Natural Remedies for Anxiety

There are many natural remedies for anxiety as well as for panic attacks and though there is some overlap I have actually created a separate page to deal with panic attack natural remedies.

You will find however, that the content of this page relates only to anxiety, and natural treatment for anxiety etc.

Since this is a long page because there is so much natural anxiety remedies information to share with you I have divided the page into sections for ease of navigation in case you want to just skip to a particular part regarding anxiety that interests you.

The sections are as follows

1. Foods to eat
2. Foods to avoid
3. Homoeopathic remedies
4. Other supplements and herbs
5. Share your story

Foods to eat

 

If you are afflicted with prolonged or frequent anxiety you might be one of the lucky ones that find a really good diet can significantly alleviate your symptoms (and in a few cases completely solve the problem) because believe it or not, foods can actually be really excellent natural remedies for anxiety

Generally to help with anxiety treatment you need to eat a well-balanced rounded diet of basic and unrefined foods.

You need to keep your blood sugar levels stable as this can contribute to anxiety. A simple way to help you achieve stable sugar levels and so balance your anxiety symptoms is to eat smaller meals more frequently rather than large ones with big gaps in between. If you know about the GI diet then you would be well advised to eat the foods that are low on the glycemic index to help stabilize your sugar levels further which in turn stabilizes anxiety levels.

Complex carbohydrates contain a neurotransmitter called serotonin which has a calming effect in the brain and is useful for depression as well as anxiety. To enhance your serotonin production, ensure that you have some whole grains such as brown rice or oats with each meal.

Be sure to include B vitamins by eating lots of leafy green vegetables and also Brown rice once again.

Calcium and magnesium minerals that the body needs and if we are deficient in will add to anxiety. Once again leafy green vegetables (with the exception of spinach in this instance) will help to boost your levels along with soya beans, nuts, molasses and seafood like salmon and sardines.

It sometimes really can be as simple as finding that eating the right foods can be one of the natural remedies for anxiety that you are looking for and need.

 

Foods to avoid

 

As I have already said, foods can make great Natural remedies for anxiety but there are some that most certainly do not, and it is important that you are also familiar ith these so that you can avoid them.

Both caffeine and alcohol are known to increase (and in some cases cause) the symptoms of anxiety so you would do well to stop drinking alcohol and tea and coffee even though you might feel that they give you some comfort at the time. This is an illusion and actually they just put further stress and strain on an already struggling nervous system.

I have already mentioned the need to keep stable blood sugar levels and so it follows that refined sugar is to be avoided at all costs. Obviously this includes candies and cakes and refined flour products. Even soft drinks will cause a sudden spike in your blood sugar levels and then the crash afterwards happens which leads to irritability and tension and anxiety.

Any foods that you are allergic to should be avoided because as well as whatever allergic symptoms you may develop if you consume it, you are quite likely to have other common allergy symptoms such as trembling, dry mouth, palpitations and an upset stomach. As you can see all of these are also symptoms of anxiety.

I have already mentioned that you need to ensure that you are getting your B vitamins as well as magnesium and one of the things that can cause at bodies to be depleted in these substances is actually refined flour and processed foods. Consequently these need to be cut out of the diet and as already mentioned, replaced with whole-grain foods and basic unrefined healthy food which, without wishing to labour the point, make great natural remedies for anxiety and yet we often don't concsider them or realize it sadly.

 

Homoeopathic remedies

 

There are actually combination natural remedies for anxiety available these days and many people prefer to take these as this then avoids the need to work out exactly which specific remedy is suited to you. Please feel free to take this approach as it works extremely well for many people. If however you would like to learn a little bit more about some specific homoeopathic natural remedies for anxiety then please read on.

 

Arsenicum album

 

This is one of the natural remedies for anxiety suitable for people who are anxious and secure but also extremely restless and fidgety at the same time. They find it hard to keep still even though they might be exhausted and are often feeling very chilly.

They will have a fast heartbeat and an upset stomach sometimes. These people can be rather obsessive about tidiness and being organized. Often their fears and anxiety will revolve around health-related matters or germs or contamination although this is certainly not always the case.

 

Calcarea Carbonica

Often referred to as Calc Carb for short. This remedy is for more low-level anxiety and usually the people that need it have a sense of feeling overwhelmed. These people just have too much to do and not enough time and so they work really really hard but feel as if they are getting nowhere fast and it is this that gives rise to the sense of anxiety.

As it happens the people that need this remedy generally speaking tend to be on the chilly side and feel the cold and get physically tired more easily than most.

Gelsemium

 

Gelsemium is a great natural remedies for anxiety for the kind that comes from the anticipation of things to come. So it can be useful for acute anxiety when someone might be afraid of giving a speech for example or taking an exam or going to court. In other words, some kind of perceived ordeal.

Often this kind of anxiety is accompanied with trembling, especially in the legs and weakness too and sometimes diarrhea will accompany the anxiety.

 

Ignatia

 

Ignatia is excellent for the kind of anxiety that results from some emotional trauma. It could be a bereavement or some other perceived major upheaval in life. Generally the people that need this will suffer from mood swings and be weepy and brooding.

 

Lycopodium

 

This is another of the natural remedies for anxiety that is really good for anticipatory anxiety so for example stage fright or some kind of social anxiety. Generally people that need this remedy do not like to be in the limelight and it is this that causes them anxiety. This fear is actually a result of low confidence which very often can be a result of being bullied at some point in the past although this is certainly not always the case.

This people also tend to have digestive troubles particularly when they are anxious and in particular they will suffer from excess bloating and gas and possibly diarrhea also. Incidentally they tend to have a sweet tooth also.

 

Pulsatilla

 

Pulsatilla is especially good for anxiety that is related to the fear of being alone or of being abandoned by someone that they care about. This is readily seen in young children who want their parents to be in the same room as them all the time and will even want to sleep in their best with them at night. However adults also suffer from fear of abandonment and for some people this can be very intense and they will usually be weepy when they talk about this.

 

Other Supplements and Herbs

Magnolia Bark

Magnolia bark is one of the well-known natural remedies for anxiety that I felt has enough to say about it that it deserved its own page. Please click the link to find out more about this natural remedy.

Passion Flower Extract

Passion Flower Extract is also one of the well-known natural remedies for anxiety and as such I have also written just about this natural remedy. Please click the link to find out more about it.

Hydroxytryptophan

Hydroxytryptophan is often known as 5–HTP for short and it is said that it will increase serotonin levels which have a calming effect on the mind. There is more about this on my depression pages.

Hydroxytryptophan needs to be in our bodies at sufficient levels before we are able to produce our own serotonin. There are foods to raise these levels which you can check out right here, but in the meantime for a fast boost a supplement may be a sensible idea.

To ensure that you also take a good vitamin B complex supplement if you decide to take Hydroxytryptophan as a supplement as vitamin B6 is required in order to fully metabolize the Hydroxytryptophan and without enough of it taking Hydroxytryptophan becomes a pointless exercise.

It is important to note that it should not be taken in conjunction with any antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications that are pharmacologically based. Consult your pharmacist or physician if you are unsure.

Kava

Called Piper Methysticum for short, this is one of the natural remedies for anxiety that will work well on the symptoms of generalized anxiety but also will significantly relieve a panic attack also and as such it is a very useful natural remedy.

Double-blind studies have shown that Kava is effective in helping people who suffer from mild to moderate anxiety and one study showed that it was particularly useful for women who have developed anxiety when they became menopausal.

That said, there are certain caveats that should be observed. If you are taking a pharmacological tranquilizer then you need to check with your physician before you try this. It certainly should not be taken under any circumstances at the same time that you are taking a pharmacological medication for anxiety, depression or Parkinson's disease.

Additionally it should not be used when you are drinking alcohol and it should also not be taken if you have elevated liver enzymes

Overall this is a very useful supplement but it should be used under a doctor’s supervision.

L-Theanine

This is an amino acid and is said to have a generally calming effect on the mind and studies seem to support this. It is not an addictive substance and it does not cause drowsiness.

A

Gamma-amino butyric acid is the full name and this is also an amino acid which is said to have a calming effect in the mind. It is a natural compound that is manufactured in the brain by our bodies and it plays a key role in the central nervous systems reaction to stress.

Calcium and Magnesium

In the dietary section of this page I have discussed the importance of these two minerals in terms of keeping the nervous system calm. If you feel that you may be deficient in these then clearly you need to be eating more of the right foods (as discussed above) but in the meantime you may wish to take some supplements to boost your levels while you adjust your diet and wait for the effects of that to kick in.

Vitamin B Complex

B vitamins help combat the effects of stress and help to balance out the chemistry within the brain and as already discussed vitamin B6 has been shown to be particularly important.

Valerian

This is one of the natural remedies for anxiety that is said to be particularly potent in relaxing the nervous system and it also work out seems to have an affinity for insomnia that has been caused by anxiety.

St John's wort

I have discussed this in some detail on this page but in summary St John's wort can be helpful for anxiety that is accompanied by depression.

Switching from prescribed anxiety medication to St Johns wort should be done under the supervision of your physician. If you do decide to take this herb, then you need to be aware that you will be much more prone to sunburn while you are taking it, especially if you are fair skinned. As a result you will need to take more precautions in the Sun and even just outside in daylight than you would ordinarily.

Chromium

If you suffer with unstable blood sugar levels, and perhaps you crave sugars and you have reason to believe that this swinging of blood sugar levels is part of what is going on with your anxiety then this may be a supplements worth exploring.

Ashwagandha

This is an old Ayurvedic herb that actually belongs to the tomato family and actually has healing traditions going back through ancient times. It contains many active medicinal chemicals and consequently has been subjected to at least 216 studies regarding its particular healing benefits. It is one of the wonderful ancient and traditional natural remedies for anxiety going back for hundreds of years and longer.

It has many properties that are beneficial to health particularly in the regenerative and restorative categories. It is known to help combat the effects of stress as well as improve learning and memory and also to reduce anxiety and depression without causing drowsiness.

It is said to reduce brain cell degeneration, stabilize blood sugar, lower cholesterol as well as having many anti-inflammatory benefits. This is certainly an herb to consider for treating anxiety naturally.

Visit The Natural Health and Healing for You website if you are interested in learning even more about The benefits of Ashwagandha where you will discover some of the additional properties it has regarding anxiety symptoms and how to use it for treating anxiety naturally.

As you can see there are many different natural remedies for anxiety and though I have mentioned quite a few on this page, this list is by no means exhaustive but it is a very good starting point. I am pretty sure that there is certain to be something on this page regarding natural treatments for anxiety that is going to be of benefit to you, if not many things.

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