All too often the conversation regarding soothing anxiety and worry focuses on breathing techniques or establishing a mindfulness practice.
No, don’t be mistaken, these are very important coping tools for anxiety. Yet, there are other areas in your life that can help you with regards and worry. Most notably, your diet.
It might be surprising to learn that the food you eat does have an effect on your mental health. After all, food is not just how we absorb not calories, but also vitamins, minerals, and all of the other nutrients that our body needs to thrive.
Here then are a few dietary tweaks you can do to help soothe anxiety and worry.
Cut Out Caffeine and Alcohol
These two are pretty obvious for good reason. Here’s why:
Caffeine: Caffeine is a stimulant most often found in our diets in coffee, soda, and some teas. Drinking a lot of coffee in the morning won’t help you establish the right mindset if you are struggling with anxiety.
Alcohol: Conversely, alcohol is a depressant. Instead of getting that extra kick in the morning from coffee, you might have a drink in the evening to unwind and relax after a long day. But this too isn’t a healthy way to cope with anxiety, long-term.
Eliminating alcohol and caffeine will help you to stay on a more even keel mentally.
Load Up on Antioxidants
Antioxidants are compounds found in foods that allow your body to fend off what are called free radicals. Free radicals come from sources that can harm our bodies, such as pollution, smoking, etc. The Harvard University Medical School recommends that we eat foods that contain antioxidants because they can help with anxiety. But where can you find antioxidants? Focus on foods that have a deep rich color. Green, red, purple, yellow, etc. Specific foods include:
Kale
Broccoli
Blueberries
Apples
Walnuts
Strawberries
Raspberries
Spinach
Black beans
Pecans
Artichokes
Reduce or Eliminate Simple Carbohydrates and Sugar
A big part of our diets includes simple carbohydrates and sugars. These foods are everywhere and easily accessible. Feeling hungry? All you have to do is pop into a corner store and pick up a bag of chips. The problem is that your blood sugar levels either spike or drop very quickly. That’s not helpful for your anxiety and fuels more nervous energy. Hunger on top of feeling anxious is not a good feeling. So, eliminate these go-to snacks.
Instead, cook healthy, well-balanced meals at home that have a mix of protein, veggies, and fruit. This will help to avoid those big swings in your blood sugar. Carry along a snack of finger veggies with hummus or avocado dip for when you do need a quick bite.
Add Protein to Your Breakfast
Start off the day right with some protein in your breakfast meal too. Examples include:
Turkey sausage
Non-fat Greek yogurt
A handful of nuts
Eggs
Protein powder added to a smoothie
Including protein at breakfast will also help in avoiding big shifts in your blood sugar. That, in turn, will contribute to feeling less anxious.
Drink Water
You might be surprised to hear that about 75% of Americans go through their days dehydrated. That means they are not drinking enough water throughout the day. Note that there is a big difference between plain water and coffee and sugary drinks.
In fact, about 48% of Americans drink at least one soda a day! These beverages only dehydrate you. Mild dehydration can look like you are cranky or irritable. You might even start to develop a headache. Now add anxiety into the mix! Men should drink about 3.7 liters of fluids daily and for women 2.7 liters according to the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
Are you feeling overwhelmed and anxious by all of these recommendations? That’s okay! Take a measured approach by making small changes to your diet over an extended period of time. You’ll find that you will feel better not just physically but also mentally as well.
