Anxiety Disorder and Nutrition: Is There a Link?

Rarely do we consider anxiety as a normal human experience.

Consensus about its origin shows anxiety was needed for survival to keep us alert and safe from danger.

However, if we manifest anxiety beyond what we were designed for, exaggerated in excess of real danger, when under psychological distress or disease, that is abnormal.

Anxiety disorder occurs from a set of risk factors and variables such as genetics, brain chemistry, personality, and life events. It affects 18.% of adults in the United States (approximately 40 million adults between 18 to 54 yrs old)

In this episode, Dr. Webster and I discuss causes of anxiety often unknown or dismissed by many, such as emotions (what we're feeling), medication, supplements, food, and genetics.

Are you contributing to your anxiety beyond what your body and health was designed for and can handle?

It's not uncommon for someone with an anxiety disorder to also suffer from depression or vice versa.

Almost half of the people diagnosed with depression are also diagnosed with anxiety disorder.

High levels of emotional exhaustion that come from workplace anxiety can directly lead to lower job performance, can impede learning, which often leads to lower academic achievement and performance.

65% of North Americans take prescription medications daily, 43% take mood-altering prescriptions regularly.

Symptoms of anxiety:

1. Stomach Pain, indigestion, gas and bloating, abdominal cramps and pain, and irritable bowel syndrome.
2. Difficulty breathing, hyperventilation, asthma attacks, coughing fits holding your breath.
3. Continuous negative thoughts including anticipating danger and catastrophe around every corner, frequent feelings of inadequacy or impending failure, or believing that something bad will happen if certain things aren't done a certain way.
4. Feelings of worry often connected to being edgy, physical trembling or shaking.
5. Heart and chest pain
6. Low appetite or binge eating
7. Insomnia
8. Feeling Detached from the world

After we discuss each cause, we'll share our best-known protocol to help you get a handle on your health and feel confident with a new direction and the hope of gaining control over your life.

1. Anxiety and Emotions

What can we do

2. Anxiety and Food connection

Food fixes

3. Anxiety and Energy drinks/supplements

What can we substitute

4. Anxiety and Medication 

Better suggested alternatives