If you’re prone to anxiety, be it some kind of anxiety disorder or just the occasional attack, you can make it better for yourself by avoiding foods that aggravate it.
These foods are just some examples of things that may end up making you more anxious.
- Tofu and soy. These two are culprits because they have protein, which is great for you, and trypsin and protease inhibitors, which make it harder to digest protein. It’s also full of flatulence-causing oligosaccharides, and in copper, which is connected to anxiety. For soy, stick to tempeh and miso, which aren’t as difficult to digest.
- Coffee and caffeine. Caffeine aggravates anxiety like nothing else. Even small amounts can trigger anxiety in those who are prone to it. If you know you get anxious easily, just do yourself a favor and at least switch to low-caffeinated tea.
- Apple juice. Unlike apples, apple juice has no fibers and tons of fruit sugar. Sweetened beverages will make you anxious because they spike your blood sugar and stoke your adrenaline.
- Red wine. Though you may think it relaxes you, in the long term, anxiety may actually make you more likely to develop a dependency problem, and can cause sleep problems, blood sugar swings, and more.
- Whole-wheat bread. Many people diagnosed with celiac who also have anxiety report that their anxiety went away when the gluten did. People with gluten sensitivities who don’t have celiac also reported that whole wheat bread made them feel more anxious.
- Wheat bran. Though it’s pretty healthy otherwise, wheat bran has lots of phytic acid, which binds to zinc, which is essential for mood balancing.
