Can a Nutritionist Help with Anxiety?
Can a Nutritionist Help with Anxiety? The Role of Holistic Nutritionists in Managing and Prevention of Anxiety
A holistic diagnostic nutritionist is the ideal person to provide support for physical help to complement a therapist's mental approach when it comes to managing anxiety.
Anxiety is a mental health condition that affects millions of people worldwide, and while therapy and medication can help, there are many physical factors that contribute to anxiety and can be addressed through proper nutrition. If you’ve ever experienced anxiety or panic attacks, you know this well. You experience the mental symptoms, like racing thoughts and overwhelm, but the majority of the symptoms occur physically. Anxiety is a truly whole mind-body experience and is most effectively treated with a holistic approach that addresses your mind and body.
Common physical symptoms of anxiety:
a rapid heart rate that makes you feel like you’re having a heart attack
nausea and stomachaches
shortness of breath that makes you feel like you’re going to hyperventilate
uncontrollable sweating that makes you even more uncomfortable and self-conscious
tingling and numbness in your hands and feet
tightness in your chest that makes you feel like you’re suffocating
choking sensation that makes it feel like you might actually die
dizziness and lightheadedness that makes you feel like you are going to pass out
neck and shoulder pain that makes you feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders
Nutrition plays a crucial role in our overall health and well-being, and it is no different when it comes to managing anxiety. A holistic diagnostic nutritionist can help identify any nutrient deficiencies or imbalances that may be contributing to anxiety symptoms. For example, low levels of magnesium, potassium, vitamin D, B vitamins, and omega-3 fatty acids have been linked to increased anxiety. By identifying and naturally addressing these deficiencies, a nutritionist can help reduce your anxiety symptoms and improve overall mental and physical health.
Furthermore, a holistic diagnostic nutritionist can also help identify any food sensitivities or allergies that may be contributing to anxiety. Common food triggers for anxiety include gluten, dairy, and soy. Oftentimes food sensitivities are caused by underlying infections that cause immune dysregulation. This dysregulation causes your immune system to attack harmless foods. By review your immune and food sensitivities labs, a nutritionist can help reduce inflammation and improve overall gut health, which in turn can improve mental health.
Blood sugar dips and spikes are a large dietary cause of anxiety and even panic attacks that a psychotherapist cannot identify or address. A holistic diagnostic nutritionist can assess your blood sugar levels and help you implement a diet plan that will balance your blood sugar to prevent anxiety and panic attacks.
A holistic diagnostic nutritionist can also provide support for physical help to complement a therapist's mental approach by helping to manage stress through proper nutrition. Stress is a major trigger for anxiety, and certain foods can help to reduce stress levels. For example, foods high in magnesium and zinc, such as leafy greens, nuts, and seeds, can help to reduce stress and improve overall mental health. A nutritionist can also provide guidance on incorporating stress-reducing foods into the diet and creating a balanced meal plan that can help manage anxiety symptoms.
In addition, a holistic diagnostic nutritionist can also provide guidance on using supplements to support mental health. For example, omega-3 fatty acids, B vitamins, and probiotics have all been shown to have positive effects on mental health and can be used to complement therapy and medication.
Holistic diagnostic nutritionists are trained in functional medicine, meaning that they view health from the whole body perspective, rather than allopathic medicine’s siloed approach to health (psychiatrists only treating the mind). Functional medicine also prioritizes the natural anxiety relief treatment options before assessing the need for pharmaceutical intervention. This includes recommending nutrition and lifestyle treatment modalities, like holistic diagnostic nutritionists specialize in. To qualify as a “diagnostic” nutritionist, a holistic nutritionist must complete specialized training in reading labs. The quantitative data the blood work and labs supply allows holistic diagnostic nutritionists to directly identify physiological deficits that are predisposing you to stress and anxiety and provide you with a customized nutrition, supplement and lifestyle plan.
Holistic diagnostic nutritionist is the ideal person to provide physical help to complement a therapist's mental approach when it comes to managing and preventing anxiety. By identifying nutrient deficiencies, blood sugar dysregulation, food sensitivities and underlying infections, support optimal digestion and absorption of nutrients and providing guidance on using effective supplements, a nutritionist can help reduce anxiety symptoms and improve overall mental health. If you are struggling with anxiety, consider working with a holistic diagnostic nutritionist to complement your psychotherapy and medication.
