Anxiety is Here is a list of holistic ways to potentially lower your anxiety that you may not have thought of.
1) Address Mineral deficiencies
He denoted that common mental illnesses and diseases were in fact an imbalance of certain minerals, namely Zinc and Magnesium.
Equally, stress and anxiety are major diuretics and consequently dehydrate us, causing us to lose even more of these minerals.
Magnesium, one of the most abundant minerals in our body, is actually losing that particular characteristic. As our soils become depleted, so do our mineral levels, and with a mainstream diet being less than optimal, magnesium is usually left on the back burner.
What can optimum Magnesium Levels do for your general anxiety and nerves? Here is a basic list:
– Support Nerve transmissions
– Support Hormone secretion, including the regulation of stress hormones.
– Regulates Blood sugar which, if constantly yo-yo-ing, can rapidly affect your mood.
– Binds to anxiety-causing heavy metals and lets the body excrete them, detoxifying the Liver.
– Support Vit D metabolism which eases tension, and prevents anxiety caused by a lack of red light.
In holistic terms, we consider Magnesium and Potassium two peas in a pod, both have a more ‘therapeutic’ or ‘alkalising’ effect. For example, Magnesium balances Calcium, which is thought to be more ‘acidic’, although both are important in the way of one’s nervous system.
So how can I therapeutically use Magnesium? You don’t even have to ingest anything to successfully raise your mineral levels. Transdermal absorption can often be equally effective namely with Magnesium creams and Bath Salts. I recommend spending more research time on natural Bath salts, since many commercial brands contain nasties like microplastics, which are going to exacerbate the Liver’s ability to excrete inflammatory toxins.
Pure Mineral Bath Salts – Westlab – Westlab (westlabsalts.co.uk) do a great 100% natural form of Magnesium flakes .
Fierce Nature – Ancestral skincare is my go-to for animal-based skincare, and their Magnesium body Balm has an almost instant calming effect on the body.
Did I mention Zinc?
But what does this have to do with anxiety? Well, here’s another basic list. Optimum Zinc:
– Supports heavy metal and other toxin removal.
– Supports Carbohydrate metabolism, which takes the pressure off your Gut, reducing body stress.
– Balances Copper which in excess may be a cause of chronic anxiety.
-Supports the Vagus Nerve.
Zinc is most effective when taken along with vitamin B6 at night time. So a combined bioavailable supplement can be beneficial, however, I believe in the power of food. Boosting Zinc-containing foods such as oily fish, Oysters, crab, Beef, lamb and hard cheeses can be an efficient way to meet your Recommended daily intake, and kick that anxiety out.
2) Gut Health
If your diet has been largely built on junk food, high carb, and refined sugars or you have a history of taking antibiotics you might want to consider how this has affected your gut health.
Your gut is the base for your Enteric Nervous System (ENS). Imagine your ENS and your brain, where lays your Central Nervous system (CNS), are constantly communicating, and when one gets upset it then riles up the other. The ENS responds to Gut inflammation, and its reaction reaches the brain as an emotional trigger. A compromised Gut, IBS, or other inflammatory conditions can lead to feelings of depression, fear, stress, or anxiety because of this connection.
Another suspicion is that Gut flora, which is made up of lots ( and I mean lots) of microbes, which can then dictate the synthesis and secretion of hormones, can be depleted and altered to a staggering degree affecting mood, memory, and even our ability to feel safe.
Simple ways to boost your gut Flora:
– Include Probiotics in your diet i.e Kefir, Sauerkraut, Tempeh, Cultured Yoghurt
-Include Prebiotics in your diet i.e Bone broth, Collagen supplements, Chicory, Onions, Garlic
– Leave time for digestion in between meals
– Get adequate sleep
– Reduce high protein for a short time
– Eat rich fermented foods
3) Eliminate Blue light
Are you a late-night scroller? Or a ‘first-thing-to-grab-in-the-morning-is-my-phone-er’? Does a day’s work involve eight hours of a bright computer screen? If your answer to any of these questions is “yes” then I have something to tell you…this could be another cause of your anxiety.
Our body has an internal clock called Circadian Rhythm, which helps us dictate our day and night cycles, what hormones should be released to wind down and those needed to wake up etc. The biggest influence on this rhythm is light.
The Blue light emitted from our devices can really affect the way our internal clock makes sense of day and night, thus ruining the production of hormones. For example, melatonin releases in the brain during the winding down hours of the day, where blue-light is scarcer and replaced more by red light.
Ways to reduce effects of blue light intake
– No phone or TV at least two hours before bed
– Aim for sunlight or red light first thing in the morning (within an hour of waking)
– Download a red light filter on your devices
4) Too much Coffee?
We get it, that first sip of Coffee in the morning can be the one thing that whips you into action. But could that daily cup be elevating your Anxiety levels? Most probably. We know that Caffeine is a stimulant, but it doesn’t truly create the life-giving energy we believe it to on those slacking days, it simply works by blocking Adenosine receptors, a neurotransmitter that signals sleep and tiredness in the brain. So, essentially, what could be remedied with good sleep and nutritious food is in fact being
The problem with caffeine is, begin with one a day, but as your tolerance grows higher, you entertain two to three cups a day.
You leave us
Your Vagus Nerve
We touched on the Vagus Nerve briefly, but now I can fully express just how great you can feel when you give your Vagus Nerve some love.
The tenth Cranial nerve or ‘Vagus Nerve’ is an important player in your ability to clock into your parasympathetic nervous system.