Diet And Anxiety

It was not until I was years into my anxiety and panic attacks with bouts of depression that I learned just how important and how much Diet and Anxiety go together. Most of the time it is not until you get much older that you begin thinking about things like diet, exercise, health and our bodies and how everything effects us. We were always told to drink water water water. So how many of you at a young age really think about exactly what water does for your body?

Water transports nutrients, hormones and chemical messengers to vital organs in the body. If we don't keep our bodies well-hydrated they may react with signals such as anxiety which you would never think that is related to poor drinking habits.

Here are some interesting facts about water:
-75% or more of Americans are chronically dehydrated.
-37%  of Americans the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is often mistaken for hunger.
-Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as much as 3%.
-One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of  the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.
-Lack of water is the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.

The goal is to drink 8 glasses of water a day in order to replenish the deficit of fluids that reach all the way to the molecular level. Our cells then communicate this to our subconscious as an underlying subtle feeling of anxiety. In short water is key when considering Diet and Anxiety. Ample amounts of water ward off subtle feelings of anxiety, helping cure anxiety and is incredibly helpful in building stamina and warding off fatigue.

Diet is something we can immediately take control of to help improve our over all well- being while also building a positive mental attitude allowing us to feel as if  "I am in control of my body."

On average, most people have a high acidic diet which gives you a lower resistance to stress as well as a variety of serious health conditions. To be at the optimum balance there needs to be 80% alkaline in your diet. If your diet is to acidic your body will have difficulty eliminating toxins from the body, which leaves you with less of a buffer zone to stress.

High acidic foods are: Salt, sugar, proteins, nuts, grains, dairy products (except yogurt), refined or processed products and alcohol. Alkaline foods: fruits, vegetables and juices.

In order to obtain this optimum balance we need to focus on raw vegetable, fruits and small quantities of protein as we need for energy. A person needs  50 g of protein a day with a good diet. This breaks down into 7 ounces of animal protein (or a vegetarian equivalent) or 36 ounces of good yogurt. Should you have a physical occupation or you are very strenuous then you may need more than 50 g of protein a day. In order to eliminate anxiety the rest of your diet should be alkaline.

To help cure your anxiety, see below to find a more comprehensive list of alkaline foods that will help bring greater balance to your diet.

Diet and Anxiety are linked together no matter how you look at it or analyze it, We must learn to take care of our bodies if we want our bodies to take care of us.

Alkaline Foods:

Parsnips                                                         Orange
Rutabagas                                                      Grapes
Cauliflower                                                    Apricots
Mushrooms                                                    Blackberries
Green beans                                                   Peaches
Green peas                                                     Raspberries
White potatoes                                               Pears
Tomatoes                                                       Apples
Muskmelon                                                    Beans, dried
Cantaloupe                                                     Dried Figs
Limes                                                              Dried Dates
Strawberries                                                   Bananas
Pineapples                                                      Raisins
Prunes                                                            Avocados
Sweet Potatoes                                              Watermelons
Honey Dew Melons                                       Molasse
Beet Greens                                                   Celery
Chard Leaves                                                Watercress
Sauerkraut                                                      Lettuce
Green Limas                                                  Cucumbers
Radishes                                                        Cabbage
Broccoli                                                         Beets
Brussel Sprouts                                              Carrots
Green Soybeans                                             Raw Spinach

The more you take control over your diet and fluid intake, the more you will begin to regain you self control and confidence that you really can control how you and your body react to anxiety. Take the time to work out a diet tailored for you and make sure to include plenty of water.

Only WE can choose to Support one another,
Sincerely,
Melinda Pearson

PS: This subject is discussed more in-depth in the panic-away system so please take the time to give this program a review and let me know what you think. CLICK HERE! Please take the time to like and share this post and leave me a comment if you liked or learned something from this post.

Anxious Intrusive Thoughts

In almost all cases of general anxiety, the driving factor fueling the sensations are anxious intrusive thoughts. There can be little chance for success over the root of anxiety without addressing these intrusive thoughts.

Most of us who suffer from anxiety and panic attacks often have to deal with the negative side-effects of unwanted thoughts that continually creep into our minds over concern for loved ones, concern over our own health or even fears that have no rational sense, but continue to linger in our minds.

Barry with the Panic Away system guides us though a two-step process, that is in part related to his ONE MOVE step in his program for getting rid of anxious intrusive thoughts. You must eliminate the negative thinking patterns by producing a shift in attitude along with specific visualization tools.

THE ATTITUDE SHIFT:
The distress we feel does not come from the intrusive thoughts we have, but how we respond to those thoughts. Our reactions to the thoughts are what enables them to have influence and power over us. It helps to paint a playful visual picture to better understand how these unwanted thoughts come about.

Think about you standing on a street corner watching as thoughts just lazily float by. These thoughts can be your own or ones from an outside source like a news report, magazine, gossip. You notice a thought will gravitate closer to you as you give it attention as the rest of the thoughts just float on by.

As you focus on a thought more closely, notice how it attaches to similar thoughts thus leading to the jumping from one thought to another. These can be everyday chores, bills or can be themed as a fantasy/daydream.

In our imaginary scenario you now notice a thought unexpectedly in front of you that "scares" you. We will call this fear X. X can be ill health, panic attacks or even something bizarre. The thought begins to come closer and closer because you can't help but focus on it which produces fear because you do not like what you see. This sets in the "what ifs" as you examine the thought more and notice how this only connects more worry and no matter how hard you try to push it away or focus on pleasant thoughts your mind keeps coming back to the fearful thought.

HOW TO TACKLE ANXIOUS INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS:
There has to be a change in Attitude. You have to change the way you react to intrusive thoughts thus disarming the emotional reaction to Fear X. Once the reaction has been significantly reduced the anxious intrusive thoughts will dissipate.

The trick, is to have a new reaction to them when they run through your mind instead of trying to free yourself of them. We can't control what goes through our minds but we can change how we react. This is the key difference of someone who gets caught up in fearful or anxious thinking and someone who does not.

Next time Fear X or any thought your mind can conceive comes to mind understand these thoughts are not a realistic fear, and you want them to stop interrupting your life. Do not push the thought away. THIS IS IMPORTANT:

Say to yourself: Today I am trusting that all is well and all though this thought/fear is a possibility it is a remote one and I am not going to worry about that right now.

What is most important here is not to get upset by the emotions or fears as they arise, you want to avoid any emotional reaction to the fear so try giving the fear some cartoon characteristics.

For example, imagine Porky Pig telling you "Something awful is going to happen to you today. Aren't you scared?" with all his stuttering?  Make it a totally ridiculous scene as to take away the initial emtional reactions..How can you take Porky Pig seriously, he is so funny! By doing this you are taking the thoughts authority away making it no longer a threat. When this is done go back to what you were doing before the thought entered. You are not pushing the thought away or trying to side track it you are targeting it and taking it's authority to affect you away.

This will take practice especially in the beginning but you will soon find you are not checking yourself as much during the day to see how you feel. You are changing the fearful emotion  leaving less troublesome thoughts that just float on by with the other thoughts. I strongly recommend going to the panic away program to get more in depth information on this technique.


Only WE can choose to Support One Another,
Sincerely,
Melinda Pearson

PS: If you would like more information on this technique then please CLICK HERE!
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Depersonalization And Anxiety

In the Panic Away system, Barry Mcdonagh talks about Depersonalization and Anxiety.  This is not talked about much in the world of anxiety and panic attacks but make no mistake it is certainly there.

Depersonalization is believed to be caused by an imbalance in brain chemicals but the exact reason behind it is not clear. The sensation is caused by delayed perception, while your body is under constant stress or anxiety there is a build up of stress chemicals that causes a delayed response of the transmission of information between neurotransmitter sites in your body.

When you feel you are outside yourself looking in, or feel like your losing your mind, or your having an out of body experience then you are in the effects of Depersonalization and Anxiety.

Symptoms can include:
1.) Feeling like you are watching yourself like an observer
2.) Not in control of your actions.
3.) Feel as your disconnected from your body.
4.) Out of body experiences.
5.) Feeling as if it's a dream.
6.) Feeling like everything around you is not real.

The key is to recognized that these are only feelings and not reality. The good news is you are ok and have not done any damage to your brain or body, you are just fine. Even if it shows itself at the most troublesome times. The Panic Away program is wonderful for teaching you how to face this crisis head on to learn to go with these feelings taking the fear out of the equation which shuts the anxiety down. You feel more empowered when you are able to stand strong, face the fears, and then defeat them and take fears' power away.

Psychologists normally recommend Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBH) for treatment of depersonalization or medications such as those used for anxiety and depression, mainly which are benzodiazepines such as zanax or ativan or valium. All though depresonalization has been linked to withdrawal symptoms from these same medications.

Remembering that Depersonalization and anxiety go hand in hand but can be faced and their power over you taken away. Don't let the fears sucker you into thinking you are alone and stuck with these feelings because those thoughts are not valid. This will take practice but the change in your attitude will make a big difference to you and that anxious person will soon seem like a stranger.


Only WE can choose to Support one another,
Sincerely,
Melinda Pearson

PS: Please take the time to check out the Panic Away system and get the answers you need on Depersonalization and Anxiety.   CLICK HERE  If you learned something then please let me know or leave me a comment. If you enjoyed the post then by all means like and share with those we can help.