How prevalent is anxiety - and what can we do about it?
A conversation about anxiety was started this morning in a group I’m part of - the wonderfully supportive @cheltenhammumboss group. I was amazed by the response that generated and how many of us there are out there who deal with anxiety issues. If you struggle with anxiety you probably think you’re on your own - but no - so many friends and colleagues will be dealing with their own issues
Anxiety can crop up at any time of life - from childhood, at the time of becoming a parent, triggered by a life-event and also around Menopause.
There were lots of ideas shared in the post around tools and techniques to manage anxiety, but diet was a fairly constant theme.
Here is my lunch today - pulled together with a couple of ingredients bought at the airport yesterday on the way back from a short break in glorious Paris and filled out with store cupboard ingredients. How will this lunch help anxiety? By being centered in gut-healthy, omega-3 rich ingredients - salad leaves, tomatoes. ‘omega-3 seed mix’, cashew’s, 1/2 a tin of butter beans and a tin of @johnwest mackerel fillets in tomato sauce (other brands available :)) . It took all of 5 minutes to assemble.
Why will these help? Over 60% of your brain is made from fat and a large percentage of this is omega-3 fats.. and there is a large and growing body of science pointing to the role a healthy gut plays in supporting our mental health (just google ‘gut brain axis’).
Oh and it’s refreshing to talk about anxiety too!
