How Can I Improve My Anxiety With Food?

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How can I improve my anxiety with food? This is JJ Virgin, four time New York Times bestselling author, celebrity nutrition expert and and Fitness hall of famer. I've been on a lifelong quest for answers to the toughest health questions and now I'm sharing what I found with you. Welcome to Ask the Health Expert. Tanya K. From Ingoop Health asks, how can I improve my anxiety with food? Hey, it's JJ and today I've got nutritional psychiatry pioneer Dr. Uma Naidoo with me. Michelin starred chef David Boulay describes Dr. Uma as the world's first triple threat in the Food is Medicine space. She's a Harvard trained psychiatrist, professional chef, graduating with her culinary school's most coveted award and a nutrition specialist. And fun fact, as a child, she was fascinated by space travel and wanted.

To be an astronaut.

She'll be right back to answer this question, so stay with me.

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Next. You know, when thinking about how foods impact anxiety, JJ yet another great question. And what I would say in relation to this is there are so many factors that impact anxiety before we get to actual food that we should always consider. It turns out that anxiety is still the number one leading psychiatric or mental health condition in the United States. More people are anxious than they are depressed. Although I will say that sometimes these two conditions run hand in hand. And sometimes someone presents more anxious, but they also may have a low mood or someone presents with a low mood or depression but is also quite anxious. But some guidelines are things like eating a healthy balanced whole foods diet, drinking enough water to stay hydrated because a state of dehydration can actually make you feel panicked, limiting or avoiding the amount of alcohol and caffeine you consume and the times of day that you consume. These can also impact anxiety. Other dietary considerations include eating complex carbohydrates that are metabolized more slowly and thereby help maintain even blood sugars, which then creates a calmer feeling. So one example of that is, rather than reach for what is, you know, tends to be an unhealthy vegetable like white potatoes, why not choose something like a sweet potato, which is a much more complex carbohydrate and more slowly metabolized. So instead of french fries, you know, opt for sweet potato fries, preferably made in an oven. Fry in an air fryer oven. That would be a healthier choice. Then we think about a diet that is rich in whole grains. Vegetables and fruits are much healthier options than simple carbohydrates, which tend to be found in processed foods. And basically processed and ultra processed foods have preservatives in them that actually drive anxiety. So it's important to just try again to eat healthy whole foods because that way you're not contaminating your body and your brain with these preservatives, which are not good for you. When you eat is also important. So skipping meals, if you are a regular person, just trying to eat three meals a day and some healthy snacks may result in drops in blood sugar. So you may not realize that you've skipped several meals, you've had a busy day, you're very stressed, and in fact you're quite hungry because you haven't eaten. This may present as feeling jittery, it may worsen underlying anxiety, and you may not realize that what you need to do is have a meal and that would in fact calm you down. The gut brain axis is hugely important because a large percentage of the serotonin receptors are found in the lining of the gut. So helping this in terms of anxiety would suggest that you should eat some healthy probiotic foods, which will help to lower anxiety. In terms of specific foods, specific foods, including those that are rich in magnesium, are thought to help anxiety. And these include things like leafy greens, spinach, Swiss chard, legumes, nut seeds and whole grains. Then foods that are rich in zinc that help anxiety are things like oysters, cashew nuts, liver, if that's something that you eat, lean beef, egg yolks, all have been linked to lowering of anxiety. Foods such as wild Alaskan salmon contain omega 3 fatty acids. And this definitely has been shown to reduce anxiety. In fact, a study completed on medical students in 2011 showed for the first time, actually it was one of the first studies to show that omega 3s in food could help to reduce anxiety. Reduce anxiety. Although in that particular study, they used a supplement to have these medical students take in omega 3 fatty acids. And prior to that study, omega 3 fatty acids had only really been linked to depression. So there's often ongoing research in many more foods that we have listed these foods in my book this is your brain on Food Food. In each chapter, when we discuss the different mental health conditions, we try to provide healthy lists. Healthy go to lists at the end of the chapter to suggest that these are foods you should go to. And I would try to incorporate these foods into a healthy diet whenever you can. And I do think that individuals who feel that they can adhere to such diets and incorporate these foods over time really do start feeling less anxious. So it's worth a try, especially if you feel anxious and you've spoken to a doctor about taking your medication, but you feel that you'd like to use some nutritional strategies from nutritional psychiatry and the science that we know so far in terms of helping you feel better.

This is JJ with asking the health expert. I do this five times a week, so make sure you never miss a show by going to subscribetoj.com.

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