Anxiety

Anxiety is an overload of worry but the symptoms are often hard to spot, as they can develop gradually over time. While it’s totally normal to experience anxious feelings sometimes, how much is too much? According to Beyond Blue, anxiety may be affecting you if more often than not, you:

• feel very worried & find it hard to stop worrying

• have worrying feelings that make it hard to do your everyday activities

• have difficulty concentrating

• have trouble sleeping

• easily tired, irritable & restless

• have obsessive behaviour

• have physical symptoms of racing heart, tight chest, painful jaw

Adrenal Support

In Naturopathic Medicine, the adrenals are often the first place to look when symptoms of anxiety are present. These glands, which sit just on top of the kidneys, regulate the production of the stress hormones, cortisol & adrenalin. These are very important hormones that allow our body to adapt to stressful situations, such as jumping out of the way of an oncoming car. However, when the adrenals are constantly producing large amounts of stress hormones, we are in a permanently heightened state of anxiety. A simple salivary test can detect elevated cortisol levels, which can then be balanced with high doses of B-group vitamins and nourishing herbs such as Rhodiola & Withania.

Magnesium

High-stress living creates a high demand for magnesium. If we become deficient in magnesium, we have the classic stress symptoms of anxiety, insomnia & muscle tension. Magnesium supplementation calms the transmission of nervous impulses in the brain, literally turning down the volume in the brain.

Herbal Medicines

Traditionally, herbalists have used the nervine class of herbs to tone down nervous system activity and reduce free-floating anxiety. These work to improve levels of calming neurotransmitters such as GABA and reduce the effects of the excitatory neurotransmitters. The wonderfully named Passionflower, as well as Lemon Balm, Zizyphus & Skullcap all exert calming effects on the nervous system.

Diet

Caffeine and nicotine are both adrenal stimulants; indeed, most of us have experienced the awful jittery sensation of too much coffee.  Both should be avoided in anxiety. The artificial sweetener, aspartame (commonly known as Equal or Nutrasweet) contains excitatory neurotoxins that play havoc with our neurotransmitters and stimulate anxiety. If this wasn’t bad enough, they have also been found to contribute to obesity, carbohydrate cravings, behavioural disturbances & visual problems.