Anxiety attacks strike when you develop sudden or unexpected fears of losing control. You may have feelings of dizziness, weakness or faintness. Heart palpitations, sweating, tingling feelings throughout the body, nausea or chest pains may occur. Attacks may last a few minutes or longer. Repeated attacks can cause you to worry intensely about suffering future attacks. Anxiety attacks indicate you have panic disorder, an anxiety disorder treatable with therapy and medication. Certain foods may work with treatment because nutritional deficiencies have been linked to anxiety.
Treatment
Counselors, psychologists and psychiatrists can help you understand the reasons behind your anxiety attacks. You learn to replace negative thoughts with positive thinking or go through exercises to recreate situations when the attacks have occurred. The therapy prepares you for attacks with the aim of eventually eliminating them. Doctors often prescribe antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication to reduce the frequency of attacks. Healthy dietary changes aid during treatment under the supervision of health care professionals.
Vitamin Replenishment
Deficiencies in the B vitamins can promote anxiety or agitation. Processed foods and refined flour or sugar may cause a depletion of B vitamins. Sugary foods may result in dramatic increases in blood sugar levels, leading to feelings of anxiety and affecting your moods. Deficiencies in vitamin B12, or folic acid, can produce mood changes by reducing serotonin levels in the brain. Serotonin helps provide calming effects. Eat green vegetables, fruit, dairy products, fish and liver, which contain folic acid, to help relieve anxiety. Vitamins B1, or thiamine, and B6, or pyridoxine, also provide a relaxation effect. Grains, meat and yeast contain thiamine. Foods with pyridoxine include fish, cereal, liver and yeast. Vitamin C helps the body deal with stressful situations. Eating plenty of fruits and leafy vegetables provides vitamin C to improve anxious feelings.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates may boost serotonin levels in the brain to help combat anxiety. MayoClinic.com recommends eating a diet rich in complex carbohydrates, including whole grain bread, cereal and pasta, brown rice, and oatmeal, to deal with anxiety. Carbohydrates also improve levels of tryptophan, an amino acid that converts to serotonin once in the brain to produce a sense of calm. Food sources of tryptophan include nuts, poultry, soy, peanut butter and dairy products.
Protein
Protein breaks down into the amino acid tyrosine, which increases dopamine and epinephrine, brain chemicals that improve alertness and energy. The energy protein gives you helps improve feelings of anxiety. Consume fish, lean meats, chicken or turkey without skin, and low-fat or nonfat dairy products. Focus on low-fat protein products. Too much fat can cause digestive problems that aggravate anxiety, increasing the risk of anxiety attacks.
References
- National Institutes of Mental Health: When Fear Overwhelms -- Panic Disorder
- Holisticonline.com: Anxiety -- Nutrition and Diet Therapy
- MayoClinic.com: Coping With Anxiety -- Can Diet Make a Difference?
- Middle Tennessee State University: Food, Mood and Neurotransmitters
- Holisticonline.com: Depression -- Nutrition and Diet
