How To Manage Anxiety: Can Dietary Changes Help
This article was co-authored by Zora Degrandpre, ND. Dr. Degrandpre is a Licensed Naturopathic Physician in Vancouver, Washington. She is also a grant reviewer for the National Institutes of Health and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. She received her ND from the National College of Natural Medicine in 2007.There are 20 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 306,534 times.
Anxiety is a common problem that millions of people struggle with, so youre not alone if youre looking for relief. You may have heard that certain foods, diets, and herbs can treat anxiety. This is partially true, and some foods can relieve anxiety symptoms. However, these foods arent replacements for professional treatment. If youre experiencing anxiety and it interferes with your daily life, then you should definitely speak to your doctor or a therapist for counseling. Then, you can make some dietary changes to support this treatment.
Resources To Overcome Food Crisis
Were not talking about public assistance or financial aid to overcome food crisis.
Were talking about learning to provide more for ourselves and rely less on international and national sources.
Some of these will take some time but there is time to do them.
Use these resources that provide info on self-sufficiency and sustainable living the ability to provide food from year to year.
Be Grateful For Every Bite You Take
Its not a huge step from mindfully experiencing your food to being grateful for it in the moment. When we drop the story about something, we can finally be present with it. Theres a lightness to the moment. Were open to enjoyment of it. How could we not be grateful for the chance to nourish our bodies?
If anxiety is fear of outcomes or impact, it has us in the future. If its unease about where something comes from, it has us in the past. Gratitude flows most strongly from the present. When were here in the now, when our minds are in the same time as the meal in front of us, we can at last enjoy that meal in peace.
Thanks for reading, everybody. Has this kind of anxiety ever been part of your story? What changes helped you? Id love to hear your comments and additions here. Have a great end to the week.
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Find Other Ways To Feed Your Feelings
If you dont know how to manage your emotions in a way that doesnt involve food, you wont be able to control your eating habits for very long. Diets so often fail because they offer logical nutritional advice which only works if you have conscious control over your eating habits. It doesnt work when emotions hijack the process, demanding an immediate payoff with food.
In order to stop emotional eating, you have to find other ways to fulfill yourself emotionally. Its not enough to understand the cycle of emotional eating or even to understand your triggers, although thats a huge first step. You need alternatives to food that you can turn to for emotional fulfillment.
Other Things To Buy To Be Ready For A Crisis
Refill your medicines.
In addition, if it makes sense for your situation, you may want to buy the following:
- Vitamins
- Powered drink mixes, coffee, tea
- Cleaning supplies
Keep in mind its okay to buy a little extra if your budget permits.
However, you also need to think where to store it in your residence.
It helps if you purchase foods you usually buy and would have bought anyway.
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Pause When Cravings Hit And Check In With Yourself
Most emotional eaters feel powerless over their food cravings. When the urge to eat hits, its all you can think about. You feel an almost unbearable tension that demands to be fed, right now! Because youve tried to resist in the past and failed, you believe that your willpower just isnt up to snuff. But the truth is that you have more power over your cravings than you think.
Eating Problems And Other Mental Health Problems
Many people with eating problems also have other mental health problems. Some common experiences include:
- phobias of certain foods
- issues with self-esteem and body image
- forms of self-harmâ you may see your eating problem as a form of self-harm, or may hurt yourself in other ways too
- body dysmorphic disorder, which is an anxiety disorder linked to body image.
Food is one of many mediums through which anxiety, depression or obsessive-compulsive behaviours can be expressed.
“My eating disorder has always gone hand in hand with depression and anxiety in such a way that they haven’t felt like distinct, discrete illnesses but like one issue.”
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Fear Of Certain Foods
Some people have a fear of certain types of foods and this can trigger phagophobia. For example, some people have a persistent fear of eating contaminated food. This may lead to phagophobia.
Many times, Phagophobia is triggered by a negative or traumatic experience while drinking or eating. As an example, one of my clients had a previous experience with choking that led to his phagophobia. Being hit in the throat may also lead to future phagophobia.
How Is Binge Eating Disorder Diagnosed
If a doctor thinks a child or teen might have a binge eating disorder, they’ll ask lots of questions about their medical history and dietary habits. The doctor will also ask about the family history, family eating patterns, and emotional issues.
After an exam, the doctor may order lab tests to check for health problems related to weight gain, like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obstructive sleep apnea, and diabetes.
To diagnose binge eating disorder, doctors and mental health professionals look for signs such as:
- eating more food than most people eat in a set period of time
- a sense of lack of control over eating
- binge eating, on average, at least once a week for at least 3 months
- binge eating associated with:
- eating faster than most people
- eating until uncomfortably full
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Ways To Overcome Anxiety
One of the worse parts about having anxiety is you think the world is out to get you.
There is a paranoia that makes you think the worse of everything.
You may remember events differently than everyone else, because your interpretation was based on thinking everyone had ill intentions.
Anxiety is one of those mental illnesses that makes your loved ones have to walk on eggshells around you because your mind is fragile.
Its one of those illnesses that are hard to climb back from because you convinced yourself things WILL go wrong and people will do you wrong.
But the worse part of anxiety is you are so scared of the world and how they treat you, that you dont realize that YOU are the one who changed. You dont realize you are actually hurting people you care about because you assume they have bad intentions.
Being scared of everything and everybody, you tend to stay to yourself.
You dont realize your withdrawal from the world hurts everyone, including yourself.
Other Mental Health Conditions
mental health conditions , such as depression, drug or alcohol use disorder, or schizophrenia. Some people with serious mental health conditions may use food as a way to regain a sense of control.
When a person has an eating disorder and another mental health condition, they will need treatment for both.
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Causes Of Binge Eating
The exact causes of binge eating disorder are not known, but you are more likely to have an eating disorder if:
- you or a member of your family has a history of eating disorders, depression, or alcohol or drug misuse
- you’ve been criticised for your eating habits, body shape or weight
- you’re too worried about being slim, particularly if you also feel pressure from society or your job, for example, ballet dancers, models or athletes
- you have anxiety, low self-esteem, an obsessive personality or are a perfectionist
- you’ve been sexually abused
Buy A Supply Of Freezer Meat To Overcome Food Crisis
Every fall and winter, local livestock farmers have meat to sell.
This year, due to expected high feed costs, many are culling their herds even more than usual.
While a large quantity of freezer meat is a substantial financial investment, the cost per pound for many cuts is much lower than grocery store prices.
Depending on your geographic area, you may find beef, pork, lamb, and goat meat available.
Many farmers can sell meat by the whole or half carcass.
Some local regulations allow for sales of quarter carcasses.
If youre not up for such a large amount of meat, consider splitting an order with another family.
Learn about grass fed vs. grain fed to determine which is better for your family.
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Retrain Your Mind By Exploring Nature
This is by far the most important thing I did, and I cover this a lot in my post on overcoming depression.
Without any distractions, I began to sit out by the lake, or at a park.
I would try to find something pretty and admire it.
I would then find something not as pretty and say something positive about it . This task was repeated every day.
Each day, it became easier to find something pretty and say something positive.
I began to watch the ducks interact and became fascinated by their different quacks. Sometimes they even sounded like they were laughing. I began to notice birds eating out of bird feeders. I began to notice sunrises and sunsets, and even really neat clouds.
Focusing my attention on positive things helped me a lot with my anxiety. I eventually was able to focus on positive things in general, which helped balance out my constant worrying about negative things. Taking pictures of the things I found beautiful and capturing them helped me stay positive .
My husband, dog, and I began to get more into it by searching out different walking trails, parks, and beautiful scenery, instead of sitting at home.
Please Note: This is not an immediate relief process because you are retraining your brain and altering how your brain perceives things. You have to continuously work on it daily before you see improvement. It took me awhile before I felt more positive. Dont give up if you dont see immediate results, it takes time.
What Are The Signs & Symptoms Of Binge Eating Disorder
Binge eaters usually are unhappy about their weight and many feel depressed.
Someone who’s binge eating also might:
- eat a lot of food quickly
- hide food containers or wrappers in their room
- have big changes in their weight
- skip meals, eat at unusual times , and eat alone
- have a history of eating in response to emotional stress
People who binge might have feelings that are common in many eating disorders, such as depression, anxiety, guilt, or shame. They may avoid school, work, or socializing with friends because they’re ashamed of their binge eating problem or changes in their body shape and weight.
When kids or teen binge eat, parents may first suspect a problem when large amounts of food go missing from the pantry or refrigerator.
Binge eating is different from bulimia, another eating disorder. People with bulimia binge eat, but try to make up for overeating by throwing up, using laxatives, or over-exercising to lose weight.
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Get Back To The Actual Experience
Stop telling a story about what youre eating and start feeling yourself eating it. It sounds so obvious, and yet this obsessive story-telling, script running, relentless monologuing is exactly what we do.
Forget the health story of whats in front of you. Forget its sourcing. Forget how somebody on Food Network would judge it. Forget what your coworkers or mother-in-law would say about it. Cut off all language, and just be with your food the way a young child is.
Exchange words for sensation. Forgo judgment for mindfulness. Give yourself over to the sensory experience of what you are putting in your body. Smell it. Feel the texture. Take it in visually. Get in your own bodys responses to it.
Discover Local Sources Of Food Products
There are many reasons to buy local foods.
Just-harvested locally grown foods are fresher than anything shipped in from elsewhere.
When we shop locally our food dollars will stay in the local economy.
And some products even have effective health benefits.
Eating honey from bees that gather local pollens can help eradicate peoples allergies to the plants themselves.
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Dont Dramatize Your Missteps
In truth, some days people leave the 20 of the 80/20 principle in the dust. Maybe it started out as a well-intentioned gesture toward moderation. Or maybe it was always going to be a dive off the deep end. Whatever led to the misstep, theres no reason to dramatize it. It happened. Dont give more energy to it by moaning in regret or bewailing the slip.
Cheats arent catastrophic. Long-term, repetitive behaviors are.
Basic Food Preservation Needs And Helpful Accessories
Canning of high acid foods : water bath canner
For canning of low acid foods : pressure canner with accurate pressure gauge.
Its wise to have a dial gauge checked annually for accuracy.
Most county extension offices offer this service for free, especially during summer and fall peak canning times.
You only need to test the lid leave the heavy pot at home.
All canning: jar rack, canning tongs, canning funnel, glass canning jars , lids, rings
Consider a sun oven for cooking and dehydrating: dehydrating unit , storage containers
For freezing: pot and strainer for blanching, storage containers, vacuum sealer to avoid freezer burn
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What’s The Difference Between An Eating Problem And An Eating Disorder
- An eating disorder is a medical diagnosis. This diagnosis is based on your eating patterns and includes medical tests on your weight, blood and body mass index . See our page on diagnosed eating disorders for more information.
- An eating problem is any relationship with food that you find difficult. This can be just as hard to live with as a diagnosed eating disorder.
Support Yourself With Healthy Lifestyle Habits
When youre physically strong, relaxed, and well rested, youre better able to handle the curveballs that life inevitably throws your way. But when youre already exhausted and overwhelmed, any little hiccup has the potential to send you off the rails and straight toward the refrigerator. Exercise, sleep, and other healthy lifestyle habits will help you get through difficult times without emotional eating.
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