What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is a natural response to a build up of stressful events or situations. Usually, anxiety can be controlled and managed but those who have experienced feelings of anxiety for a prolonged period of time will understand the debilitating effects it can have on day to day life.
Symptoms of anxiety can include: difficulty concentrating, fatigue, muscle tension, feeling restless and irritable, feeling worried about everything, fearful and having feelings of dread and gloom, sleep issues, feeling nervous, loss or increase of appetite, feeling dizzy or light-headed, fast heartbeat, increased breathing, aches and pains, sweating, nausea, grinding teeth and rushing to the toilet. If anxiety is not addressed then this could lead to panic attacks.
Panic attacks can be extremely frightening and you can feel like you are going to pass out or have a heart attack. Some symptoms of panic attack include a racing heart, sweating and trembling, pain in your chest, struggling to breathe and disorientation.
Why do we experience anxiety?
The human brain is pre-programmed for survival and to keep us safe it alerts us to signs of danger by releasing a chain reaction of hormones eventually resulting in the release of cortisol, commonly known as the ‘stress’ hormone. Cortisol makes the brain hold onto memories including memories of stressful events. This helps the brain to avoid similar, potentially dangerous events in the future.
However, if cortisol levels remain high in the body, the effects of this can be damaging to the immune system and can also lead to anxiety and other mood disorders such as depression.
What does sugar have to do with it?
The preferred source of fuel for your brain is glucose. In fact your brain needs a consistent daily supply to be able to perform effectively. Glucose is a type of sugar which the body derives from complex carbohydrates such as vegetables and fruit.
When our glucose levels are low, our brain will let us know. This is a normal biochemical urge that we feel. It’s part of our chemistry and not something we should deny.
The problem occurs when we:
- overeat the wrong foods
- try to use willpower to suffer through cravings (most obvious when dieting)
Both of these methods will cause a fluctuation in blood sugar, ie glucose levels will become too high or too low. Not only does this cause significant cravings, it also places a great pressure on your internal organs and hormonal systems to regulate your blood sugar. Over time this can create insulin resistance leading to serious illness like Type 2 Diabetes and cancer.
Frequent low blood sugar will cause the body to release adrenalin and you will experience all of the sensations explained above, placing the body in a state of stress. When the body is in a state of stress it calls upon supplies of vitamins and minerals to help deal with this crisis and over time this can result in the body becoming nutritionally deficient.
If you then reach out for comfort foods high in refined sugars, you create a habit loop in the brain:
stress = sugar/food = reward/pleasure.
So you see, sugar feeds anxiety and the whole situation becomes a vicious cycle. What started as a physiological issue becomes a psychological issue.
What to do about it?
The most effective way to bring about change is to utilise your conscious and subconscious mind together. Getting both on the same page will produce longer lasting effects. Your brain likes regularity and predictability. It’s just easier that way. When you learn something for the first time, you have to really think about it to remember everything but then after a period of time, you can do it automatically, without thinking. For example, can you imagine having to remember to breathe all the time or to pump blood around your body?
Making sure you truly want to change your eating patterns and behaviour is the first thing to do. Changing patterns and behaviours will in turn change your habits. If you consistently change your habits, you will eventually change your neural pathways in your brain. Think about it, if you regularly have a biscuit with a cup of tea in the afternoon at the same time in the same place, your brain becomes used to this and you will automatically expect this. If you change this up (interrupt the pattern), perhaps by having your tea at an earlier time and ditching the biscuit, or changing the place you have your tea, the habit you once had is disturbed. If you keep changing the patterns and behaviours your brain now is unsure of what will happen next. This will eventually change the pattern and behaviour so that it is no longer a habit.
conscious decision = change pattern/behaviour = subconscious habit removed
It is important to ensure your body is receiving a consistent supply of nutrition while you are also making changes to your subconscious mind so that your blood sugar levels are stabilised and fluctuations in mood reduced. This will help to reduce any physiological cravings, whilst you are working on the psychological side of things.
Jacqueline Carson is a Clinical Hypnotherapist who specialises in mind and body wellness. Jacqueline became interested in the relationship between sugar and serious illness after contracting breast cancer seven years ago. Now she helps individuals to quit eating refined sugars and processed foods to prevent illness and to recover from illness using hypnotherapy.
Follow Jacqueline on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/jacquelinecarsonhypnotherapy
Disclaimer: This blog is the personal view of the author and does not replace advice given by your medical practitioner. You should always seek the help of your doctor if you are experiencing health issues.