Anxiety & Hypochondriasis page

[bianca_m01]

Hi everyone! I have been eating primal for the last 2 weeks and am enjoying it so far. Unfortunately I am going through a bit of Anxiety but more specifically hypochondria.

I used to take medication for my anxiety but stopped taking them about 7 months ago and was fine until recently.

I do not want to go back on medication and am hoping that dietary changes and other lifestyle changes will help me combat this.

I was hoping to hear from people about their experience with primal eating and anxiety issues. How long did it take for you to start noticing improvements?

Thank you for your help

[jammies]

Hi everyone! I have been eating primal for the last 2 weeks and am enjoying it so far. Unfortunately I am going through a bit of Anxiety but more specifically hypochondria.

I used to take medication for my anxiety but stopped taking them about 7 months ago and was fine until recently.

I do not want to go back on medication and am hoping that dietary changes and other lifestyle changes will help me combat this.

I was hoping to hear from people about their experience with primal eating and anxiety issues. How long did it take for you to start noticing improvements?

Thank you for your help

Two things -

1. Some people find that going too low carb for too long can cause issues with anxiety or depression. So you may want to consider eating a higher carb version of primal to see if that helps.

2. Low magnesium is rampant and it can be exacerbated during the transition to primal eating. I would suggest a topical magnesium brine or a good quality oral magnesium. Natural calm is popular around here. I use the topical brine one hour before bed.

Good luck and welcome

[bianca_m01]

Thank you for your response.

I think the magnesium is a great idea.

What exactly is a topical magnesium brine?

[MudLily]

Someone please correct me if I got any of this wrong. I'm a geologist, not a doctor (or rather, not that kind of doctor).

If I remember correctly, the amino acid tryptophan is the smallest of all the aminos. As a result, all the other aminos out-compete it to get across the blood-brain barrier. Why is this a problem? Tryptophan becomes serotonin, which is an important neurotransmitter. Anxiety can be caused by or exacerbated by insufficient amounts of serotonin.

If you create enough of an insulin spike when you eat protein, the insulin will escort the larger aminos to your muscles, allowing more of the tryptophan to get into your brain to become serotonin.

You can't eat foods high in serotonin (like bananas) and hope to feel less anxious, because apparently orally ingested serotonin doesn't make it into the brain. You have to eat the precursor aminos and let them convert into serotonin in the brain.

I have heard that people who are prone to anxiety or over-focus can get worse on a low carb diet. This is why I don't go below 80 g/day consistently! I also supplement with 5-htp, which is another chemical on the tryptophan-to-serotonin chain.

If you opt for supplementing, start out with low doses, and read about serotonin syndrome so you know how to recognize what too much feels like.