Suffering from Anxiety? Find Out What Are the Foods that Worsen or Improve Your Condition

Nowadays, anxiety problems are not uncommon, and many adults experience them at least once in their life. In fact, statistics reveal that in America, this is the most common mental illness, as up to 18% of the population has to deal with anxiety.

If you suffer from this condition too, you certainly know that in order to prevent or cure outbreaks, you have to manage your stress level well. There are numerous techniques used for this purposes, such as exercising and meditation.

On the other hand, taking care of your diet can also improve your mood. But, some meals or snacks can worsen it considerably. This is why people with anxiety are recommended to pay particular attention to what they ingest.

A Better Understanding of Anxiety

To understand better why and how the food affects our mood when suffering from this condition, we have to know first what anxiety is. This disorder is the response of your body to stress or dangerous situations. If you deal with chronic anxiety, your overall health has to suffer a multitude of side effects. For example, you can also experience high blood pressure, digestive problems, insomnia, and panic attacks.

The cause of these issues are often stress, and thyroid and hormonal imbalances. If you want to get rid of anxiety and its symptoms, you need to eat foods that help you improve its causes.

What to Eat

Exercising and other relaxing techniques are recommended, indeed, but you can also take advantage of the benefits of several foods, which can limit, prevent, or even cure the symptoms of anxiety.

When thinking about your daily diet, don’t forget to include foods that are high in:

• Calcium
• Omega-3 fatty acids
• Magnesium
• Vitamin B

In order to reduce anxiety outbreaks, consume foods that are high in calcium. Those high in magnesium, such as nuts, are known for calming the nerves. Omega-3 fatty acids are essential for a proper functioning of the brain. They reduce inflammations and, most importantly, they stabilize the mood. Vitamin B has a similar effect, as it regulates the overall mood. Green leafy vegetables are high in both vitamin B and calcium, so don’t forget to include them in your daily diet.

What NOT to Eat

When it comes to foods that can worsen your condition, there are four major groups you should avoid:

• High sugar food
• Caffeine
• Refined and highly processed flours
• Alcohol

These categories of foods cause numerous symptoms of anxiety, and they can also worsen or speed them up. For instance, high sugar foods affect dramatically the levels of blood sugar, which leads to anxiety outbreaks. Caffeine can cause an irregular pulse or rapid heartbeat, which also lead to worsened symptoms. When you are prone to panic attacks, you definitely don’t want tachycardia (rapid heartbeat). Mood swings and blood sugar fluctuations are very often caused by refined flours, so that you are advised to avoid this category too in order to reduce your symptoms.