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The Anxiety Summit – How Changing My Breakfast Cut My Anxiety in Half

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Angela Savitri, OTR/L, Freedom from Chronic Stress Coach was interviewed by host of the Anxiety Summit, Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution.

How Changing My Breakfast Cut My Anxiety in Half

  • How amino acids helped (5-HTP, and GABA)
  • How yoga and mindfulness meditation helped her anxiety
  • The research supporting yoga and mindfulness meditation for anxiety
  • How changing to a 90% whole foods diet helped her anxiety
  • What the biggest game-changer was for her anxiety?

It warmed my heart when I read this in a recent newsletter that Angela sent to her community. I contacted her right away and asked if she would come and share this on the summit and she said yes!

If you’ve been part of this community for a while, you’ve heard some of my personal struggles with anxiety.

When Lexapro, Buspar, and Doral were not helping, I sought alternatives.

I got some relief with taking amino acids, 5-HTP, and GABA.

I found some relief in yoga and mindfulness meditation.

I found some relief from eating a 90% whole foods diet.

I received the most relief from eating animal protein within one hour of waking.

Seriously…my anxiety went from a daily 6 to a 2 with this one nutrition adjustment.

And I learned it from Trudy!

This is going back to basics! This is simple and yet so powerful!

Here is a great blog post from Angela: 5 Tips to Avoid Depression and Anxiety

And an audio gift from Angela 3 Secrets to Self-Care Without Feeling Guilty

If you are not already registered for the Anxiety Summit you can get live access to the speakers of the day here www.theAnxietySummit.com

Eggs are ok, even the yolk!

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eggs and spinach

We’re seeing more and more research showing that eggs are ok and can be part of a healthy diet. It’s about time! Myself and my fellow nutritionists/integrative doctors have been saying this for years. I even say “yes, you can eat the yolk” on the back of my business card.

Here is some of the recent research:

An article on Webmd, Egg-Rich Diet Not Harmful in Type 2 Diabetes discusses the results of a new study to be published later this month. The findings were presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes 2014 Meeting last month by Nicholas Fuller, PhD, from the Boden Institute Clinical Trials Unit, University of Sydney, Australia

The findings suggest that eating two eggs per day, 6 days a week can be a safe part of a healthy diet for people with type 2 (that’s 12 eggs a week – yeah!)

Eggs don’t have a bad effect on cholesterol levels in people with type 2 diabetes.

…those in the high-egg group showed a trend toward HDL improvement

Researchers also found that eating an egg-rich diet for 3 months was linked to better appetite control, and may also provide a greater sense of feeling full.

The high-egg group also reported more enjoyment of foods, less boredom, and more satisfaction with the diet (I really like this finding!)

A paper published last month in the British Journal of Nutrition : “Cholesterol and egg intakes and the risk of type 2 diabetes: The Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study“  found that:

higher intake of cholesterol or eggs may not be associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes in Japanese populations

This interesting animal study “Orally administered whole egg demonstrates antidepressant-like effects in the forced swimming test on rats” published in August:

demonstrated that whole-egg treatment exerts an antidepressant-like effect

It is suggested that whole egg may be an excellent food for preventing and alleviating the conditions of major depression

Skipping breakfast can increase depression, anxiety and stress levels and eggs can be part of a healthy breakfast. This May 2014 paper “A cross-sectional investigation of depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms and health-behavior participation in Australian university students” found that:

For males, depressive symptoms were associated with skipping breakfast and poor sleep quality.

For females, depressive symptoms were associated with skipping breakfast, inadequate vigorous physical activity, and short or long sleep hours.

You don’t want to skip breakfast – ever! Low blood sugar can result in anxiety, mood swings, irritability and feeling easily overwhelmed, so it’s really important to get a good start to the day with good quality protein like eggs. Here is a simply yet delicious Egg Muffin recipe from Make It Paleo: Over 200 Grain-Free Recipes for Any Occasion.

We’re going to be talking more about the health and mood benefits of eggs (and animal protein) during season 2 of The Anxiety Summit. It runs from Nov 3-16 and you’ll learn about this and many other nutritional and natural solutions for anxiety, panic attacks, OCD and social anxiety. We’ll cover the research and practical solutions too.

 

 

Low blood sugar can result in anxiety

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Signs of low blood sugar may include:

  • Anxiety, irritability, agitation, nervousness
  • Shaky between meals or when you skip a meal
  • Poor memory, focus and fatigue
  • Intense sweet craving at various times of the day
  • Feeling stressed and overwhelmed
  • Waking in the night (low blood sugar is one of many causes of insomnia)

When you have stable blood sugar, you will feel grounded, experience less overwhelm and stress, feel less anxious and have no cravings – if your cravings are blood sugar related (cravings can also be due to yeast, low serotonin, low endorphins, low catecholamines and low GABA)

Simple dietary changes to help stabilize your blood sugar

1.     Eat enough protein

  • Eat at least 20-25g (4oz or palm-sized portions) of good quality protein at each meal
  • Grassfed beef, lamb, wild fish, pastured chicken, turkey and eggs, dairy (if it’s not an issue for you), legumes
  • This is not negotiable – you must eat breakfast every day! And within an hour of waking
  • If you can’t quite give up your coffee make sure to eat breakfast first
  • Make sure to include protein at breakfast! (egg, fish, chicken sausage, cheese/yogurt, even dinner for breakfast)
  • Substitute packaged cereals with real oatmeal, buckwheat & other grains and add nuts, seeds, coconut, butter, yogurt or kefir or a scoop of whey protein
  • Smoothies are good too – use fruit like berries and banana, use water as your base, add 1/3 cup full-fat coconut milk, 20g whey protein powder (other optional additions: green powder or freshly juiced greens, yogurt or kefir, nut butters, freshly ground flax seeds)

2.     Eat 3 meals and 2 snacks

  • Protein, fat and carbohydrate at each meal and snack.
  • Lunch example: protein= Beef, lamb, fish, chicken, turkey, legumes fat=butter, olive oil, avocado; carbohydrate = starchy veggie like sweet potato or brown rice
  • Meal ideas: meat and veggies, salad and protein, veggie soup with protein, lentil soup
  • Snack ideas: boiled egg; crackers and hummus; fruit and a few nuts; crackers and cheese; raw carrots/zucchini and cream cheese
  • Always carry some nuts with you for emergencies! Pumpkin seeds are a great choice.

Thanks to Elizabeth E for her recent comment on Amazon (this is an excerpt):

“I just recently finished reading this book and am grateful for such a great resource! I’ve already begun employing some of the suggestions laid out and they are helping. For example, I am making sure to include more protein in my breakfast and it’s definitely helping my anxiety!”

There are nutrients that help with blood sugar control: the amino acid glutamine, and zinc and chromium. These will be addressed in a later blog post.

All of this and much more is covered in great detail in The Antianxiety Food Solution: How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood and End Cravings, now available in major books stores, at Amazon and via www.antianxietyfoodsolution.com