Food: How i cured my SA

[The_Fr33_Man]

Hello all, long time since i posted here, since then the majority of my social anxiety is gone with only residual rituals that are caused by habit that are left.

What i wanted to share with you was my cure which took many years of research and experimentation to stumble upon, Food.

My SA was caused by an imbalance in the gut flora of my digestive tract, which has been decisively linked to many mental illnesses including ADHD, inability to think, anxiety and early onset dementia. What caused the imbalance was years of eating sugary processed foods as well as gluten found in wheat. Although i eat healthily i did not maintain a balance. The result was an overgrowth in a fungus called candida which has also been linked to anxiety and depression. note that i DO NOT SUFFER FROM CELIAC DISEASE. Its been found that the majority of the population have trouble breaking down gluten

I then embarked on a year long crusade to eliminate those foods, going weeks without sugar of almost any form, wheat or dairy, having a plant based diet. The results were extraordinary. Admittedly i could have cured it alot faster but sugar and gluten are harder to kick then heroin. I am free now as a result of that so i'd like to pose you a challenge.

If you can go one / two weeks without gluten, dairy and processed sugars, this includes chocolate, sodas etc then i guarantee you will have a reduction in anxiety symptoms. You don't have to stay that way forever it just allows the body to rebalanced itself. The longer you go without these foods the better you will feel. If you cant go for long without these foods consider cutting slowly cutting down the amount your are consuming and eat a more plant based diet instead. There are many alternatives do these foods. Also you do it another way by cutting one of these foods each week.

By no means am i saying that all SA is caused by this but I found out that ALL psychological illnesses either have their roots or are fueled by imbalances in the body (not chemical imbalances i the brain).

Things that also cleared up since i did this:
insomnia, Inflammatory joint pain, headaches, flatulence and bloating, inability to think clearly, schizophrenic thoughts and tendencies

Here are some links to some of the research that backs this up:

http://www.depressionanxietydiet.com...ssion-anxiety/
http://www.freefromgluten.com/blogs/...gical-problems
http://www.healingwell.com/community...?f=9&m=1107309
http://www.healthyalterego.com/index...n-sensitivity/

You can also google these terms
Mercury and anxiety
Candida and anxiety
Gluten and anxiety
Gut-brain connection and anxiety
Nutrition and anxiety

[ArkoN]

Originally Posted by The_Fr33_Man

Hello all, long time since i posted here, since then the majority of my social anxiety is gone with only residual rituals that are caused by habit that are left.

What i wanted to share with you was my cure which took many years of research and experimentation to stumble upon, Food.

My SA was caused by an imbalance in the gut flora of my digestive tract, which has been decisively linked to many mental illnesses including ADHD, inability to think, anxiety and early onset dementia. What caused the imbalance was years of eating sugary processed foods as well as gluten found in wheat. Although i eat healthily i did not maintain a balance. The result was an overgrowth in a fungus called candida which has also been linked to anxiety and depression. note that i DO NOT SUFFER FROM CELIAC DISEASE. Its been found that the majority of the population have trouble breaking down gluten

I then embarked on a year long crusade to eliminate those foods, going weeks without sugar of almost any form, wheat or dairy, having a plant based diet. The results were extraordinary. Admittedly i could have cured it alot faster but sugar and gluten are harder to kick then heroin. I am free now as a result of that so i'd like to pose you a challenge.

If you can go one / two weeks without gluten, dairy and processed sugars, this includes chocolate, sodas etc then i guarantee you will have a reduction in anxiety symptoms. You don't have to stay that way forever it just allows the body to rebalanced itself. The longer you go without these foods the better you will feel. If you cant go for long without these foods consider cutting slowly cutting down the amount your are consuming and eat a more plant based diet instead. There are many alternatives do these foods. Also you do it another way by cutting one of these foods each week.

By no means am i saying that all SA is caused by this but I found out that ALL psychological illnesses either have their roots or are fueled by imbalances in the body (not chemical imbalances i the brain).

Things that also cleared up since i did this:
insomnia, Inflammatory joint pain, headaches, flatulence and bloating, inability to think clearly, schizophrenic thoughts and tendencies

Here are some links to some of the research that backs this up:

http://www.depressionanxietydiet.com...ssion-anxiety/
http://www.freefromgluten.com/blogs/...gical-problems
http://www.healingwell.com/community...?f=9&m=1107309
http://www.healthyalterego.com/index...n-sensitivity/

You can also google these terms
Mercury and anxiety
Candida and anxiety
Gluten and anxiety
Gut-brain connection and anxiety
Nutrition and anxiety

fantastic stuff, ive long been aware that my bad diet, addiction to sugary energy drinks and high dairy intake, is effecting my health, i have been too weak to change my ways, hence the reason im still smoking, i too have adhd, i find it hard to accomplish anything. reading this has given me some encouragement, can you pm me more details about the diet you chose?

[PussyRiot]

I have been vegetarian since I was 7 and I have eating healthy all my life, practically tee total - drink 2 litres of water a day used to cycle and go to the gym every day and yet my social anxiety is worse than ever at the moment - started smoking two years ago though.

[[Martin]]

Originally Posted by smellycat

I have been vegetarian since I was 7 and I have eating healthy all my life, practically tee total - drink 2 litres of water a day used to cycle and go to the gym every day and yet my social anxiety is worse than ever at the moment - started smoking two years ago though.

Yep, apart from the smokes I am quite healthy too - vegan for 9 years and I very seldom drink sodas or whatever. Haven't really noticed any correlation between diet and SA personally, although I guess it's different for everybody and certainly great news that you've had such success, The_Fr33_Man.

[xyz]

Originally Posted by The_Fr33_Man

By no means am i saying that all SA is caused by this but I found out that ALL psychological illnesses either have their roots or are fueled by imbalances in the body (not chemical imbalances i the brain).

Things that also cleared up since i did this:
insomnia, Inflammatory joint pain, headaches, flatulence and bloating, inability to think clearly, schizophrenic thoughts and tendencies

Interesting post. Thanks. I've read about this before, but in relation to something else. Didn't make the SA connection previously.

I'm of the increasing opinion that my anxiety/depression has an underlying physiological cause due to various accompanying health complaints. My diet isn't particularly good or varied, and I eat a lot of wheat and dairy. It's a difficult habit to change, but I will look into this further.

Originally Posted by smellycat

I have been vegetarian since I was 7 and I have eating healthy all my life, practically tee total - drink 2 litres of water a day used to cycle and go to the gym every day and yet my social anxiety is worse than ever at the moment - started smoking two years ago though.

there's your answer then. my anxiety has pretty much disappeared since quitting i never realised how much the nicotine was affecting me.

[Froggy246]

Originally Posted by BFG

there's your answer then. my anxiety has pretty much disappeared since quitting i never realised how much the nicotine was affecting me.

The smoking is a good point, it's a sneaky one because it seems as though it is a relief from anxiety, lighting up when on edge etc, but it only increases it in the long run. I really really need to quit!
I had a food allergy test once and wheat, sugar, chocolait, and heavy metals came up as being issues, I'm sure I have the candida problem, and I also have a skin issue called tinea versicolor which seems related.
Even if it's not completing solved by diet and minimizing toxins, it's got to be good in terms of getting the foundations strong in order to move forward and tackle more challenges, motivation and energy levels etc.

[Duke of Prunes]

I won't comment on the food thing, because I'll just end up pissing people off, but on the smoking thing: nicotine is pretty damn anxiolytic, so I doubt that smoking itself could cause/worsen anxiety – the psychological addiction to it is definitely bad for anxiety though.

[яemus]

My anxiety got much better without changing my diet. I just changed the way I thought. Only food stuff that I found to enhance anxiety was caffeine, I was drinking a lot of strong coffee at the time though.

[Gnus*in*blue*shoes]

Hello

In my opinion there is a link between diet and SA. I found out I was allergic to dairy and since I cut it out the improvement has been huge. I also swear that being vegetarian contributed to making things worse, I now eat meat and feel much better for it. I think it is something to do with the increased B vitamins found in meat, especially B6 and B12. I hope I don't sound like I'm preaching. I was veggie for many many years and I still would be aside from the fact that mentally and physically it just wasn't for me.

I also take digestive enzymes and that helps me break down food more easily.

I definitely think there is a link between diet and mental health. Interesting thread here.

[Pia]

^ Agree on the veggie thing. I've been vegetarian since i was about nine and have only recently realised that my anxiety and vegetarianism must have started around the same time. Definitely a lot to do with vitamin B. I started taking a multi B a couple of years ago and my anxiety improved after taking it.

Also i saw a nutritionist recently, who basically said that you need meat to be healthy. Contrasts the belief that being vegetarian/vegan is healthy! I really want to introduce some meat into my diet but the idea of it makes me feel sick! I really need to get over that.

On the candida thing, it's a tricky one as doctors insist it doesn't exist! Glad it worked for you though :-)

[pinkwafer]

Diet is important, but we cannot just live off fruits and vegetables. That isn't a balanced diet (well we can live, but it isn't healthy). But then you say you eliminated sugar, fruits are naturally high in sugar, so you didn't/don't eat fruit either??

We need a mixture of food to get all the nutrients we need.

It's good it worked for you, but I don't think it's advisable to cut out dairy, meat/fish and wheat (and oats and other grains are you suggesting?)... unless you have diseases of the stomach or allergies.

[desi99]

Once I did a gallbladder flush, which is basically avoiding any oil and fat for three days and mostly eating fruit and veg and on fourth day drink a cup of virgin olive oil with a laxative which cleans up the stomach and cleanses the liver. After I did that my bad breath was gone and my mood improved a lot. But sadly the effects last only a few days.

[BritishPeace]

I have heard good things about the caveman diet...