Updated: 10/18/2019
Are you suffering from depression, anxiety or panic attacks? Did you try a number of techniques or even medicines to reduce stress without significant results? In fact, anxiety and stress are common psychological disorders that people experience these days; however, not many people know how to deal with it the right way. To deal with anxiety completely, you should look at your daily diet before reaching for the medicine cabinet. Research shows that some foods act as natural remedies for anxiety while others may aggravate the problem. In other words, simple food choices could make a big difference between feeling more stable and feeling worse.
Actually, certain foods in your diet may over-stimulate your nervous system, thereby provoking your stress [1]. This article will reveal to you 5 foods that cause anxiety, depression and panic attacks. After reading this article, you will certainly know what to avoid eating to get better mental health. Check out on TrueRemedies.com!
Top 5 Worst Foods That Cause Anxiety, Panic Attacks And Depression
1. Refined Sugar
The foods that you consume play a main role in inducing the frequency and duration of bouts of anxiety or depression. Refined sugar is among bad foods that cause anxiety. There is a strong connection between sugar and depression. The 2015 study showed that women who often added sugars into their diet had an increased risk of depression. A diet high in refined sugar is associated with reduced energy levels. When people consume a large amount of refined sugar, the insulin will be released more. As a result, it induces a reduction of blood glucose level and causes a so-called “blood sugar crash”. Moreover, a high-sugar diet can also lead to the buildup of lactic acid in the blood.
On the other hand, regularly consuming refined sugar makes your brain work at a suboptimal level. Hence, the more sugar you eat, the greater the risk of anxiety, fatigue, dementia and diabetes you will have.
2. Fruit Juice
Interestingly, fruit juice is among the least known foods that cause anxiety. The fiber in whole fruits quickly fills you up. Without it, you just drink nutritious sugar-water that may rapidly bring you down. The truth is, fruit juice is packed with sugar. There are different types of sugar, namely glucose, fructose and sucrose. Fruits and vegetables are natural sources of fructose – a natural sugar, which is not a preferred source of energy for the human body. Thus, drinking fruit juice regularly will put your body at risk of overconsumption of sugar.
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3. Dairy
Some people noticed an increase in their anxiety symptoms within just a few minutes of consuming dairy products. It is estimated that approximately 10 percent of adults are lactose intolerant. Consuming dairy products, which contain a large amount of lactose, may worsen their lactose intolerance symptoms. Thus, many people are trying to control their consumption of dairy products to prevent anxiety and stress naturally [2].
On the other hand, dairy is inflammatory, which may affect negatively the digestive system. As a result, you may experience diarrhea, constipation, bloating, among other things after consuming dairy products. If you still want to enjoy a splash of something creamy, you had better go for whole foods. Cream and milk are better than the conventional non-dairy creamer. If you cut dairy, you should use soy milk or almond milk as alternatives.
4. High-Sodium Foods
Foods which are high in salt could induce your negative feelings and emotions since their high content of sodium may disrupt your neurological system’s aspects.
Furthermore, consuming high-sodium foods increases the risk of bloating and fluid retention, directly contributes to anxiety and depression symptoms, and negatively impacts your immunity. Besides, salt may also induce weight gain, which leads to a negative body image and snowballs depression and anxiety even further.
5. Caffeine
Coffee is among foods that cause anxiety, depression and panic attacks. If you are not used to coffee drinking, its caffeine content could make you nervous and jittery, and mess up your good night’s sleep. Caffeine is considered a psychoactive drug and stimulant and has long been known to trigger the fight-or-flight response of the human body. It makes users feel nauseous, anxious and woozy. Moreover, caffeine withdrawal also makes you feel bad [3].
Therefore, if you are anxious but still want to enjoy something relaxing, opt for a green juice or herbal tea instead of a cup of coffee.
To sum up, the most powerful way to keep anxiety at bay is to change the way you eat. Create a food and anxiety symptom journal to see how your diet affects your mental health. Remember that some foods might not trigger anxiety symptoms right after eating but a few hours later. By maintaining a healthy diet plan, you can significantly reduce or even eradicate a lot of anxiety triggers.
