Sugar and processed foods can lead to inflammation throughout the body and brain, which may contribute to mood disorders, including anxiety and depression. When we're feeling stressed or depressed, it's often processed foods we reach for in search of a quick pick-me-up.
Sugary Foods & Drinks: soda, candy, coffee drinks and sweets. They may make you feel a mood boost, but a big crash follows which can make you feel low, tired and empty. Fried: most fried food is high in saturated fat which is difficult for your body to digest and can weaken the good bacteria.
Include more whole grains, fruits and vegetables in your diet. They contain the vitamins and minerals your brain and body need to stay well. Include some protein with every meal. It contains an amino acid that your brain uses to help regulate your mood.
Foods naturally rich in magnesium may, therefore, help a person to feel calmer. Examples include leafy greens, such as spinach and Swiss chard. Other sources include legumes, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. Foods rich in zinc such as oysters, cashews, liver, beef, and egg yolks have been linked to lowered anxiety.
Green, leafy vegetables. Leafy greens such as kale, spinach, collards, and broccoli are rich in brain-healthy nutrients like vitamin K, lutein, folate, and beta carotene. ...
Nutrition-related mood swings are often caused by high amounts of sugar, processed foods, and refined carbohydrates such as donuts, cakes, cookies, and white bread. Many of these foods lack an adequate amount of vitamins and minerals, and can cause blood glucose to fluctuate and trigger mood shifts.
Consuming unhealthy processed foods like baked goods and soda, which are loaded with refined and added sugars — often in the form of high-fructose corn syrup — floods the brain with too much glucose. This “sugar flood” can lead to inflammation in the brain and may ultimately result in depression and fatigue.
The best stress-relieving drinks include ginger, chamomile tea, valerian, black tea, coconut water, milk, green tea, coffee, lemon balm tea, water, and vegetable and fruit juice. Aromatherapy is another self-soothing practice shown to have benefits for mental health. You can read more about it here.
Salmon. Cold-water fish such as salmon contain omega-3 fatty acids, which are critical to include in your diet, as low levels of omega-3s have been associated with depression. ...
Carbohydrates are thought to increase the amount of serotonin in your brain, which has a calming effect. Eat foods rich in complex carbohydrates, such as whole grains — for example, oatmeal, quinoa, whole-grain breads and whole-grain cereals.
Sleep helps maintain cognitive skills, such as attention, learning, and memory, such that poor sleep can make it much more difficult to cope with even relatively minor stressors and can even impact our ability to perceive the world accurately.
Although not a cure-all, increasing physical activity directly contributes to improved mental health and better overall health and well-being. Learning how to routinely manage stress and getting screened for depression are simply good prevention practices.
Difficult experiences in childhood, adolescence or adulthood are a common trigger for anxiety problems. Going through stress and trauma when you're very young is likely to have a particularly big impact. Experiences which can trigger anxiety problems include things like: physical or emotional abuse.
Vitamins B9 and B12 are both thought to treat symptoms of anxiety. Folic acid has many uses in the body, and B9 deficiency has been linked to higher levels of anxiety and depression.
