Eating to Fight Anxiety

We live in anxious times. Nearly one in five Americans has been diagnosed with anxiety, though the actual number is likely much higher: An estimated two-thirds of sufferers don’t seek medical help. Experts have linked this epidemic to a complex tangle of external and internal factors. Genetics, brain chemistry, and life circumstances all play roles. As it turns out, so do our eating habits.

“The average American diet promotes anxiety,” says psychiatrist James Gordon, MD, founder of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington, D.C., and author of Unstuck: Your Guide to the Seven-Stage Journey Out of Depression.

Awash in unhealthy fats and refined sugar and flours, our daily intake of processed fare creates biochemical conditions that weaken emotional resilience and spur anxiety.

“This is a dynamic system at the intersection of psychology, biology, digestion, and the nervous system,” explains Gordon.

The multifaceted nature of anxiety requires a nuanced approach to treatment. Millions get relief from medications, which are lifesaving in many cases. But, while these drugs treat symptoms, they don’t address the root causes of anxiety.

“Diet is the only way the brain gets what it needs to make the chemicals we call neurotransmitters,” says integrative psychiatrist Henry Emmons, MD, author of The Chemistry of Calm. “Experimenting with whole foods and learning how to nourish your body and your brain through nutrition can support your return to a natural state of health.”

The brain produces neurotransmitters—serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, and gamma-amino-butyric acid (GABA)—which are the raw ingredients of mood. These convey signals throughout the body’s nervous system, including the digestive tract, which is also the birthplace of many neurotransmitters (up to 95 percent of your serotonin is produced here). Maintaining a healthy brain and gut is vital to keeping anxiety at bay.

“What we take into our body today becomes our brain of tomorrow,” Emmons maintains.

Anxiety symptoms vary and can include restlessness, muscle tightness, tension, irritability, sleep issues, and intense fear and panic. Whichever symptoms you experience, you have more control over your emotional well-being than you may realize.

The following nutritional strategies — on their own or as a complement to medication — can help you ease symptoms and build greater resilience so you can better face life’s stressors.

Stabilize Blood Sugar

A calm brain requires steady levels of blood sugar, says naturopathic physician Alan Christianson, NMD, author of The Adrenal Reset Diet. Glucose (a form of sugar) is produced from the digestion of carbohydrates and circulates through your bloodstream to power every cell in your body. It is vital to the functioning of neurotransmitters — which means it has a major effect on your mood.

Because your brain is so densely packed with nerves, it consumes half of your body’s glucose at any given time. Go too long without eating, and your brain may run low on fuel. When that happens, your body releases cortisol, a stress hormone that -switches on enzymes that trigger more glucose production.

“The body makes more glucose by using cortisol to pull protein out of muscle tissue,” explains Christianson. “Delaying meals puts an ongoing demand on cortisol output, which breaks down muscle tissue and leaves blood sugar less stable.”

This cortisol surge can leave you jittery and irritable — sensations that feel a lot like anxiety.

Sugary snacks fool brain cells into releasing the calming neurotransmitter serotonin. “That’s why we crave carbs and sweets when we are stressed,” explains Emmons.

But this strategy ultimately backfires. Sweets, as well as other refined carbohydrates, cause your pancreas to release the hormone insulin to drive sugar out of the blood and into cells. The resulting low-blood-sugar crash also feels like anxiety: fatigue, dizziness, heart palpitations.

“One of the best things you can do for anxiety is to eat more omega-3 fats,” says Emmons. Manage inflammation with a diet high in whole-food sources of omega-3s, including coldwater fish such as salmon, herring, and sardines, as well as nuts, seeds, and dark leafy greens; avoid processed and packaged foods, which are high in refined sources of omega-6.

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