As I mentioned in my previous blog post on the science behind lowering anxiety through diet, I recently experimented with this myself. I have a long history with anxiety, but I’ve generally learned to manage it these past years. However, a few months ago my anxiety levels went way up, and I felt willing to do anything to get them back down. So, I took drastic measures and decided to see for myself if I could lower anxiety through diet.
If you haven’t already, you can check out my post on the science behind diet and anxiety right here. It was understanding this science that convinced me to try and change my diet.
But if you’re more interested in my personal experience, you’re in the right place!
My background with anxiety and diet
As I mentioned, I’ve struggled with anxiety on and off for years. Back when I started at university, I had my first bout of truly debilitating anxiety. This lasted for almost two years where I experienced constant physical symptoms. It became bad enough that I had to quit my job.
Since then, I’ve had periods of being nearly anxiety-free. But I’d often feel like the anxiety was lurking just beneath the surface.
This summer, however, the anxiety got really bad again. I felt awful for most of the days (and nights), I was constantly dizzy and felt completely beside myself.
If you’ve ever experienced anxiety, you probably know how scary this feels. And after a couple of weeks, I had the thought that I couldn’t go on like this. I needed to find a permanent cure.
That’s when I stumbled upon the science behind anxiety and diet.
How I ate before
Before I looked into this science and decided to change my diet, I didn’t think too much about my eating habits. They were mostly just that: Habits.
An average day before would look something like this:
- Breakfast: 2 slices of wholegrain bread with cheese
- Lunch: Varied a lot. Sometimes I’d eat yoghurt and a piece of fruit, other times I’d eat bread and eggs, and sometimes I’d make a bowl of oatmeal
- Afternoon snack: Oftentimes some type of cake or pastry
- Dinner: Homemade pizza or pasta were the go-to’s.
- Nighttime snack: On average, I’d probably have a chocolate bar, a scoop of ice cream, or another small pastry every second night.
On top of that, I’d have a latté every day, and I’d drink 2-3 glasses of wine spread over the weekend. Now, I’m not a nutritionist, but I wouldn’t consider my previous eating habits alarming per se. But I’m also aware that it was quite a carb-heavy diet, and that I was prioritizing quick and easy foods.
After reading the studies mentioned in my previous post though, I realized that my diet habits were far from optimal in terms of supporting my journey to becoming anxiety-free. Quite the opposite, actually. So, here’s what I did:
Elimination diet
I basically went on an elimination diet: I decided to cut out all added sugar, gluten, dairy, caffeine, and alcohol. It was pretty straightforward, but definitely a challenge. Because all of my favorite foods contained one or more of those things.
I had to be creative and put way more effort into my meals. This was a struggle at first, and sometimes it still is, but I’ve gotten more used to it now.
An average day started to look something like this:
- Breakfast: Oatmeal or a no-added sugar vegan yoghurt. Topped with fruit, nuts, and nut butter.
- Lunch: Some type of salad (I like this one as a base), or leftovers from the previous night’s dinner
- Afternoon snack: Dark chocolate (ideally 80% or darker), nuts, or fruit. Sometimes banana-oatmeal pancakes topped with peanut butter
- Dinner: Oftentimes still pasta, but I switched out the regular pasta for pea or chickpea-based pasta. Otherwise, some go-to’s are red lentil curry, fish and rice, or tacos
- Nighttime snack: Usually more nuts, fruit, or dark chocolate
I guess this is still a carb-heavy diet, but at least without added sugars, gluten, dairy, caffeine and alcohol.
How changing my diet went
The first few days
Now, I’ve tried changing my diet a couple of times before, but I’ve always ended up slipping back into old habits pretty quickly. This time, however, I had strong motivation to stick with the diet change, because I really wanted to feel better.
Because of this motivation, the first couple of days were surprisingly easy. It was easy resisting a craving when it occurred and to remind myself that staying away from those foods was my only way out.
A few later however, I did start to get strong cravings, but they’d usually only last for a day. My motivation remained stronger than these cravings, and I stuck with the elimination diet for almost two weeks before I started to experiment with reintroducing foods.
Here’s the crazy thing though: In the two weeks on the elimination diet, I was already noticing some small but significant changes; While I felt tired as usual, I was able to push through and get things done. This was new to me. I also noticed that my body felt better, I was sleeping slightly more soundly, and most importantly, my anxiety had started to ease up.
Reintroducing foods
The first thing I tried when reintroducing foods was ice cream. I immediately noticed how it affected me—my stomach felt heavy, I had a bit of nausea, and a mild brain fog settled in. The effects were subtle, but noticeable, especially after having cut those foods out for a while.
I started experimenting with eating something that were “off limits” 2-3 times a week. And just like with the ice cream, I clearly felt the impact of these foods; When I had coffee, my heart started racing within a few minutes, and I felt anxious for a couple of hours afterwards. When I ate bread, my stomach felt bloated and uneasy for hours afterwards as well.
One day, my partner (who tried to cut out sugar as well) and I each had a big slice of cake after not having eaten sugar for a while. The next day, we were both completely drained of energy, and I had the worst brain fog the whole day. I spent most of the day in bed.
I was completely stunned to feel for myself how these foods affected me. And I couldn’t believe that I had eaten these foods on a daily basis for years without knowing how much they impacted my mental health.
Did I manage to lower anxiety through diet?
In short – yes. I was surprised to feel the difference so quickly. When I cut out sugar, gluten, dairy, caffeine, and alcohol, I could genuinely feel a shift in my body and my anxiety levels. I was less anxious, had clearer thinking, and even noticed the absence of brain fog for the first time in years. It’s like I had no idea how foggy my mind was until it cleared up!
When I stuck to eating “clean” and avoided foods that didn’t serve me, I felt great. I’ve never felt that way before, so this is still mind-blowing to me. And even now, if I indulge in something I know might trigger a reaction, I’m prepared for how it will make me feel.
Throughout my life, I’ve seen a therapist on multiple occasions. And while it’s helped in so many ways, there was always this stubborn bit of anxiety that wouldn’t go away. It turns out, for me, lowering anxiety through diet was the missing piece. I know now that by sticking to a diet that supports my mind and body, I can live virtually anxiety-free. It’s an incredible realization, and I’m truly grateful for this insight.
If you’re struggling with anxiety, I hope this post gives you some hope. I know how tough it can be, especially when you feel like you’ve tried everything. For me, I’d worked a lot on my mind, but I’d missed working on my body. I hope this inspires others to learn more about the mind-body connection and utilize it in their own recovery journeys.
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