Diet and Exercise Can Affect Mood and Anxiety Disorders

There's no super food or magical exercise routine that can cure mood and anxiety disorders, despite what some dismissive and self-righteous celebrities may claim to the contrary.  Taking vitamins and jogging every day won't cure anyone of their emotional and mental afflictions, however, taking care of yourself physically can go a long way toward helping with these.  At the same time, ignoring or neglecting your diet and physical routine can actually make mood and anxiety disorders much worse.  How so?

When it comes to diet, there are certain foods that can make mood and anxiety disorders much worse.  Sugar and caffeine typically make most people jittery and edgy, and someone prone to these disorders is just going to make the condition worse by having a lot of caffeinated beverages and sugary foods and drinks. 

When it comes to food and mood and anxiety disorders, a person may also have special sensitivities, such as to wheat, peanuts, preservatives, or food colorings and dyes.  Sometimes even a little bit of these things, if you're sensitive or allergic, can irritate mood and anxiety disorders.  You would do well to keep a food diary for a few weeks and see if any particular food triggers a reaction or seems to make your mood worse.  You can then begin to eliminate or cut back on these.

Regular physical activity can help alleviate some symptoms of mood and anxiety disorders for a variety of reasons.  Exercise releases serotonin, the "feel good" chemical in the brain, which helps a patient to feel calm and relaxed.  Exercise also increases blood and oxygen circulation in the system, and these fresh nutrients help to elevate your mood.  Also, when a person exercises they usually just feel better about themselves overall; they've set a goal for themselves to be more active and then reaching that goal helps to alleviate those mood and anxiety disorders.

Ignoring good eating habits, regular physical activity and adequate sleep patterns is only going to make mood and anxiety disorders that much worse.  It would be nice if you could just take a pill and not worry about any variety of mood and anxiety disorders but unfortunately it's not always that easy.  Taking care of yourself and your health overall is absolutely imperative so as to live your life as panic-free as possible; this means some hard work on the part of the patient but in the end can definitely be worth it!