How to Eat Well for Anxiety

Keep calm and reduce anxiety with these foods and supplements that help to restore balance.

- By Jessie Shafer, RD

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States. The rate of adults who suffer from anxiety increased from 11% (one in 10) to 25% (one in four) over the last three years. The rate of adolescents ages 13 to 18 with anxiety is even higher at 33% (one in three), according to the American Psychiatric Association. Even though anxiety is common, you don’t have to live with its debilitating effects forever.

Having anxiety – a feeling of fear or unpleasant uneasiness – is a normal human response to an approaching stressful event or encounter. But for many people, anxiety is more extreme and persistent. In those cases, it is likely an anxiety disorder, especially when those feelings last longer than six months and interfere with normal activities.

Anxiety disorders can affect anyone at any age, but women are twice as likely to be diagnosed. Symptoms of an anxiety disorder include trouble concentrating, difficulty falling asleep, nightmares, panic attacks and rapid breathing, increased heart rate and restlessness.

According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, there are five major types of anxiety disorders:

1/ General anxiety disorder: Chronic anxiety, exaggerated worry and tension, even when unprovoked.

2/ Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): Recurrent unwanted thoughts and/or repetitive behaviors that provide temporary relief, and not performing them increases anxiety.