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Anxiety is familiar to all of us. We all know the nerves and fear before public speaking, important events, and new dates. However, for many, anxiety is a more serious issue. Anxiety disorders affect about 40 million adults in the United States alone and one-half of the Canadian population. They are the most common mental illness. The good news is that it is absolutely possible to reduce anxiety. The first step is to discover what activities are acting to trigger anxiety within you.  

What Is Anxiety

Anxiety is a fear or worry about something happening in the future, such perceived to be stressful, dangerous, or unfamiliar situations. It’s a natural response to stress.

Occasional anxiety is completely normal. We all experience jitters, nerves, or fear from time to time before important events, a job interview, or public speaking. However, experiencing intense, excessive, or persistent anxiety, fear, or worry can interfere with the quality of your life and health. 

Persistent and intense feelings of anxiety can be hard to control and may hinder your daily activities, job, school work, relationships, and social life. Some people even experience panic attacks characterized by sudden feelings of anxiety or fear that may last for several minutes or longer. 

Symptoms of Anxiety

The symptoms of anxiety may differ from person to person depending on the situation and the form of anxiety you have. You may experience a racing heart, or you may even have scary panic attacks or nightmares.

Common signs of anxiety may include:

• Increased heart rate
• Rapid breathing
• Feeling tense
• Feeling nervous
• Having a sense of danger
• Restlessness
• Trouble concentrating
• Sense of stress, distress, dread, or worry
• Intense general fear or worry
• Intense fear or worry about a specific situation, place, person, or activity
• Feeling out of control
• Trembling
• Sweating
• Feeling tired or weak
• Gastrointestinal (GI) distress
• Difficulty falling asleep
• Feeling a disconnect between your body and mind
• Painful or worrisome thoughts or memories you are unable to control

What Can Trigger Anxiety

When you think about factors that may trigger anxiety, considering conflicts in relationships, social events, painful memories, public events, public performances, financial troubles, painful memories, and personal trauma may come to mind.

These are most certainly important factors that may trigger anxiety. However, you may be surprised to know that your nutrition and overall health may also trigger anxiety. In fact, when your nutrition and overall health is compromised, these commonly considered factors can trigger anxiety even more so. Let’s look at these nutritional factors that may trigger anxiety.

Blood Sugar Can Trigger Anxiety 

Not eating regularly may lead to a blood sugar drop. Eating a diet high in refined sugar and sugary processed foods also lead to sugar crashes and potentially trigger anxiety. When you eat sugar, your body releases insulin to take care of excess sugar in your bloodstream. However, too much sugar makes it difficult for your body to balance your blood sugar levels and create balance. This leads to sugar crashes and ups and downs that may trigger anxiety, irritability, worry, nervousness, and sadness.

According to a 2016 case report, adding more protein, fat, and fiber to a diet may improve anxiety, mood, concentration, energy, and blood sugar issues of a subject with generalized anxiety and hypoglycemia. Once they returned to their former diet of refined carbohydrates, it triggered anxiety and symptoms returned.

Gut-Brain Axis Dysfunction Can Trigger Anxiety 

It is important to know how healthy your gut is. Your gut literally affects everything in your body, including your brain and mood. It is not surprising that a gut-brain axis dysfunction can trigger anxiety.

The simplest way to understand the connection between your gut and your brain is thinking about a time when you felt nervous before a presentation, exam, date, or another event. Chances are you’ve felt butterflies in your stomach, nausea, stomach pain, or even diarrhea.

How The Gut-Brain Axis Works

Your gut and your brain communicate through the gut-brain axis.  One way they connect is through the vagus nerve which begins in the brain stem and travels down into the gut and stimulates bowel motility and the production of neurotransmitters like serotonin in the gut.   

The other way, your gut and brain communicate is through the microbial species that make up your microbiome. When your micriobiome and this gut-brain axis are disrupted it may lead to a number of cognitive dysfunctions and mood disorders including anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and attention-deficit disorder (ADD).

Foods that Can Trigger Anxiety

If you have anxiety, it is incredibly important to look at your diet. Inflammatory foods may increase inflammation, pain, and the risk of health issues. They may also trigger anxiety.

• Sugar and Processed Foods
• Artificial Flavorings
• Too Much Caffeine
• Gluten and Grains
• Processed Vegetable Oils (corn oil, canola, soybean, safflower, cottonseed & peanut oil)

How to Reduce Anxiety Naturally

Conventional treatments of anxiety often include pharmaceutical medications. However, these medications usually serve as a band aid without addressing the cause or fully solving the problem. You will be happy to learn that it is possible to reduce anxiety naturally through a nutritious diet, a healthy lifestyle, and appropriate supplementation.

The following are key strategies to take on your way to reducing anxiety and living a more enjoyable life.  Be sure to apply the first 7 on your own and if you are still struggling with anxiety than it is time to work with a functional health practitioner to customize a specific plan for you to get well.

• Anti-Inflammatory Healing Diet
• Eat your food in a relaxed state which helps product more digestive juices
• Supplement with an enzyme which breaks down the fats, protein and carbohydrates
• Taking a high-quality probiotics to ensure a healthy guy flora balance
• Exercise exercise 20-30 minutes, 5 times a week
• Remove Food Sensitivities

Consider Seeing a Functional Health Practitioner

Sometimes it’s hard to combat anxiety alone. If you have tried everything and nothing seems to be working, consider finding a functional health practitioner to help you identify the root cause that may trigger anxiety.

Final Thoughts

Anxiety is your body’s natural response to stress. However, frequent, excessive, and persistent anxiety can seriously interfere with your life and affect your overall health.

Understanding the factors that trigger anxiety and following dietary, lifestyle, and supplement recommendations, you can reduce anxiety and finally live the happy life you deserve.