We all know what a certain level of being anxious feels like. That butterfly feeling in our stomachs, the urge to bite our nails? It’s all part of it. We all feel anxious from time to time. When we find ourselves in challenging situations or under too much pressure, it’s normal to feel a certain level of fear and stress. When we worry about certain things, our hearts may race faster, we start pacing around the room… Who hasn’t been there, honestly? Feeling nervous and scared about something? It’s only human. But, can a plant-based diet help anxiety?
Some people will have trouble sleeping and roll in bed for hours. Others may have a complete lack of appetite (or a very intense one!). Others will feel a lack of energy and will feel tired the whole time. Some people may feel like doing but crying and procrastinating for days.
Life brings unexpected situations all the time and we naturally worry about them. We usually get nervous when dealing with new scenarios or unexpected problems. A job interview can make us nervous. Moving to a different home can be stressful. Hearing about a disease will leave anyone worried!
These are all normal scenarios and feelings. People often fear that bad things may happen and all of us may have a difficult time processing fear from time to time. However, it’s not a healthy thing for fear to be intense and frequent. The key thing is here is realizing how severe these feelings are and how it affects our lives. Do I feel anxious or do I have anxiety? It’s important to understand the difference.
What is anxiety?
While anxiety is a basic human emotion, for many people, anxiety comes creeping in more often and stronger than it should. Like we said before, feeling anxious over something new or scary is natural but feeling a constant fear for no apparent reason is not. Kids could experience this as well and studies have shown that anxiety is closely related to childhood separation anxiety, for example.
It’s only natural to worry about things, but excessive worry and uncontrollable fear that interferes with your quality of life is a different thing. If that happens to be something that you find yourself continually struggling with, chances are you are dealing with some kind of an anxiety disorder.
Anxiety disorders can be scary and even debilitating sometimes. But remember, you are not alone and this can be more easily manageable than you might think at first. All around the world, people are dealing with anxiety disorders. The good news for all of us is that there are multiple accessible and effective ways to ease anxiety nowadays, including lifestyle changes.
Today, we will talk about how a plant-based diet can help anxiety, but before we get further into that, let’s take a step back and understand a bit more about the issue.
Is anxiety a mental illness?
Anxiety is considered a mental illness, yes. As a matter of fact, it is the most common mental health condition in America, did you know that? For many people — approximately 20% of our population — living with anxiety is a reality and a constant struggle. And as we all know, this can be very intense and become an extremely uncomfortable issue.
It’s important to understand how severe your anxiety is. Some lifestyle changes can be surprisingly effective. In many cases, it’s enough for many people to feel relieved or even overcome their symptoms. However, in other cases, professional help and treatment might be a better option. It all depends on how much anxiety gets in the way of life.
General anxiety is just one of the clinical descriptions that fall into the anxiety category. Other mental conditions, such as panic and phobia also fall into the category. These psychiatric disorders are also manageable, though it usually requires more attention and some professional help.
We will focus on general anxiety in this article.
Anxiety triggers
Although sometimes it might seem that anxiety appears for no apparent reason, several things can trigger it. Even if you don’t realize what it is first, eventually the warnings will be easier to recognize.
Of course, some situations will naturally be an anxiety trigger for everyone. If someone finds out about a life-threatening disease, for example. Another common trigger for many of us is dealing with serious financial trouble.
However, anxiety triggers vary from person to person. For some people, even a so-called “normal” situation, like going to a party and socialize with strangers, might be a powerful trigger. For others, it’s nothing to worry about.
That’s why there isn’t a single universal answer to where anxiety comes from. What we do know is that it’s an instinct. A physical response to our mind telling us that we are in danger. During human evolution, this automatic feeling of alertness probably played an important role in our survival.
With a bit of time and self-knowledge, it becomes easier and easier to figure out what situations are most stressful or scary for you. And, of course, what you can do about it.
Is anxiety genetic?
This is a very delicate topic. Is anxiety inherited? For a short answer, studies have proven that this is in part true. A genetic predisposition to anxiety does exist. However, it is not determinant as it is still unclear just how much genes actually contribute to the development of an anxiety disorder.
That being said, having “anxious genes” is not reason enough for someone to develop an anxiety disorder. Traumatic life experiences and environmental factors can have a much more significant impact. According to research, genes could represent only approximately 30% of the risk.
Science still conducts lots of research on the subject. A 2018 study, for example, concluded that children with anxiety disorders were two to three times more likely to have at least one parent with an anxiety disorder as well.
This proves once again that anxiety is obviously in part linked to genetics.
But as we mentioned before, this is not the main reason for anxiety. So while you might be more likely to develop an anxiety disorder if it runs in the family… you also just might not.
What are the symptoms of anxiety?
When we feel anxious, our body enters “alert mode”. The symptoms will vary from each person and they also depend on how severe your anxiety is. That being said, the most common symptoms are probably all very familiar to people dealing with anxiety. Anyone, in fact, will have experienced a few of these symptoms while dealing with stressful life events, social pressure, or scary situations.
There are many other symptoms related to anxiety, but here are some of the most common ones:
- Racing heart
- Fatigue
- Insomnia
- Irritability
- Tense muscles
- Sweating
- Difficulty focusing
- Difficulty breathing
- Digestive problems
- Constant fear/worry
- “Butterflies in the stomach”
How can I feel less anxiety?
How can someone ease anxiety? Can a lifestyle affect anxiety disorder? Can a plant-based diet help anxiety? These questions were all popping in my head before I wrote this post. And now I want to share some answers I’ve found while researching. In some cases, professional help is needed. But we will be focusing on what you can do besides that.
Even if you do seek professional help while dealing with anxiety, this is just as important. Lifestyle changes can have a HUGE impact on easing anxiety for life.
How can I calm my anxiety?
Anxiety is not supposed to get in the way of our lives. No one wants to live a life worrying excessively all the time. It’s exhausting and it drains all our energy. We all want to feel good and feel more in control of our emotions.
So even though we don’t always have control over what happens to us, there sure are things we can do to make things better and live a healthier life.
We mentioned in this post before, but we will say it again: anxiety is a manageable disorder. You are not stuck with it for life, you don’t need to suffer because of it.
Besides clinical help, there are tons of daily habits and calming strategies out there that can ease this problem more than you probably think.
Here are some 3 lifestyle changes that can make a huge impact on your mental health
1. Breathing / Meditating
One of the most serious and uncomfortable symptoms of anxiety is difficulty breathing. Anxiety is tricky. Sometimes, we think we have it all under control but the next minute we get so much in our heads that we can’t see clearly anymore. Even if you see it coming, suddenly you can lose control of what’s in front of you.
Meditating for as little as 15 minutes a day can significantly reduce anxiety. It puts our mind into a more peaceful mode and it makes us feel more in control. If you give it a try, you will see that practicing daily meditation can help you overcome anxiety and reduce tension more than you probably think.
And when you find yourself losing your calm in daily situations, the best strategy is to walk away from the situation for a little while. Find a silent place and focus on breathing slowly. You can simply close your eyes and take at least 15 deep breaths. But here’s a good breathing exercise you can learn.
2. Get organized
Get rid of clutter and feel better! Make Marie Kondo proud and try to be more organized, as much as possible. Who will disagree on how much an organized working table makes us feel good? What about waking up and seeing an inviting clean kitchen for breakfast? You need to be able to feel good and connect with your personal space. This is proved to be very effective for calming anxiety.
And last but not least…
3. Eat a healthy plant-based diet
Our dietary choices affect so much of our lives it has a direct impact on many different health problems. Mental health is part of that, too. The standard American diet is nowhere close to healthy eating. Research presents clear evidence on how healthy diets work as effective prevention of mental disorders. With that in mind, how can a plant-based diet help anxiety? Well, here’s how…
Can a plant-based diet help anxiety?
If eating healthy is the goal, a whole-foods plant-based diet should definitely be on the top of the list. A plant-based diet can offer you everything that you need to feel good and nurture your body and mind. When you make a switch to a plant-based diet lifestyle, you naturally start eating a lot more natural products. This means you limit your intake on processed-foods and you keep doing that for all of your life because you will see the amazing results it can have in your health and life! So let’s talk more about how a plant-based diet can help anxiety.
What foods help reduce anxiety? What foods should you avoid if you have anxiety?
According to the Nedley Depression & Anxiety Recovery Programs, a healthy diet is key for mental health. Staying away from refined products, alcohol, excessive sugar and caffeine are some important changes. And of course, make sure you eat all the healthy foods nature has to offer. Let me tell you: this is the easiest thing to achieve on a plant-based diet.
To help reduce anxiety, make sure you’re eating enough of…
- Fruits
- Vegetables
- Legumes
- Nuts
- Seeds
- Whole Grains
- Omega 3 Fatty Acids
Omega 3 is most commonly associated with animal products, but guess what? You can easily meet your recommended intake on a plant-based diet. Foods like hemp seeds, walnuts, avocados, berries, and chia seeds are all omega 3 sources!
Make a change!
Our daily habits and our general lifestyle play a huge role in our mental health. We can’t feel healthy if we don’t live healthily. It’s widely proven but I can also say from experience: living on a plant-based diet is life-changing and truly amazing.
Mental health happens to be one of the benefits, but there are so many others! You can read more on other benefits in our blog.
We hope you feel your best every day and give a plant-based diet a try to see the results for yourself.
Thank you for reading!
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