I know I talk a lot about the lifestyle changes I made to have a better co-existence with my anxiety disorders. One lifestyle change I made that I don't often talk about is the way that I eat. I practically did a diet overhaul. I've learned over the years since my diagnoses to cook around my anxiety. (It happened a little bit on purpose, but also a little bit by accident.)
That sounds weird, right? Let me explain. When I have been experiencing prolonged low to moderate anxiety or if I am experiencing the spike in my anxiety symptoms that comes with my monthly hormone fluctuations, I tend to eat more of certain foods because they make me feel better, and I find them comforting. I'll have avocado toast for breakfast more often. Then for dinner, I might cook some salmon, lamb chops, or some black beans, or I might make a recipe that includes a turmeric-heavy seasoning blend that I make myself when I feel like I need the extra boost of comfort. (Turmeric makes me feel so relaxed and happy that I could curl up and purr like a cat. That's totally not weird, right?) As a person who loves food, I thought I just had a strange list of comfort foods.
I had been doing this for a year or so, and I kept taking it to my therapist. She always asks what I do when my anxiety spikes or is up for a prolonged period of time. I'd tell her I cooked something, and how that food made me feel less anxious. So, then she would bring up the whole brain-gut connection, and she would explain that what we eat has the potential to impact how we feel physically and mentally. A local nutritionist also recently repeated the same thing.
I wanted to know more about this gut-brain connection so I started looking into it. I found a post on the Harvard Health blog by Dr. Uma Naidoo, a nutritional psychiatrist and faculty member at Harvard Medical School (links at the bottom of this post). In her blog post, she talks about nutritional strategies to ease anxiety. She mentioned that foods high in Omega-3's, like Alaskan salmon had been shown to help reduce anxiety, and that zinc from red meat like beef (or lamb), could also help reduce anxiety. She also lists foods high in B Vitamins, like avocado as anxiety-reducing foods. Dr. Naidoo explained that these foods were sort of "feel-good" foods that triggered a release of dopamine and serotonin. Turmeric was also listed as a spice that had anti-anxiety properties.
Dr. Naidoo also mentions that foods high in antioxidants, like black beans, fruits like blackberries, raspberries, and plums (which are three of my favorite fruits to snack on), and vegetables like broccoli (which I have at least once a week) and spinach might assist in lowering anxiety as well.
It turns out that pretty much all of my comfort foods were on Dr. Naidoo's list. Without even realizing it, I had been using an anti-anxiety diet to help manage some of my anxiety. I'm not saying that following an anti-anxiety diet "fixed" anything going on in my brain. I'm just saying that certain foods made me feel better and less anxious after I added them into my diet more often, and I later found out that studies had shown those foods were helpful in managing anxiety. I'm also definitely not saying a diet change should replace medications and/or therapy. I'm just saying it wouldn't hurt to have another tool in your tool kit to try out.
Now, I understand (at least a little bit), and I cook that way intentionally. The diet piece of the puzzle feels like another tool in my imaginary anti-anxiety tool kit that I can use all the time without having to worry if it'll eventually become ineffective. I know it seems like a weird idea to cook "around" a mental health condition, but people do it all the time for other health conditions like acid reflux, diabetes, and autoimmune conditions. Cooking to help your brain chemicals shouldn't be any different.
I'll end with this: I'm not saying that eating certain foods will cure a mental health condition, but studies have shown that certain foods CAN help manage the day-to-day symptoms of mental health conditions like anxiety and depression. People change diets to help manage all sorts of physical health conditions all the time, and changing a diet to help manage a mental health condition should be taken just as seriously. If you're a person with an anxiety disorder like me, it wouldn't hurt to take a look at the links below and make your own mental health diet (if you can) for a few months just to see if it might help.
Sources:
Nutritional Strategies to Ease Anxiety:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/nutritional-strategies-to-ease-anxiety-201604139441
About Dr. Uma Naidoo:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/author/unaidoo
I wanted to know more about this gut-brain connection so I started looking into it. I found a post on the Harvard Health blog by Dr. Uma Naidoo, a nutritional psychiatrist and faculty member at Harvard Medical School (links at the bottom of this post). In her blog post, she talks about nutritional strategies to ease anxiety. She mentioned that foods high in Omega-3's, like Alaskan salmon had been shown to help reduce anxiety, and that zinc from red meat like beef (or lamb), could also help reduce anxiety. She also lists foods high in B Vitamins, like avocado as anxiety-reducing foods. Dr. Naidoo explained that these foods were sort of "feel-good" foods that triggered a release of dopamine and serotonin. Turmeric was also listed as a spice that had anti-anxiety properties.
Dr. Naidoo also mentions that foods high in antioxidants, like black beans, fruits like blackberries, raspberries, and plums (which are three of my favorite fruits to snack on), and vegetables like broccoli (which I have at least once a week) and spinach might assist in lowering anxiety as well.
It turns out that pretty much all of my comfort foods were on Dr. Naidoo's list. Without even realizing it, I had been using an anti-anxiety diet to help manage some of my anxiety. I'm not saying that following an anti-anxiety diet "fixed" anything going on in my brain. I'm just saying that certain foods made me feel better and less anxious after I added them into my diet more often, and I later found out that studies had shown those foods were helpful in managing anxiety. I'm also definitely not saying a diet change should replace medications and/or therapy. I'm just saying it wouldn't hurt to have another tool in your tool kit to try out.
Now, I understand (at least a little bit), and I cook that way intentionally. The diet piece of the puzzle feels like another tool in my imaginary anti-anxiety tool kit that I can use all the time without having to worry if it'll eventually become ineffective. I know it seems like a weird idea to cook "around" a mental health condition, but people do it all the time for other health conditions like acid reflux, diabetes, and autoimmune conditions. Cooking to help your brain chemicals shouldn't be any different.
I'll end with this: I'm not saying that eating certain foods will cure a mental health condition, but studies have shown that certain foods CAN help manage the day-to-day symptoms of mental health conditions like anxiety and depression. People change diets to help manage all sorts of physical health conditions all the time, and changing a diet to help manage a mental health condition should be taken just as seriously. If you're a person with an anxiety disorder like me, it wouldn't hurt to take a look at the links below and make your own mental health diet (if you can) for a few months just to see if it might help.
Sources:
Nutritional Strategies to Ease Anxiety:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/nutritional-strategies-to-ease-anxiety-201604139441
About Dr. Uma Naidoo:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/author/unaidoo
No comments:
Post a Comment