Nutrition And Treatment For Anxiety Disorder

By | March 3, 2009

Anxiety Diet And Foods For Anxiety

Are there any foods that help reduce anxiety and maintain good health?

Anxiety is a psychological state that creates an unpleasant feeling, typically associated with fear, worry, or unease. Anxiety is a reaction to stress, which helps people to deal with difficult situations in school or at work. However, when anxiety gets excessive, it is termed as anxiety disorder.

Anxiety disorder is characterized by excess worry about everyday events. People who suffer from this disorder expect disaster to occur at every juncture, and they cannot stop worrying about different things such as work, school, family, money, and health. One’s everyday life becomes an everlasting state of fear and worry, and anxiety eventually dominates the person’s mind to an extent that the normal mental balance is lost, and all life activities and relationships are affected.

The symptoms of anxiety disorder include excessive worry about everyday affairs, restlessness, irritability, tension in muscles, nausea, headaches, a lack of concentration, perspiration, tremors, and loss of sleep. Moreover, people can also develop panic disorder, phobias, or suffer from depression.

Foods That Treat Anxiety

Maintain a healthy, well-balanced diet that contains vegetables, fruits, nuts, and whole grains. It is the best defense against anxiety attacks. Fruits and vegetables should be eaten raw as many enzymes are destroyed during the cooking process.

Processed foods such as white flour and sugar products lack vitamin B complex. This weakens the body and encourages feelings of anxiety. Sweet food is very harmful as it causes a drop in blood sugar during digestion results in the onset of the jitters. Your diet should be rich in vitamin B. Good sources of vitamin B include whole grains, leafy vegetables, eggs, fish, and nuts. Oats and hazelnuts are important for your nervous system. Honey also has a soothing effect on nerves, when taken with milk.

Eat frequently instead of having three meals in a day. A well-balanced diet plan should include avocados, asparagus, apricots, broccoli, bananas, rice, dried fruits, fish, legumes, pulse, raw nuts, seaweeds, soy products, whole grains, and yogurt.

Foods to avoid

You must avoid the following edibles if you are suffering from anxiety:

Caffeine: When taken in excess, caffeine increase anxiety, irritability, and mood
swings. Caffeine will also make those suffering from anxiety feel more tired.

Alcohol: Say no to alcohol, or at least try drinking less. Many people drink to calm the nerves, without realizing the drastic effect that alcohol has on your nervous system and overall health. Instead, opt for water or fresh juices.