Although allopathic doctors generally advocate pills to treat anxiety, there is mounting evidence showing that these medications can have many negative side effects, including addiction, depression, suicide, seizures, sexual dysfunction, and headaches.[iii]
Practitioners of natural health generally believe that lifestyle—particularly the food we eat—is the best medicine and that some foods are better than others when it comes to soothing body and mind. Here are five of the top foods to eat to stimulate feelings of calm and well-being from the inside out.
Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock
Fish
Cold-water fish such as salmon, cod, mackerel, and sardines are under-consumed in the United States, which culturally favors protein from sources such as beef and chicken. This is a dietary misstep if you want to quell anxious energy. Increasing your intake of clean fish may help relieve anxiety by promoting a healthy brain and enhanced mood. That’s because these fish are rich in the essential amino acids L-lysine and L-arginine and healthy omega-3 fatty acids.Studies have shown that individuals with L-lysine deficiency are at higher risk of anxiety,[iv] and L-lysine supplementation lowers anxiety and reduces the effects of stress.[v] In clinical trials, supplementing with L-arginine reduced the synthesis of cortisol, a major stress hormone, in healthy human subjects.[vi]
Eating enough omega-3 fatty acids has been shown to enhance mood[vii] and reduce the risk of anxiety.[viii] Supplementing for a period of three months with a high-quality source of omega-3s has even been shown to support withdrawal-related anxiety in a trial with substance abuse patients.[ix] Just a few servings of healthy fish per week may be enough to gain these benefits.
Widespread pollution of our oceans—and the environmental effects of overfishing—have made some people wary of eating fish. The Environmental Working Group’s Consumer Guide to Seafood is a useful guide available for free online that can help you choose the most nutritious and clean fish from sustainable sources. It includes a calculator to help you customize portion sizes for optimal nutrition while minimizing any negative effect on the planet.[x]
Brazil nuts are one of the best sources of selenium By New Africa/Shutterstock
Nuts
Many essential proteins and fats are available from nuts such as Brazil nuts, almonds, and walnuts. Nuts also provide vitamins E and the mineral selenium, both proven to reduce anxious feelings.Almonds are a potent source of the antioxidant vitamin E, a powerful scavenger of damaging free radicals linked to a healthy brain response in fearful conditions. Vitamin E supplementation was found in one animal study to improve fear response in rats that were exposed to healthy vitamin E levels in utero. Offspring of rats that were deprived of the nutrient during pregnancy had an impaired fear response and increased anxiety.[xiii] One cup of ground almonds (a great addition to many recipes) provides 125 percent of an adult’s recommended daily allowance of vitamin E.[xiv] Be aware, however, that almonds are a high-calorie food. One cup of ground almonds has more than 500 calories.
Brazil nuts are one of the best sources of selenium, an essential trace mineral that is critical for optimal health. Adults who were supplemented with 100 micrograms (mcg) of selenium per day in a clinical trial reported less anxiety than the placebo group. According to the report, the lower the level of selenium in the diet, the higher the levels of anxiety, depression, and tiredness among patients, all of which decreased following five weeks of selenium therapy. [xv]
Adults over 14 years of age are recommended to intake 55 mcg of selenium each day.[xvi] A small handful of Brazil nuts (six to eight nuts) delivers a whopping 544 mcg of selenium—more than enough to take the edge off your mood.[xvii]
All of these nuts provide essential amino acids and fatty acids that produce the mood-regulating hormones serotonin and dopamine, improving their effects on mood and overall mental health.[xviii]
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Yogurt
Fermented foods such as yogurt have long been acknowledged as beneficial for gut health because of the presence of friendly bacteria known as probiotics, which help protect the gastrointestinal tract against harmful pathogens and potentially dangerous microbes. As the understanding of the gut–brain connection develops, science is further acknowledging fermented foods’ positive effect on brain health and even mood.A 2014 study found that adults with high-trait anxiety disorder who consumed probiotic-enriched yogurt daily had healthier stress responses than those who consumed non-enriched yogurt, suggesting that eating probiotic-enriched yogurt aids in coping with chronic stress.[xix]
This beneficial activity may be due to probiotics’ neuroprotective effect on the brain. A study on healthy women with no gastrointestinal or psychiatric symptoms showed that ingesting a fermented milk product with probiotics for four weeks led to “robust alteration” within specific brain regions that process emotion and sensation, suggesting that consuming such probiotic-rich foods prevents anxious feelings from developing.[xx]
Other studies on animals and humans have shown that eating fermented food is associated with fewer symptoms of social anxiety[xxi] and a lowered risk of depression.[xxii]
It should be noted that there are plenty of alternatives to cow’s milk-based yogurt products today, such as coconut, almond, and goat’s milk, all of which can help to prevent bovine casein-associated adverse health effects that some people experience.
By Marian Weyo/Shutterstock
Green Tea
Having a daily tea ritual is a great way to weave in a moment of calm. Besides the benefits of taking a break from daily concerns to boil water, select a cup, and let it steep, drinking tea is a great way to boost your brain’s ability to ward off stress.In a Singapore study of 60 healthy seniors, the brain scans of those with a regular tea habit showed improved brain organization brought about by tea’s ability to prevent disruption of interregional connections. Those seniors’ different brain regions had more and healthier interconnections; they were more organized with better hemispheric symmetry.[xxiii]
L-theanine is an active polyphenol in green tea that may be at the heart of its ability to calm nerves and fortify the brain. An amino acid, theanine produces a soothing effect by stimulating the production of GABA and dopamine, neurotransmitters known to play a role in anxiety[xxiv] and pleasurable sensations.
Green tea also contains a potent phytochemical called EGCG, short for epigallocatechin-gallate, another polyphenol in green tea that has gained a lot of attention as a potential therapeutic agent for preventing neurodegenerative inflammatory diseases.[xxv] And if you need any more reasons to start a green tea habit, regular tea drinking may bolster the immune system to prevent influenza infection.
It’s very hard to overdo green tea consumption. A 2009 study conducted in Japan, one of the largest consumer countries of green tea, found that those who consumed more than five cups per day had significantly less stress than those who drank less than 1 cup per day.[xxvi] In other words, the more you drink, the better you feel, so put on the kettle and start feeling better.
Dark chocolate Stock photo/iStock
Dark Chocolate
While you engage in afternoon tea, why not break off a square (or two) of fine dark chocolate? Don’t worry about the jitters one might associate with chocolate—dark chocolate is clinically shown to improve anxiety and deliver a potent feel-good boost of serotonin.[xxvii]Look for a brand high in cocoa and low in harmful sugars, additives, and hydrogenated oils. Cocoa contains more active phenolic antioxidants than most foods, a factor that can benefit brain function.[xxviii] One could argue that dark chocolate tastes better than most foods too, a factor that has been clinically shown to impart a soothing effect to individuals who are prone to mood disorders.[xxix]
Dark chocolate isn’t just about taste—it’s got minerals such as magnesium that are important for brain health and mood. A large square of dark chocolate with 70 percent to 85 percent cacao provides about 36 milligrams of magnesium, nearly 10 percent of the U.S. recommended daily allowance for adults.[xxx]
Magnesium is considered an essential supplement for psychiatric patients because of the role it plays in calming the nervous system.[xxxi] In a 2011 study of highly stressed individuals, participants who ate 40 grams of dark chocolate every day for two weeks reported significantly lower stress levels than participants who ate milk or white chocolates.[xxxii]
Eating dark chocolate has been shown to boost the neurotransmitter serotonin, which can lead to fewer and milder feelings of anxiety because of an enhanced ability to manage stress.[xxxiii] By adding a serving of dark chocolate to your day, you can impart a wide array of self-care benefits to enhance your mood and increase your resilience to life’s daily stressors. There is no reason not to indulge.
Republished from GreenMedInfo.com
References
[i] American Psychiatric Association, Newsroom, APA Public Opinion Poll–Annual Meeting 2017 [Accessed April 10, 2020]
[ii] American Psychiatric Association, Newsroom, APA Public Opinion Poll–Annual Meeting 2018 [Accessed April 10, 2020]
[x] Environmental Working Group Consumer Guide to Seafood
[xiv] Self Nutrition Data, Facts, Nuts and Seeds, Almonds
[xvi] National Institutes of Health, Fact Sheets, Selenium
[xvii] National Institutes of Health, Fact Sheets, Selenium
[xxiii] Junhua Li, Rafael Romero-Garcia, John Suckling, Lei Feng. Habitual tea drinking modulates brain efficiency: evidence from brain connectivity evaluation. Aging, 2019; 11 (11): 3876 DOI: 10.18632/aging.102023
[xxiv] Lydiard RB. The role of GABA in anxiety disorders. J Clin Psychiatry. 2003;64 Suppl 3:21-7
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