Anxiety and Diet

Treatment Foods to Lift Your Mood

• Vegetables‐ are loaded with nutrients and low in calories, and often lift our spirits, broccoli, okra, pumpkin and squash seeds, cooked spinach
• Omega 3 Fatty Acids walnuts,flax seeds, shrimp, salmon, and winter squash, fish oil, Roe, Mackerel, dried butternuts, fish broth, fresh basil
• Magnesium Rich Foods‐ bananas, apple juice, coconut milk (saturated fat so use in small amounts), broth, smoothie or juice made with vegetables and fruits
• Other Foods‐ black beans, halibut, peanuts, oysters, plantain (raw), rockfish, scallop, soy milk, tofu, whole grain cereals/RTE‐ready‐to‐eat, whole grain cereal cooked, whole wheat bread

Foods to AVOID in Your Diet

• Avoid or cut back on Caffeine‐ try a decaf coffee or 75% decaf and 25% caffeinated coffee
• Coffee‐ depletes the body of magnesium
• 1 cup of Coffee‐ often has us wide awake, makes us edgy, muscles tense, and cause problems with sleep/insomnia
• Dairy Products‐ excessive amounts of low fat dairy products may bring about anxiety
• Calcium‐ is an antagonist for magnesiumand may affect the magnesium levels, keeps adrenaline flowing too much
• IBS/Irritable Bowel Syndrome‐ throws off the digestion preventing the body from properly absorbing all nutrients
• Acid Forming Foods‐ make some people nervous, can cause a magnesium deficiency magnesium relaxes the muscles and turns off the adrenaline)
• Can Cause‐ nausea, indigestion
• Pickles, yogurt, corn, lentils, olives, winter squash, blueberries, plums, prunes, oatmeal, rice, corn, pinto beans, green peas, butter, cheese, bacon, beef, walnuts, peanuts, pecans, etc…

If Anxiety Prevents Normal Activity

• See your Health Care Provider
• Avoid stress, add exercise, sleep 8 hours
• See a Registered Dietitian‐ for help as needed
• See a FoodFitnessFirst.com RegisteredDietitian ‐ on line for help