5 Nutrition Recommendations to Help With Anxiety
Having good nutrition doesn’t just help your physical health. Our minds and bodies are intertwined, but you might not be aware of how your eating habits might be affecting your mental health. And if you’re experiencing anxiety in particular, one big way you can actually help manage your symptoms is through some dietary changes.
While it’s always good to consult a physician or mental healthcare worker in case there is some other underlying cause for your symptoms, here are some signs that you might be experiencing anxiety:
Trouble concentrating
Nausea, bloating
Headaches
Irritablity
Feeling nervous, restless or tense
Feeling weak, tired, or rundown
Feeling frantic before meals, especially dinner
Trouble sleeping
Constant hunger and cravings
Lack of appetite and hunger
But you don’t have to just live like this. Anxiety affects everyone a little differently but if you’re looking for ways to help with your symptoms in addition to a comprehensive and holistic care plan, below are a few manageable changes you can make to your diet.
Eat regularly!
Yes, some people do way better with their anxiety (and overall health) when they have several small meals a day instead of the typical breakfast, lunch and dinner. I suggest eating every three to five hours, rounding out your usual 3-meals-a-day with nourishing snacks.
Be sure to include protein, fat, carbohydrates, and fiber at meals and snacks as well so make sure you’re getting all the nutrients you need to fuel your day. And if you’re not sure what to reach for during snacktime, take a look at my previous blog on healthy snack ideas for some inspiration.
Proteins in particular are made of amino acids that help make neurotransmitters, such as serotonin. Adding protein to meals and snacks can also help balance blood sugar by slowing down the time it takes for glucose (product of carbohydrate metabolism) to enter your bloodstream. Plus, protein can help you feel comfortably full until your next meal, and fat and fiber are full of nutrients and aid in keeping you comfortably full –– which may help you gauge your hunger cues until your next meal.
In addition, eating more regularly also balances the blood sugar. The mechanism is unclear, but fueling your body will help fuel your brain (a very important body part)! In my opinion,eating regularly is the basis of almost all nutrition therapy. It also also helps ensure that your intake is meeting your nutritional needs.
And eating every 3-5 hours in most situations can also help improve your appetite, hunger and fullness cues if you’ve lost them over the years. In some cases, relearning hunger and fullness cues and becoming comfortable with them again in and of itself can help reduce anxiety around food and the eating experience.
Identify nutrient gaps!
A lot of people have gaps in their nutrition for a variety of reasons like dietary restrictions or allergies, but a lack in omega-3s is the biggest gap I typically see. These omega-3s help to lower levels of inflammation in the body that may contribute to psychiatric disorders such as anxiety. One of the best ways to get enough omega-3s is by eating fish – about 3-6 oz serving per week. However, I often see that clients are not eating enough fish – either because they don’t like it or simply can’t because they are vegetarian and vegan.
Although many clients can eat nuts and seeds, it’s often not enough to support the omega-3 recommendation. Adding a trusted fish oil supplement or algae supplement may be a great idea for you, however, it’s not for everyone, and getting the correct dosage is important. For instance, if you are on blood thinners or have a history of AFIB or another cardiovascular health issue, fish oil is not a good option for you.
Try to keep a food diary for a week to help you keep track of what you’re eating, so you can truly assess what your diet really needs. You may even want to discuss your results with your doctor (or a dietitian like myself) to see what is the best path forward for you. Once you identify the gaps, you can try to incorporate different foods to balance them out.
Add in fruits and vegetables!
Antioxidants found in fruits and vegetables may play a role in inflammation and oxidative stress in the body. Additionally, the fiber in fruits and vegetables serve as food for your gut bacteria, which may modulate your gut-brain axis and neurotransmitter synthesis –– all important things if you’re trying to adjust your diet to help with anxiety.
Adding in more fruits and vegetables whenever you can will also aid in helping with symptoms of anxiety through additional soluble and insoluble fiber at meal and snack times, helping to close micronutrient gaps and provide antioxidants for our bodies.
Lots more research is being done on how feeding our gut can help our brains (i.e. the gut-brain axis). Fiber from fruits and vegetables feed the bacteria in our gut which in turn helps to create and regulate neurotransmitters.
What else is going on?
Stress and sleep can greatly impact anxiety levels. Ask yourself the important questions:
Is anxiety is a coping skill that you’ve learned over the years?
Are you hungry all day and then binge eating at night?
Do you have a nutrient gap or new health diagnosis?
Is life just too crazy for you to think about eating?
And finally, where are you on the disordered eating spectrum? Disordered eating can cause high levels of anxiety around food.
I see it all the time.
So it’s best to work with your therapist and dietitian to help determine what is contributing to your stress and poor sleep.
Of course, poor stress tolerance, poor sleep quantity and quality and anxiety are notably related. Working with someone who can help identify what is behind your stress and poor sleep and how to cope can be really helpful when is comes to helping symptoms of anxiety. And if you have a chronic condition or a new diagnosis, nutrition can play an even bigger role in your mental health. Collaborating with a team of health professionals may be really beneficial here.
A word on disordered eating…
If food is the cause of your anxiety or anxious feelings around food, it might be time to explore why and how to work on those feelings and symptoms. More on disordered eating signs and symptoms can be found on EatRight.org
Take a look at some more research pertaining to diet and anxiety here. This is not a comprehensive list of how and why diet plays a role in anxiety, but these are the basics. As always working with a medical doctor or related health care professional, mental health professional and a dietitian to figure out what is healthy for YOU is the most important.
If you would like to chat more, please contact me!
DISCLAIMER. This is not medical advice. Please contact your personal medical and mental healthcare team with questions.