Anxiety nation – this is what we are!
I recently received a call from a school in New York City asking me to present to the parents of the autistic children who go to the school. The school director said the biggest issue their kids face is …anxiety and OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder).
“For a condition that affects so many of us, there is very little agreement about what anxiety actually is. Is it a physiological condition, best treated with medication, or psychological – the product of repressed trauma, as a Freudian might suggest?
Is it a cultural construct, a reaction to today’s anomic society, or a more fundamental spiritual and philosophical reflection of what it means to be human?
For most sufferers, the most pressing concern is whether drugs work, and if therapy is a good idea.”
This is an excerpt from a recent article with this same title on newstatesman.com – you can read the whole article here.
The author also states:
“The most recent nationwide survey, which took place in 2007, found that three million people in the UK have an anxiety disorder.
About 7 per cent of UK adults are on antidepressants (often prescribed for anxiety, too) and one in seven will take benzodiazepines such as Xanax in any one year.
Mental health charities warn that our anxiety levels are creeping even higher”
Something is NOT working, both in the UK, here in the USA and in other developed countries – it’s time to be open to more than only medications and therapy.
I’d like to suggest that we rather look at the beneficial effects of real whole food and nutrients (like zinc and GABA and tryptophan) and exercise and yoga and nature.
Here are a few examples:
- Low blood sugar can result in anxiety
- Good levels of zinc and vitamin B6 can help many anxious introverts not feel anxious in social settings
- Red meat is good (provided it’s grass-fed) and coffee is not – listen to an audio interview on these topics
Read more in The Antianxiety Food Solution: How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood and End Cravings, available in major books stores, on Amazon and via www.antianxietyfoodsolution.com
These children and their parents are going to be so lucky to have the benefit of your expertise. As you consistently share with us, food is such a powerful change agent when it comes to mood and emotions and mental health.
Can’t wait to hear more about this event.
I love reading your blog posts, always learn something useful, Trudy. Thanks for sharing. We can do so much with food as medicine, huh?
And good sleep patterns! That’s something that you taught me that helps tremendously. And I notice a difference when I get out of my good sleep routine. Now if you have a solution for anxiety dreams I will kiss you next time I see you 😉
Jessica – bad dreams can be due to low B6. So glad you have a good sleep routine!
Is it the coffee that is not good for you or
the milk, sugar and sweetened flavors placed in the
coffee drinks? A cup of plain black coffee every single day
is not going to hurt anyone.
Mitch – plain black coffee is the lesser of 2 evils but its still a drug we self-medicate with. If you have to have your fix then make sure it is organic as coffee beans are heavily sprayed.
I totally agree, Trudy! Our current system of dealing with any sort of ailment is very disjointed and aimed at getting rid of symptoms rather than finding the root cause. Being healthy goes much deeper than our traditional medical models would have us believe.
I agree with what Tiffany says. Traditional medicine needs a thorough re-thinking. XO, Katherine.
Trudy, I love your blog and your newsletters. I have a quick question I’d love your feedback on. I did a zinc assay test on myself at home with liquid zinc I bought at a health food store online for this purpose. The minute it hit my mouth, the taste was so foul that I had to instantly spit it out and had to eat something to try and get the zinc taste out of my mouth. Is this pretty good evidence that I do not have a zinc deficiency? I’m trying to figure out the best course of action for my anxiety and wanted to see if zinc was a factor. Thank you in advance!
Hi Abby
Thanks – so glad you love them!
If one uses a zinc challenge that has Zinc (as Zinc Sulfate Monohydrate) 4 mg per teaspoon and it tastes awful (like this video https://www.everywomanover29.com/blog/zinc-deficiency-and-using-the-zinc-taste-test/) then it’s likely that low zinc is not the issue.
Recently someone contacted me about a liquid zinc and it was a much higher amount of zinc and I would expect this to taste really bad and not be a good measure.
I also look at signs of low zinc: anxiety, easily stressed, stretch marks, white flecks on the nails and low appetite. Low alk phos is another marker for possible low zinc.
Trudy
Trudy – I’m curios about the statement “red meat is good and coffee is not”
My husband’s physician and his oncologist specifically told him not to eat red meat, and that red meat is attributed to cancer, as and a survivor, he should remove it from his diet.
They both also advised him that drinking coffee – 1-2 cups a day – wasn’t a big deal.
Why is there such a discrepancy in advice?
Hi Jennifer
You will hear this advice from many physicians and oncologists. The red meat itself is not the issue – it’s rather the quality of the red meat. Corn fed red meat is very different from grass-fed red meat.
Coffee is not a good idea if you have anxiety or insomnia but is also a drug we self-medicate with so it’s essentially covering up this need for energy and focus. It’s also heavily sprayed with pesticides.
Unfortunately, in the nutrition world there are many discrepancies in advice!
Trudy