How Food Helped My Anxiety and Can Help Yours as Well!

Posted by on Mar 22, 2021 in Uncategorized | Comments Off on How Food Helped My Anxiety and Can Help Yours as Well!
As I have mentioned in many of my blogs, I have struggled with anxiety a lot of my life. It is not easy. I have tried many things to help. Some things are more helpful than others. However, just recently I realized how powerful a change in diet can be.
 
In the past 4 months I have had some series medical issues, which have exacerbated my anxiety. I have a pretty healthy diet, but do like my occasional sweet and junk food. I recently decided to try a new diet. The first two weeks the only sugar I ate came from fruit. The other part of the diet is filled with real food, not processed…whole wheat, lean protein, lots of veggies and lots of fruit. After a week on the diet, I realized I was no longer going to bed feeling anxious, which I have been for the past four months.
 
As a health coach, I know how important it is to not eat processed foods filled with chemicals, as well as limiting sugar and junk food. I also know that food can be medicine, lowering disease risk, inflammation, blood pressure, cholesterol and so many other things that keep our bodies healthy. I also know that it helps with mental health, but had never truly experienced the benefits with my own anxiety until now.
 
What do I believe made the difference? The elimination of unnatural sugar. So many of the foods we eat and the beverages we drink are laden with sugar. Sometimes we do not even realize how much sugar is in them.  This is the one major change I made, as I had already been focusing on unprocessed food without chemicals, eaten lots of veggies, whole wheats and lean proteins. Other foods that are known to help anxiety are nuts and legumes(beans), and eliminating wine and caffeine help many people.
 
So, will I never eat a piece of candy or slice of pie again? Of course I will, but I will make unnatural sugar a very small part of my diet. I blog about this, as I am hoping it can help some of you with anxiety. This may not help everyone, but it really helped me. Isn’t it worth a try?
 
 Most of the time figuring out what helps is trial and error, so do not give up if the first thing you try does not work, and don’t expect it to work right away. It took me a week to notice the difference. Everyone’s  body is different when it comes to making changes, and honestly I do like my sweets, but I feel so much better!
 
Good luck, you got this!