Sweet relief from anxiety! 🍬

I’ve got to admit it, I’m a stress-head!  My genes don’t help me as I have the COMT gene variation, along with an estimated 20-30% of Caucasians of European decent.

If you’re unlucky enough to be like me (for which I can help you get a test if you’d like) then:

·       you are 3-4 times less able to remove stress hormones from your body;

·       stress hormones build up, making stress feel stronger and last longer;

·       you need to work harder to reduce your stress response and stay calm;

·       you are prone to feel extreme stress, overwhelm and disease (dis-ease).

Having continually high cortisol levels (a stress hormone) is a precursor for many diseases including heart disease, gastrointestinal disorders, poor blood sugar control and diabetes, Alzheimer’s, depression, sleep problems and can lead to chronic and adrenal fatigue.

Feel the burn

As a wellness fanatic, I often practice intermittent fasting as I know it has huge benefits in almost every area of health including gastric health, immunity, blood sugar/insulin regulation and disease prevention. 

The other day, I was out on my rounds in another of my businesses, during which I’d often be feeling very anxious.  Although I was somewhat agitated, I noticed a significant improvement in my anxiety levels.  I realised it was because I was about 14 hours into an overnight fast, and therefore I was well into fat-burn at this stage.

Fasting is an opportunity for your body to burn through its sugar (glycogen) stores and start to burn fat, which produces ketones.  Being ‘in ketosis’ (fat burning mode) produces a higher amount of the neurotransmitter GABA, which has a calming effect on the brain and is involved in sleep and mood regulation.

Getting to the stage where you start to burn fat will be different for different people. It can be as little as a few hours after eating, depending on your diet, exercise, sleep and stress levels. You can try to do it through a ketogenic diet, however it is much harder to get into fat-burn when eating because even many vegetables contain too many carbohydrates that will spike insulin and prevent the fat-burn.

Please take a note of caution however…

…fat-burn isn’t always easy to achieve or desirable.  It can cause stress to your body, leaving you feeling very anxious, where it isn’t done in the right way, or you go for too long without eating.  You must be very careful if you suffer from blood-sugar dysregulation like diabetes.  I also raise a note of caution to women in their cycling years as it can upset their hormone balance, which has many downstream impacts due to the interconnectedness of stress, hormones, thyroid and adrenal function.

Easy does it

Nonetheless, intermittent fasting is also the easiest remedy for anxiety as all you have to do is not eat!  There’s no food preparation, no cost (actually it saves money!), and no time spent on it.  In fact, you’ll be more focussed to concentrate on other tasks.  I often get my best work done when on a fast.

However, it can be hard to train your brain to not eat as it is often a habit, especially if you are a snacker or have poor blood sugar control.  It will take time to train your brain and body to get used to intermittent fasting, so I’d suggest starting with shorter periods and working up.

There are also tricks and tools you can employ to support your body through it.  I would always recommend getting advice on how to do it safely and easily, and without feeling hungry.

Tips to success

The minimum period I would recommend for these kinds of benefits is at least 14 hours, but it might take you longer to get into fat-burn.  You could potentially go for much longer and some people do fasts for 2 days or more.  Please always obtain nutritional advice if you intend to fast for extended periods.

It is easiest to start a period of fasting in the afternoon or evening, and do it overnight, so that you are asleep for the majority of the time.  True fasting involves not drinking any milk or sugar in teas or coffees, which will break your fast, but you can have herbal teas, black tea or black coffee.  This helps to get through the fast and keep hydrated.  I also advocate keeping up your salt intake throughout as fasting can deplete sodium in the body.

Why not give it a go and see how you feel?  Let me know whether it improves your anxiety.  I’m here if you’d like any support in how to do it safely, or easily, and especially without feeling hungry, getting a headache or ‘keto flu’.

Well wishes,

Andie. x