It is well-recognised that consuming a lot of sugary foods and drinks — such as soda, candy, chocolate, fruit drinks, desserts and other sweets — can cause blood sugar fluctuations. The “sugar high” triggers OCD symptoms like exhaustion, mood swings, and anxiety neurosis.
OCD And Blood Sugar Levels
Blood sugar swings can cause anxiety and irritability. To stabilize blood sugar levels, eat regular meals and snacks every few hours. At the same time, avoid sugary foods, caffeine, alcohol, and processed foods. These can all lead to blood sugar swings and make OCD symptoms worse.
Often, OCD symptoms get worse when there is a flare-up of anxiety or stressors. When one is in a stressful or anxiety-inducing situation, the urge to decrease that discomfort with compulsions or rituals gets stronger and harder to control.
Food and mood.
Start with a daily breakfast, and try to eat small meals more often instead of big meals at lunch and dinner. Go for: Nuts and seeds, which are packed with healthy nutrients. Protein like eggs, beans, and meat, which fuel you up slowly to keep you in better balance.
Hypoglycemia and OCD
These hormones lead to an increase in anxiety and panic. Plesman suggests that adopting a hypoglycemic diet may help normalize blood sugar levels and prevent the excessive secretion of the stress hormones, which in turn may reduce or prevent symptoms of OCD.
Patients with OCD experience acute mental confusion as their blood sugar levels fluctuate due to an excess of refined carbs. Excess sugar consumption also promotes cognitive impairment, which results in irrational thoughts, ideas, and sensations. If you suffer from OCD, your symptoms will only become worse.
Trauma, stress, and abuse all can be a cause of OCD getting worse. OCD causes intense urges to complete a task or perform a ritual. For those who have the condition, obsessions and compulsions can begin to rule their life.
Vitamin D. Previous studies have demonstrated that vitamin D deficiency is associated with numerous neuropsychiatric diseases that include autism, major depressive disorder, schizophrenia and OCD.
If you are an OCD patient, then your symptoms will only worsen. So, say goodbye to soft drinks, candy, and pastries which are sugar-laden. People who suffer from panic attacks and compulsive behaviours should try to limit their caffeine intake. Owing to its stimulating effect, caffeine can increase anxiety.
Magnesium plays a key role in balancing mood and relaxation, and its deficiencies are linked with depression. Thanks to its calming effect, magnesium is nicknamed nature's tranquilizer. This is also the reason magnesium supplements can help those with OCD manage the condition.
However, there are several strategies that you can use to manage and reduce the intensity of an OCD attack. Practice relaxation techniques: Deep breathing, meditation, and mindfulness can help reduce anxiety and calm the mind.
Experts aren't sure of the exact cause of OCD. Genetics, brain abnormalities, and the environment are thought to play a role. It often starts in the teens or early adulthood. But, it can also start in childhood.
Symptoms fluctuate in severity from time to time, and this fluctuation may be related to the occurrence of stressful events. Because symptoms usually worsen with age, people may have difficulty remembering when OCD began, but can sometimes recall when they first noticed that the symptoms were disrupting their lives.
Vitamin B12 and folate are thought to be effective in OCD treatment due to their associations with neurotransmitters. Depending on their antioxidant effect, zinc and selenium can be used in augmentation therapy for OCD. However, both trace elements and vitamin B12/folate can be affected by diet.
OCD symptoms can worsen if left untreated. Likewise, stress and other mental health symptoms like trauma, anxiety, and themes of perfectionism, can aggravate OCD. Sometimes, symptoms may worsen dramatically and suddenly, but it's more likely for them to escalate gradually.
Never seek reassurance from yourself or others.
Instead, tell yourself the worst will happen, is happening, or has already happened. Reassurance will cancel out the effects of any therapy homework you use it on and prevent you from improving. Reassurance-seeking is a compulsion, no matter how you may try to justify it.
Although the etiology of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is largely unknown, it is accepted that OCD is a complex disorder. There is a known bi-directional interaction between the gut microbiome and brain activity.
Vitamin B complex
Vitamin B6 could be useful, as it may help convert the amino acid tryptophan into serotonin(xvi). Some natural health practitioners also recommend folic acid– another B vitamin – for patients with OCD, as it may be needed for serotonin production in the brain.
OCD has peaks of onset at two different life phases: pre-adolescence and early adulthood. Around the ages of 10 to 12 years, the first peak of OCD cases occur. This time frequently coincides with increasing school and performance pressures, in addition to biologic changes of brain and body that accompany puberty.
Some research studies have found evidence to suggest that oxytocin is associated with OCD. We review the growing evidence that suggests oxytocin and gonadal steroids might play a role in the pathogenesis of some forms of OCD.
At its most severe, OCD can lead to suicidal ideation or action. This can happen when the symptoms of OCD have fully taken a hold on a person and their entire life revolves around responding to OCD obsessions and compulsions.
One of the most common complaints from my patients was boredom. They just didn't have enough to do. When someone with OCD has too little stimulation in their lives, OCD typically spikes. OCD also spikes when there is too much stress.