Anxiety disorder is not an illness so most medications and prescription drugs cannot do anything but mask its symptoms. However, there are certain vitamins and food products that will help condition your brain and body into better coping with stress, which is the primary cause of anxiety. With these vitamins, you can effectively stop anxiety disorders at the root, saving up on costly medication, psychotherapy, with the added benefit of freeing yourself from all the hassle of anxiety attacks.
Stress and the resulting anxiety attacks mainly affect the brain and the nervous system. To help them cope, a steady and abundant supply of B vitamins is needed. B vitamins help maintain the cells of our nerves and brain, as well as aid in converting food into energy for the body. Deficiencies in vitamin B, on the other hand, has long-term negative effects as its prolonged absence makes the body lose its efficiency in storing and using energy, resulting in resources and vitamins being depleted faster than normal.
Vitamin B has different types but all of them help in dealing with stress. Vitamin B1, or thiamin, is a water-soluble vitamin that aids in breaking down carbohydrates into simple sugar glucose, which is the body’s main fuel. Thiamin can be found in whole grain cereals, bread, red meat, egg yolks and green leafy vegetables.
Vitamin B2 is called riboflavin, which helps breakdown carbohydrates, fats, and proteins as well as helps maintain the nerve sheaths. Riboflavin can also be found in whole grain products, milk, meat, eggs, cheese and peas.
Vitamin B3 is called Niacin, and is vital to food metabolism, skin maintenance, and improvement of the nerves and gastrointestinal tract. Niacin is plentiful in protein-rich foods such as meat, yeast, milk, eggs, potatoes and peanuts.
Vitamin B6, or pyridoxine is also essential to the maintenance of the body’s energy supplies and with red blood cells. Can be found where B vitamins are plentiful.
Lastly, there’s vitamin B12 and vitamin B9, which, like other B vitamins, are essential to the efficiency of the body in maintaining regular energy supply as well as serve as nourishment for the brain. It is not a coincidence that most vitamin B-rich food products such as peanuts and banana are referred to as “Brain Food”.
Deficiencies in B vitamins could not only leave you prone to stress and anxiety attacks, but also cause anemia, poor growth and various irritations. This deficiency is common in alcoholics, the elderly and malnourished people who, coincidentally, are also the types of people more susceptible to stress.
To help cope with stress and anxiety, a healthy, balanced diet with lots of “brain food” should be adopted. Brain foods such as peanuts, fish, eggs, and bananas are inexpensive and can be easily bought in stores and supermarkets so there is no excuse to let an anxiety disorder flourish. Coupled with relaxation and an exercise regimen that helps the nervous and circulatory system will prevent anxiety disorders from getting worse or developing at all.
Related Articles