing inflammation and lowering your cortisol level. And because of this, you may relax your body and mind. Some of the magnesium-rich foods which are good for reducing anxiety include; avocados, bananas, broccoli, dark chocolate, pumpkin seeds, and spinach.

Protein-rich foods

Foods that are a rich source of protein include; almonds, chicken breast, lean beef, lentils, peanuts, quinoa, turkey breast, and shrimp which may help balance your blood sugar levels and lead to reducing anxiety.

Dark chocolate

Dark chocolate contains plant compounds named flavanols which work as antioxidants. Due to the presence of these antioxidants, you may feel stress-free and this leads to reducing anxiety.

Gut-healthy foods

Foods like Greek yogurt, kefir, kimchi, kombucha, and sauerkraut help in maintaining your gut health. As these are probiotics and fermented that may help in balancing your blood sugar and reduce cholesterol.

Certain foods are unhealthy when it comes to your anxiety and stress by raising your cortisol levels. Foods that cause stress on your body include:

• Alcohol
• Caffeine
• High-sugar foods
• Simple carbs, such as cakes and pastries
• Sodas

How can you treat anxiety disorder?

You can treat anxiety depending on the level or type of anxiety you have. Treatments for anxiety are a combination of psychotherapy, behavioral therapy, and medication.

• Several exercises: this treatment is used to treat mild or short-term anxiety disorders. These exercises include; meditation, deep breathing exercises, long baths, and yoga.

• Psychological counseling: it is one of the standard ways of treating anxiety which includes cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). This is used to change harmful thoughts and troublesome feelings which include panic attacks. In this, you may be exposed to your fears and triggers that encourage you to confront them.

• Medications: certain medications might control the physical and mental symptoms of anxiety disorders. And these medicines include; antidepressants, benzodiazepines, tricyclics, and beta-blockers.

Conclusion

Anxiety is not such a medical condition but when it becomes regular and causes you problems it needs to be treated. When you face severe fear and dread in some situations or from certain things it may lead to anxiety disorders. And you can treat these problems of anxiety by eating properly and regularly. Because diet plays an important role in every health condition. And you need to take a diet that is needed for treating anxiety. However, in some cases, you need certain therapies, and medications, along with a proper diet for reducing anxiety. Though certain exercises can also help you to reduce mild or short-term anxiety, they do not help treat severe ones like phobias, panic attacks, etc. We can say that for managing and reducing anxiety problems, you need to be concerned about the eating schedule as well as certain medications and therapies.