I mentioned in another post, that I would talk about some of what I call "chemical triggers" of my anxiety. And those triggers are FOOD. First offender: Dairy. I've had a love/hate relationship with that one for a LONG time. I truly have a dairy-intolerance that I have known about since I was young. I used to have a stomachache every day in elementary school. The teacher and my mom wondered how I could have a stomachache EVERY DAY. Well, I was drinking milk with my lunch EVERY DAY. So, I had to cut out dairy. That started the rollercoaster ride....crave dairy- eat dairy- feel crappy- cut out dairy- crave dairy and on and on and on. It's insanity, people.
What I didn't realize back then was that the stomachache was not the only price I was paying with my rollercoaster eating. Eating dairy directly affects my ANXIETY. It's usually a day or two later that it hits full force, but it is still connected. The idea seemed ridiculous when it was first presented to me (probably by my well-meaning mom). I have since learned about the brain-gut connection, how food allergies affect our behavior and emotions, how foods can cause inflammation in the brain and thus affect our mental health, etc. (Google it if you don't believe me!) This is a REAL thing, friends, and I know that I am not the only one that this affects.
Second offender: Gluten. This one was harder for me to figure out. Plus, I thought if I couldn't eat dairy OR gluten, I might as well lay down and die because STARVING to death didn't sound like any kind of life for me (I know...I am so dramatic!). But, seriously, food is tied to emotion in more than one way and giving up something and feeling deprived is a struggle. It's hard for so many people! I finally had to bite the bullet when I was nursing my third daughter, and she couldn't have gluten. It's one thing to harm myself with the things I eat, but it's a whole different ballgame harming my child. And, you know, going off gluten HELPED my anxiety! Now, I try to focus on the BENEFIT of eating or not eating certain things and focus on what I CAN have.
You know the last post I wrote? The one about emotional and mental health and our children? Yeah, that one. Well, I mentioned that my daughter suffers with anxiety and, at one point, depression. She had frequent stomachaches and headaches. We took her off gluten, and it helped her stomachaches AND anxiety. We still have to work with thought-training and coping mechanism. We still have bad days. In fact, just last week we had a bad bout with my daughter and her anxiety. We came upon a terrible wreck and saw too much. My daughter had a stomachache for two days. But, we are managing the anxiety better and one of the BIGGEST things that has helped is taking her off gluten.
Third offender: Sugar. Dang it! I love sweet things! I REALLY love sweet things. I feel like I NEED sweet things, but sugar isn't good for me. Especially not in the amounts I was eating. So, I am cutting back on my sugar intake.
I don't know what food triggers you might have. I can't tell you what to cut out of your diet. All I know is that what we eat makes a difference. It affects how we physically feel, our emotions, our behaviors, etc. If you struggle with anxiety and you don't know what to do, this may be something you want to look into. You may want to research and experiment with what you eat to see how you feel. You'll have to give it some time. You can't go off something for a day and think it doesn't work because you didn't have immediate results. It takes time to get toxins out of your body. It takes time to allow it to heal. See if you get some positive results. As always, pray about the direction to take.
Oh, and don't judge me if you see me eating a cupcake. After all, I'm only human!
Much Love!!
Heather
