Eat to Decrease Anxiety -

If you are struggling with anxiety and depression, you probably have heard what you need to focus on. Self-care, more good sleep, time in nature, and exercise. But did you know that your food may be to blame as well? Many who are dealing with anxiety have fallen into SAD (the Standard American Diet). Our current diets are filled with processed food that are high in saturated fat and sodium and low in nutritional value. This diet has been proven to increase anxiety and depression. Did you know that if you are low in B vitamins such as folic acid and B12 you are more at risk for anxiety and depression?

To help reduce your anxiety, it may be as simple as what you are putting in your body. There are certain foods that will decrease cortisol production and some that will increase cortisol production. Cortisol helps to regulate your sleep, increase blood sugar, reduce inflammation, manages how your body uses protein, fat, and carbs and helps to control blood pressure.

Unfortunately, many of us, due to all of the stressors in life including fasting, high intensity exercise, nutrition, and social media usage, is creating our cortisol to be over produced by the adrenal glands and is affecting our body in a negative way.

Food to help reduce anxiety:

Start your day with rich sources of tryptophan like eggs, turkey, tofu, beans, nuts, seeds, cheese and milk, they will help to provide satiety until your next meal.
-yogurt with seeds, nuts, and berries .
-veggie egg scramble with a sprinkle of cheese and turkey bacon.
Try to get more Omega 3’s in your diet by eating fatty fish such as salmon at least once a week and supplementing with a naturally sourced Omega Supplement.
Eat protein and healthy fat at each meal to help stabilize blood sugar.
Drink plenty of water throughout the day as mild dehydration can cause irritability and restlessness.

Avoid these foods:

Things you will want to avoid while dealing with anxiety are sugar, alcohol, and caffeine.

Eating sugary foods on an empty stomach, causes it to be more quickly absorbed which can create glucose spikes and dips that may contribute to anxiety; so make sure to eat well balanced meals and snacks.
Also drinking more than 500 mg of caffeine a day can increase anxiety so make sure to pay attention to your caffeine intake as you may not notice the effects of it right away, as it can remain in the body from 3-7 hours.
Alcohol is a depressant and can affect your sleep cycle which will wreak havoc on your hormones and stress levels and can increase anxiety.

Anxiety can be scary and debilitating at times. Therefore, it is important to eat healthy foods to decrease anxiety, practice self-care, and get a good night’s sleep. If you are ready to take your health to the next level, join our Moms Raising Healthy Community to access some of our favorite meal plans and to gain access to some of our 30-day challenges such as our Reduce Anxiety Challenge, get a better night’s sleep, and our self-love challenge.

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Positive Thinking has a lot to do with the foods we eat:

Did you know that anxiety is correlated with reduced fruit and vegetable intake? The more we can take care of our body from the inside out the healthier we will be.

Research suggests that the more antioxidants we have in our body the less anxiety we will have. So make sure to not only eat more fruits and vegetables, but also make sure to eat a variety of colors:

Green-Vitamin A & B, iron, and magnesium
Orange/Yellow-Vitamin C, potassium, and calcium

‌Your body requires B Vitamins, Vitamin C, iron and magnesium to help give you energy, regulate your hormones, and help with cell development.

Your body also makes its own medicine and 70% of your immune system is in your gut.

Your microbiome is part of your internal pharmacy and helps to create and regulate:

serotonin=happy hormone
dopamine=pleasure hormone
GABA=calming hormone
Butyrate-this is the superfuel for the brain and is made from the fiber you eat

95% of our Serotonin receptors are found in the gut, these receptors are key to stabilizing mood and brain function.

If you want to fix your brain, you must fix your gut!

Exercise for anxiety:

When you are dealing with a lot of anxiety, I don’t recommend over doing it with cardio, high intensity, or even heavy weight training. Your body is under a lot of stress and these types of exercises can create a lot more stress and make it difficult to recover. Instead, I would encourage you to focus on Yoga, Pilates, and walking while you focus on your nutrition. If you are in Perimenopause this may be something you deal with longer and I would encourage you to workout to your hormonal cycle, which you can find in our Hormones & Perimenopause Program

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