Hey Beautiful! I’m here for you today to show you some natural things that have worked to help heal anxiety.
Of course, the recommendations in this article are not my personal recommendations to you. Medications, herbs and nutrients can interact, and based on diagnoses you’ve received, I can’t guarantee without taking you in as a client (where I get to know your health history, medications and current supplements so that I can back-check everything I recommend) that each of these is safe for you. Always run every change for anxiety by your Holistic Nutritionist.
Lastly before we jump in, some of these tips come from small studies. But keep in mind that if anyone has healed by doing something, I believe you can, too.
Tip 1 for Anxiety Help: Avoid Coffee
Of course this is a simple tip, but it can be super-helpful.
Test this tip: cut out coffee completely for 2 weeks and see how you feel.
A small study was so effective with this tip alone, that after one week, all of the participants volunteered to continue to give up coffee. Yes. Volunteered.
So clearly, it’s a simple tip but it’s effects can be incredibly profound. Those participants were feeling so much better, that even though there’s a Starbucks on every corner, they decided to keep giving up coffee.
6-18 months later in the same study, 5 of 6 participants (still coffee-free) were completely without anxiety symptoms, and the 6th controlled their anxiety to the elimination of all symptoms by avoiding coffee and taking a small amount of Valium. Pretty nifty, right?
Yes, of course it’s a small study, so you may not be able to draw massive conclusions from it, but it’s an easy enough switch to make and you could find as incredible results from this alone.
At least give it a try.
Now if you’re looking for coffee substitutes, there are a few out there like Dandy-Blend or Gojiccino.
If you want to re-introduce coffee after your trial or if you love it and won’t give it up to see about effect on your personal anxiety, here are a few tricks to make your coffee less anxiety-inducing:
- STOP buying pre-ground coffee, start grinding it yourself. When it’s ground and packaged, there’s too much time for the oils to go rancid, and that can sometimes really erk the nerves. If you find you’re shakey and jumpy and like you’ve had a cup of coffee and you know life’s not going to be good for a while because it’s hitting you badly, chances are you’ve experienced rancid coffee bean oils. So buy whole beans and grind them yourself to keep these oils fresh and preserved.
- Only grind what you need for the coffee you’re making NOW.
- Keep under 200 mg caffeine per day.
- Switch from a dark roast to a medium or light roast. Delicate oils are spoiled by heat, light and oxygen. The longer the beans have been roasted, the longer they’ve had exposure to heat, and the more they can irritate your nerves.
- Add coconut oil to your coffee to slow down the absorption of the caffeine, and you’ll be getting a slow, steady stream of caffeine instead of a big hit all at once. And,
- Only drink coffee when you’ve had food, and never start your body with it before you’ve had breakfast!
Tip 2 for Anxiety Help: Load up on Flax Seed Oil
*This tip is not recommended if you get gallbladder attacks currently, or if you have known gall stones. You can heal your gall bladder naturally.
In a study with people with severe anxiety to the point of panic attacks, 3 out of 4 patients improved their symptoms taking 2-6 tbsp. cold-pressed flaxseed oil per day.
That was from people with VERY severe anxiety, so it’s really encouraging to note!
How to get flax seed (aka flax oil) in to your diet:
- salad dressings
- smoothies
- this drink:
Tip 3 for Anxiety Help: Eat Whole Grains at Every Meal
Even if you’re gluten-free or gluten-intolerant, this can be incredibly helpful, just use quinoa, brown rice and gf oats.
This tip is so helpful because it helps to balance out your blood sugar levels.
Blood sugar levels can get messy and all over the place from too much coffee, over-consumption of sugar, skipping meals, not getting enough calories in during the day, not eating after a workout in an effort to lose weight, and being under stress.
When you start eating whole grains with every meal (and I mean the whole grain, not bread) you’ll start to find you’re craving less sugar, feeling more calm and balanced, and have a more steady mood. (See ya later, mood swings 😉 )
To test this tip out: eat every 2-3 hours during the day and with each meal, incorporate one of the whole grains above or beans or lentils.
Bonus tip for putting this into place: set a phone alarm to go off every 2.5 hours so you remember to feed yourself!
Tip 4 for Anxiety Help: Supplement with a Good B Complex
I generally recommend AOR Advanced B Complex to my clients, because all of the B vitamins are already converted into their active forms (so they can go straight to work in your body right away).
If you’re nursing, I just want to let you know that high doses of Vitamin B6 can decrease breastmilk supply, though some women I’ve coached have increased their supply while taking Vitamin B6. Just make sure to stay properly hydrated with water when you’re nursing and taking Vitamin B6.
Several deficiencies of B vitamins cause anxiety, and the whole spectrum of B vitamins work better together, which is why I don’t recommend taking single B vitamins. I always opt for the complex/full spectrum.
Tip 5 for Anxiety Help: Eliminate Food Allergies
Avoid food allergies or suspected food allergies by trusting your intuition on the foods you probably know deep down you shouldn’t be eating, by getting an IGG home allergy test kit, by doing an elimination diet or by following a rotation diet and charting how bad your anxiety is each day until you find your personal food triggers.
If you are having an even light allergic reaction to a food, it triggers adrenaline, which makes you mega-stressed. You want to avoid this as much as possible by keeping out the foods that trigger you. It’s hard to calm yourself back down when adrenaline hits your system, because you’re having a body stress reaction.
Tip 6 for Anxiety Help: Avoid Alcohol
The processing of alcohol in the liver uses up B vitamins and low B vitamins can cause anxiety.
So if you’re already low and then using them up extra, it makes sense that alcohol can make your anxiety worse.
Tip 7 for Anxiety Help: Enjoy Calcium and Magnesium-Loaded Foods Often
These nutrients help to calm the nerves.
Seaweed and sea asparagus, leafy greens, lettuces, spring mixes, spinach in your smoothies, kale, hemp seeds, molasses and broccoli are all great sources of these minerals.
Of course, if you suspect or know you have an allergy to one of those foods, simply use another.
Tip 8 for Anxiety Help: Start Drinking Passionflower Tea
Passionflower is an incredible herb that slows down the mind. This can be super helpful for anxiety.
Always read and follow the label on the tea box as this herb isn’t safe for everyone.
Tip 9 for Anxiety Help: Targeted Meditation
Try a meditation that helps you release stress. You may just start finding it’s your FAVOURITE way to unwind!
When I started meditating, I went from having thoughts ALL over the place and fears about SO much, to feeling calm, grounded and confident all day long.
The impacts were so profound that I started making time for it every day, as a top priority.
Here’s one of my free, guided meditations to help you unwind from chaos and embrace calm.
Tip 10 for Anxiety Help: Affirmation from Louise Hay
I love affirmations, but they only work if you do!
This one is from the amazing Louise Hay, just read it and re-read it and notice if your shoulders relax, your nerves calm down and you feel soothed. If so, it’s GREAT for you!
“I love and approve of myself and I trust the process of life. I am safe.”
To make affirmations work, you’ve got to repeat them more than you repeat anxious phrases in your head, more than you feel stress. In that way, you’ll tip the scale into feeling less and less worried, with less and less of a pit in your stomach.
Throw that affirmation on sticky notes everywhere, even if you don’t believe it at first, and repeat it as often as you can. Make phone reminders for yourself. Go crazy with it.
And find healing from deep within.
If you’re looking for a next step or feel your anxiety is more severe than the tips above can help with, consider booking a complimentary online appointment with me to talk about how I can help, and to learn more about programs I have and specials going on to heal anxiety. The best help I can give is personalized to you, your specific symptoms and your health history and current/past use of medications. That’s my magic!
I’m sending so much love your way. Embrace your power to heal and no one will be able to stop you!
