If You Suffer From Anxiety, You’ll Want to Avoid These 5 Foods

You are probably already aware that your emotions can significantly influence what you eat. However, did you also know that what you eat can dramatically affect your mood? If you didn't already know, some foods could worsen your anxiety. According to research conducted by Harvard Health, simple food choices can make a difference in how you feel. Here are five foods that you should avoid if you suffer from anxiety.

Wheat Bran

Even though experts have been touting wheat bran as a superfood with its high fiber content and complex, nutty flavors, it can significantly increase your anxiety, thanks to its high concentration of phytic acid. Phytic acid binds to essential mood minerals like zinc and limits their absorption by the body. People who suffer from anxiety need adequate levels of zinc to keep their symptoms at bay.

Soy

Soy products, while packed with lean protein, is also packed with protease and trypsin inhibitors, which are enzymes that make digesting the protein difficult. Soy products, like tofu, are also high in copper, which is a mineral that has been linked to anxious behavior. If you have to eat soy, get rid of the tofu and veggie burgers, and try fermented varieties like miso and tempeh, which are much easier to digest.

Coffee

Coffee is one of the highest concentrated dietary sources of caffeine which can make an anxious brain even worse. Research has shown that people with anxiety disorders are particularly sensitive to feeling the nervous side effects from small amounts of caffeine. Caffeine can also impede the absorption of vital mood-balancing nutrients like B vitamins and vitamin D.

Whole Wheat Bread

For many anxious people, gluten is a sticking point, especially with patients who have celiac disease. Most non-organic wheat is treated with an herbicide called glyphosate, which has been shown to cause a nutrient deficiency of mood-stabilizing minerals.

Apple Juice

Unlike whole apples, apple juice is devoid of the slow-digesting fiber and are often packed with refined fructose. This results in blood level spikes that can trigger a flood of adrenaline and result in symptoms that look a lot like an anxiety attack. Fructose can actually alter how the brain responds to stress on a genetic level.

Anxiety isn't a fun condition to have to deal with. However, you can reduce your symptoms and overcome your fear by avoiding these anxiety-inducing foods.

How to Treat Anxiety Without Medication

Unfortunately, too many people who suffer from anxiety, are put on prescription medications that aren't doing anything to help them manage their anxiety and might even be causing them more harm. Fortunately, there are several ways that you can control your anxiety without resorting to taking a bunch of prescription medications. Here are some tips to help you manage your blood sugar naturally.

Maintain Stable Blood Sugar

Our Western diets do nothing to promote healthy and stable blood sugar levels, and every time we experience a drop in our blood sugar we can start to feel anxious. To maintain your blood sugar levels, you need to incorporate plenty of proteins and healthy fats into your diet and avoid sugar and refined carbohydrates.

Avoid Caffeine

You can't underestimate the relationship between caffeine and anxiety. Caffeinated beverages amp up our nervous systems getting us ready for a fight. Try to reduce your intake of caffeine gradually to avoid any withdrawal symptoms. Within a few weeks, your anxiety symptoms should start to decrease.

Get Adequate Sleep

Your best protection against your anxiety symptoms is to get enough sleep at night. You can start to get better sleep by reducing or eliminating caffeine, work on maintaining your blood sugar levels and find ways to unwind before you go to bed.

Get More Exercise

Participating in more physical activity on a regular basis is a great anti-anxiety alternative to prescription medications. If you struggle to fit in regular exercise, start by taking a brief walk outside or participate in simple mini-exercises from the comfort of your living room. In general, you need to try to sit less and stand more. Try to get up and walk whenever possible and lower your standards for exercise. Yoga and Tai Qi are incredibly beneficial for anxiety, but you need to find something that you enjoy to increase your odds of sticking with it.

Increase Your Magnesium

Many people are deficient in magnesium since our food is produced in magnesium-deficient soil. You can supplement your magnesium in a few different ways. You can take a daily magnesium supplement, try a topical magnesium gel, or enjoy a nice relaxing Epsom salt bath.

Anxiety can have a significant impact on your quality of life. Finding natural alternatives to prescription medication can go a long way toward reducing your symptoms of anxiety. By making simple changes to your lifestyle, you can stop anxiety and finally get your life back.

5 Useful Tips for Managing Your Anxiety

It's estimated that almost 18 percent or 40 million adults in the United States suffer from anxiety, which makes it the most common mental illness in the country. Anxiety can impact anyone, regardless of the kind of life they lead. Unfortunately, many people suffer in silence because they are ashamed to admit their struggles with anxiety. If you are one of the millions who suffer from anxiety, here are five useful tips to help you better manage your condition.

Tip #1 – Watch for Your Triggers

If you know what triggers your anxiety, you can then effectively plan your day around them. If there are times throughout the day that you know your anxiety is likely to be triggered, plan time-outs, or periods of exercise during these times. Having an understanding of your danger spots can help to lessen your anxiety.

Tip #2 – Start Exercising

Regular daily exercise has many benefits, including helping to alleviate the debilitating symptoms of anxiety. If you haven't made regular exercise a habit in your life, its time you start. You don't have to spend hours in the gym, even a short walk around the block every day can significantly impact your life and decrease your anxiety.

Tip #3 – Take Some Time to Breathe

When your symptoms of anxiety start to rear their ugly head, taking some time alone to breathe can be highly effective in managing your anxiety. Deep breathing exercises can help to calm your heart and help you instantly feel at peace. It can also aid in our ability to make rational decisions.

Tip #4 – Talk to Someone You Trust

You don’t have to suffer in silence. Reach out to someone who will treat you with understanding and kindness. If you don’t have any support at home, or with friends, then you can look up local support groups near your home or place of business. There are always resources available, all you have to do is reach out.

Tip #5 – Understand That You’re in Control

While it may not feel this way when you're in the midst of a panic attack, it is essential to understand that you have the power of your life. Even if you feel trapped, or out of control, you have to realize that you have control over every decision that you make in your life.

You don’t have to let your anxiety rule your life. Incorporate these tips into your life daily and take control of your anxiety and take back your life.

5 Tips for Facing Your Fears and Overcoming Your Anxiety

If your fears and anxiety are holding you back from living the life you want, you’re not alone. More than 40 million adults in the United States suffer from an anxiety disorder. The good news is that there are studies that show by facing your fears you can gain the courage you need to overcome other concerns that you may have. Here are five tips for facing your fears and overcoming anxiety.

Don’t Go It Alone

When you are facing down your fears, it can be beneficial to have someone along for the journey that can cheer you on. Perhaps you know someone who has the same fear as you, that can partner with you so that you can encourage and cheer each other on.

Boost Your Confidence

When you are getting ready to stare down your fear, it can be immensely helpful to remember all of the other courageous things that you've accomplished in your life. Remember how it felt to achieve your goal. Recognizing previous acts of courage can go a long way in helping you face your fears.

Acknowledge the Fear

Many times our fears are relegated to the back of our minds, unacknowledged and ignored. Even when faced with anxiety, we often choose just to feel the issue, and never really take the time to understand our fear. Start paying attention to how your body feels and acknowledge the sensation as a symptom rather than something more significant.

Keep a Gratitude Journal

There have been many studies over the years on the positive effects of keeping a gratitude journal. These studies suggest that people who practice gratitude had higher levels of positive emotions, a stronger immune system, felt less lonely, and had more happiness in their lives. Rather than focusing on the negative in your life, be thankful for everything that you have.

Expose Yourself to What You Fear

Even though it can be terrifying, if you want to overcome your fears, then you just have to face them. Sit down and define the worst-case scenario of the unknown outcome, an realize that the worst scenario rarely happens. Doing this you’ll start to notice that each time you do the scary thing, it gets a little bit easier.

It is possible to face your fears and overcome your anxiety. Facing your fear will lead you to live a better life, free from stress and anxiety.

5 Things You Can Do Now to Stop Anxiety

When excessive fears and worries plague you, it is critical to figure out what you can do to stop the anxiety so that it doesn't completely take over your life. If you have an anxiety disorder, it's essential that you find simple strategies that can help you manage or reduce your anxiety. Here are five things that you can do now to help stop your anxiety before it gets out of control.

Understand the Anatomy of Your Anxiety

When you understand what your anxiety attack is, what causes them, and how your body responds, you can keep from becoming scared of the symptoms. When you can become unafraid of your anxiety symptoms, you can quickly put a stop to them when your mind starts to race with anxious thoughts. Knowledge is power, and the more you can understand your anxiety, the faster you can stop it from controlling your life.

Stop Scaring Yourself

Fear is the most common culprits behind anxiety. When you can refuse to allow, yourself to become scared you can effectively remove the primary reason for your anxiety. When you eliminate fear from your life, you can gain more control of your body's emergency response system and take control of your anxiety.

Calm Yourself

Being able to calm yourself down helps to shut off the mechanism in your brain that causes anxiety attacks and ends your body's stress response. The more you can calm yourself down, the faster you can stop the anxiety attack and start to feel better. A sure way to end, control, and prevent future panic attacks is to find out ways to calm yourself down.

Distract Yourself

Most anxiety attacks are caused and fueled by anxious thoughts. When you can distract your attention, you can effectively prevent anxious thoughts from taking over. As you prevent your thoughts from turning anxious, you can also put an end to voluntary anxiety attacks.

Know That Anxiety Attacks End

No matter how powerful an anxiety attack can be, it will always end. While you can stop them faster by implementing some of the above techniques and methods, you have to remember that all anxiety attacks will end. Riding out the anxiety attack and knowing that it will end, can help you to stay calm and shut off the stress response and anxiety attack.

You don’t need to suffer needlessly. You can eliminate your anxiety attacks naturally with these simple tips.

5 Signs That You’re Experiencing an Anxiety Attack

Anxiety attack symptoms tend to mimic many of the same symptoms as a heart attack and can come on you without any warning. You don’t need to have a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder to suffer from an anxiety attack, they don’t discriminate and can strike anyone. Here are five signs that you might be experiencing an anxiety attack.

Sudden Terror or Sense of Impending Doom

One of the most common signs that you are experiencing an anxiety attack is the overwhelming fear or sense of impending doom. The terror that you experience can be paralyzing and is a result of adrenaline flooding your body due to the perception of immediate danger.

Chest Pains

This is the most common symptom that might have you feeling like you’re having a heart attack. The pains that you feel in your chest during a panic attack can be severe and choking. If you are experiencing chest pains, its best to get checked out by the doctor to rule out a heart attack.

Difficulty Breathing

A panic attack can have you struggling to breathe properly, or you may feel like you're having to gasp for air. With high levels of anxiety, you can end up hyperventilating, which can cause an imbalance in the carbon dioxide levels in your body. This can lead to dizziness and other symptoms.

Increased Heart Rate

When you are experiencing an anxiety attack, your body responds as if it is facing imminent danger. Nervous signals activate the fight-or-flight response in your body, which produces a rush of adrenaline in your blood stream. This surge in hormones causes many symptoms, including an increased heart rate, which can make you think that you are suffering from a heart attack.

Feeling Out of Control

The intense fear and physical symptoms that you experience during a panic attack can often leave you feeling out of control. This can significantly heighten the fear that you are already suffering and may lead you to feel disconnected from yourself. The surrounding environment may feel distorted or foggy.

The symptoms that you may be experiencing during a panic attack are much like the fight-or-flight response that is encountered during a dangerous situation, but they tend to come from nowhere when you are dealing with an anxiety attack. Fortunately, there are several things that you can do to help alleviate your symptoms and stop the panic attack in its tracks.

4 Signs That You Might Have an Anxiety Disorder

Feeling anxious every once in a while and having an anxiety disorder are two very different things. When you have an anxiety disorder, you can become fixated on a thought or feeling that leads you down a rabbit hole of anxious thoughts. While there are different types of anxiety disorders, a common thread between them all is that it interferes with your daily life. Here are four signs that may signal you are dealing with an anxiety disorder.

Your Anxious Thoughts Don’t Go Away

When you have an anxiety disorder, you often become incredibly anxious in situations where others might only get a little anxious, like during family gatherings. This anxiety also tends to last longer and is more persistent. When your anxious thoughts start to impact your daily life, that's when it becomes an issue.

Your Anxiety Manifests Itself Physically

If your anxious thoughts are accompanied by physical conditions, like restlessness, fatigue, and muscle pain, among others, it could signal that you have an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders can lead to gastrointestinal issues, like heartburn, cramping, and even diarrhea. These physical symptoms are as a result of your body being in a constant heightened state of anxiety.

You Can’t Focus

It isn't that uncommon for people who have a general anxiety disorder to be mistakenly diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This is because when you have an anxiety disorder, you tend to have difficulty focusing. When you're always anxious, you tend to be in your head constantly and can get distracted by the negative thoughts and obsessions rattling around in your head. To an outsider, it looks like you have ADHD.

You Have Trouble Sleeping

The anxiety that you experience tends to take your thoughts on a ride that leaves you struggling to catch some zzz’s. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), some level of sleep disruption is present in almost all mental disorders, including anxiety.

If you have more than one of these symptoms, there’s a good chance that you might be dealing with an anxiety disorder. However, before you jump to any conclusions, it’s best to speak with your doctor to rule out any other conditions, because anxiety symptoms often mimic other medical conditions. Fortunately, anxiety disorders can be treated so that you can learn to manage your symptoms and get back to living your life.

12 Strategies for Staying Motivated, So You Reach Your Goals

Without motivation, you’re dead in the water. Nothing gets done, and worse, you can’t find the energy to change that situation. The last thing you want to do is to fall into the vortex of broken dreams and lost promise. How do you change that? Simply by not getting there in the first place. The trick is to STAY motivated, even when you’re not feeling it. How?

1. Stop procrastinating. Chances are if you’re procrastinating you’ve stopped working, and motivation is already slipping to dangerous levels. When this happens, you need to give yourself a sharp kick in the backside and keep going — no excuses.

2. Cut out distractions. What’s going on around you? Is something taking your attention away from your work? Maybe it’s time to work wearing headphones, or to isolate until you get your momentum back.

3. Change of scenery. If you’re still having trouble, it might be because you’re growing stagnant. You’ve been working too long, and you need to clear your head. Take a walk. Go for a drive. Or if you’re stuck at work, then take your laptop to an empty conference room — anything to create a change.

4. Exercise. Nothing stimulates the brain and gets it going again like exercise. You don’t have to commit to an hour-long run to get your motivation back. Even a short jog around the block will get your heart pumping and your brain producing endorphins to jump you back into high gear again.

5. Meditate. Or in contrast to the last item on the list, slow down. Close your eyes. Breathe deeply. Find your center and your calm. Relax and let go of what’s going on around you.

6. Stop worrying. While this one is easier said than done, the main idea here is to let go of the things you cannot change so that you can keep looking forward without anything inhibiting you.

7. Listen to music: Put on music that puts ideas into your head, and a bounce to your step. The genre doesn’t matter. It’s how the music makes you feel that counts. Use whatever gives you get up and go to get back in motion.

8. Make a Daily To-Do list. It might be you’re losing motivation because you’re too overwhelmed by big goals. Break those goals down, and then drop those bite-sized pieces on a daily To-Do list. Be careful not to overload the list with too much. You want to set yourself up for success – not failure.

9. Find someone who motivates you. Maybe you need a mentor. Or it could be a biography of someone who you find motivating is just the thing to inspire you back to action when you’re flagging. Give yourself time to meet with your mentor, or to read on a regular basis.

10. Visualize success. Most important, see yourself completing the project in as much detail as you can imagine. A positive visualization of success tells your subconscious that you can succeed. Sometimes that’s all you need to get your energy back.

There are many more things you can try that aren’t on this list. The important thing to remember is that we’re all different. If something motivates you, then use that to keep your project on track. Only you know what you need to succeed, so get out there and do it!

Easy Ways to Stay Motivated

Lack of motivation is the death knell on many a project. That is why it’s so important to stay motivated long after your initial enthusiasm for the project has disappeared. It sounds daunting, but it’s not as hard as it seems. Sometimes staying motivated is as easy as setting up a strategy to keep yourself on track.

What can you do?

1.  Define your goal. Picture it down to the last detail. Having a clear picture of your destination makes it more likely that you will achieve your goals.

2. List all the reasons why you’ve made this goal in the first place. That becomes your primary motivation, so you’re going to want to write this list down, and then revisit it as you proceed.

3. Break the goal into pieces. Then find a reward for each piece. While this seems like common sense, it’s easy to forget the rewards – especially if you think of those small goals as being negligible. But it’s those little celebrations that will keep your motivation up as you go along.

4. Be flexible. Recognize that things change. The plan that you made might require a shift to accomplish your goal. Or your end product might change when you get more information. Realize that it’s OK to change your mind, so long as you again revisit all these steps when you do. It might be you’ll have to outline a different set of steps, for example.

5. Have a support team. It’s nearly impossible to succeed when you’re trying to do something alone. Having a set of people in your life you can rely on as a positive presence to encourage you, brings in motivation from outside of you, which will help when you’re feeling discouraged.

6. Have a plan for when motivation fails. What helps bring motivation back. Affirmations? Talk with a mentor? A change of scenery? Listing this in advance means you have a ‘go to’ you can put into play the moment you feel your energy crash.

7. Re-examine the entire process periodically. Note changes. That is where the ‘being flexible’ thing will prove helpful. Even without changes, remembering why you’re doing this in the first place is a good practice to make into a habit, as it will help you rebuild lost motivation when you need it most.

Losing motivation doesn’t need to be something to be afraid of, especially if you’ve made plans to help keep your motivation at optimal levels as you work. Believe it or not, the best tool in your arsenal lies in being prepared. Work the plan, and the path toward success is yours.                                       

Using Visualization to Stay Motivated and Reach Your Goals

It seems like magic. How is it that simply imagining a thing can make it real? No, we’re not talking about a new spell from Harry Potter, we’re talking about Creative Visualization, which is more science than magic.

Visualization means that you’re guiding your thoughts onto a certain path in a certain way to ensure success. While it might seem a little mystical at first glance, there’s some pretty solid science behind it. Studies have shown that it’s our attitudes that frequently determine our success. In other words, if we think we’re going to fail, we’re indeed very likely to fail.

But does the opposite hold true? Not always, because there might be other factors that have to do with your success that is outside of your control – like a lack of knowledge when you begin or a lack of resources to see your project through to completion. But what IS proven is the importance of a positive mindset. Visualization takes that positivity to the next level and allows you to SEE your success.

How do you do it?

1. Start with the goal. If you’re not sure where you’re going, how can you expect to get there? In this step, you’re going to want to picture what you want or hope to accomplish exactly. That is the big picture goal, so don’t worry about the details just yet. Right now you’re gaining a direction.

2. Add layers. Here’s where you get into the nitty-gritty of what you want to do. Once you have your big picture goal, now you can work out the smaller components that make it up. Imagine this goal in the most minute details until you have a clear understanding of what you need to do to get where you want to go.

3. Expect the unexpected. Now imagine the obstacles you’re likely to come up against and stop you in your tracks. How do you intend to handle them? Plan for every contingency.

4. Add in practical application. In short – practice. Not just in your head, but in the physical world as well. That means rehearsing that speech in front of a mirror before giving it in front of a crowd. Take your visualization and put it to the test. And then go back and revisit your visualization and make adjustments as necessary. Repeat as many times as necessary.

5. See the Success. When visualizing perhaps the most important thing to see in your mind’s eye is your success. Take your goal to completion with all of its steps, including that happy ending where everything has gone exactly right.

By using visualization, you give yourself an important edge. That edge translates to motivation. When you’re sure of your success you can’t help but be excited about what you’re doing. What’s amazing is that using that motivation then creates a stronger visualization, creating a cycle of success that is unbeatable. Imagine that!