As I prepare for “The Anxiety Summit 5: Gut-Brain Axis” (airing in November 2019) I have been going through interviews from the first Anxiety Summit in 2014 and would like to share something that I addressed in my opening interview as a good recap for you as you are on your healing journey with anxiety (or in case this comes up again in the future) – you truly can eliminate anxiety entirely!
This is a question I am often asked: “Can I really eliminate anxiety using food, nutrients (and a functional medicine approach) if I have very severe anxiety and/or panic attacks and I’m using medications?”
Way too many folks don’t believe it’s possible but yes, you can! You can completely eliminate full blown anxiety, panic attacks, social anxiety (where you cannot go out to social event or go and feel so anxious), phobias like fear of spiders or agoraphobia (where you cannot get out of the house), and even obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Many folks believe their anxiety is much too severe and that food and nutrients couldn’t possibly help. I’m here to tell you this is just not true.
It’s not uncommon for well-known thought leaders to perpetuate this myth, implying anxiety and fears never go away.
Ali Brown, entrepreneurial guru for women, and one of my amazing business mentors, created a program to help businesswomen overcome their fears. She shared this in the program information: “Let’s not forget women’s darkest best friends: anxiety and worry” and admitted “I still have to fight it. I come from a long line of worriers.”
I say no, you don’t have to fight it. Just because you come from a long line of worriers doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to put up with it and live with it. There is something you can do to eliminate the anxiety, worries and fears.
Seth Godin, author and thought leader, says this: “When fear shows up, understand that it never goes away. Dance with it instead.”
While I really enjoy the dance suggestion – it’s fun and the joy of dancing and the exercise may help – however I really do disagree with the fact that he says fear never goes away.
In season 1 interviewed Julia Ross, MA, my mentor and author of The Mood Cure (my Amazon link), on using amino acids for anxiety and she summed it up perfectly:
On a scale from zero to 10, zero is not an unrealistic goal when it comes to anxiety. It’s really the human potential and GABA and tryptophan give us access to it.
I’m going to repeat this because I think it’s really worth repeating. Zero is not an unrealistic goal when it comes to anxiety. Bravo Julia – I totally agree with this and I want you to know this!
It starts with doing trials of GABA and tryptophan, and using food and nutrients, and finding all the root causes and addressing them.
I really want you to know this, remember this, and don’t stop looking for the answer and the root causes. It may be food changes that you need to make. It may be breakfast that you need to eat. It may be low serotonin or low GABA. It may be foods that are problems for you like gluten or dairy. It may be additives in the foods that you’re eating. It may be toxins in your environment. There are many possible root causes, and you may have one or many root causes that are causing your anxiety.
Addressing these root causes with food and nutrients (and a functional medicine approach you can completely eliminate your anxiety even if you have very severe anxiety and/or panic attacks and you’re using medications.
Resources for you
- My book The Antianxiety Food Solution (my Amazon affiliate link) covers the 9 steps I use with clients. Read it and become a savvy health-advocate for yourself. Share a copy with your doctor and point out the references.
- Here is a blog on: How to do an amino acid trial for anxiety
- You can find GABA and tryptophan and other nutrients in my supplement store here
- Here is a blog on: 60+ Nutritional & Biochemical Causes of Anxiety
Do you believe your anxiety is much too severe for food and nutrients to be of help?
Or did you believe this and started looking at nutritional and biochemical root causes anyway and found solutions and anxiety resolution?