Anxiety and stress are a major scourge today, affecting nearly all of us to some degree.  Our modern lifestyles which are time short and fast paced leave many of us feeling overwhelmed.  Adequate rest and eating foods that help relax us whilst avoiding foods that worsen stress can be helpful.  Prepare the body for sleep by avoiding screens for an hour before bed, or download a dimmer on to your laptop or tablet that reduces blue and increase red light in the evening.  Soft, red lights encourage the production of the sleep hormone, melatonin.

Natural treatments for anxiety and stress involve changing your diet as stress can be worsened by eating these foods:-

  • Processed and microwaved foods
  • non-organic foods (pesticides are neurological poisons)
  • intensively reared meat
  • refined foods
  • sugar
  • stimulants like tea, coffee and chocolate
  • microwaved food (microwaves change the molecular structure of food andimmune changes in blood, identical to those found in cancer patients, have been found within 15 minutes of eating a microwaved meal)

Eating these foods regularly can put the body is a state of permanent arousal.  That is because they cause a reaction that stimulates the release of stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol, which raise the heart rate.

Natural treatments for anxiety and stress are designed to reduce the release of stress hormones. If your body is releasing stress hormones every day it can interfere with sleep, and make you much more sensitive to even a slight increase in stress.

Three things you change in your diet to help you cope with stress:-

  • Avoid stimulants like tea, coffee and sugar.  It has often been suggested that were these to be introduced today they would be classified as drugs.  They revv us up by stimulating the adrenal glands to release stress hormones, which makes us feel restless and anxious.
  • Don’t go too long without eating, as this causes a dip in blood sugar.  When this happens, the adrenal glands release stress hormones which draw sugar out of storage as a short term solution.  This is any we may feel shaky and clammy when we get hungry.
  • Eat plenty of vegetables as they contain minerals which have a calming effect on the nervous system.  Carrots are good sources of calcium and leafy, green vegetables contain magnesium – nature’s natural relaxants.

Eve Gilmore is a naturopath, clinical nutritionist, homeopath and scenar practitioner with over 20 years’ experience in private practice.  Author of two books ‘Go Paleo? Feeding the Urban Caveman’ and ‘The Urban Caveman Recipe’ book published in 2014 by Hammersmith Health Books.