Anxiety

What is anxiety

If you are looking for an answer to this question, it is likely you have already met the shadow of anxiety personally. Although this state is not hard to define, it is far more important to understand its origin. Once we grasp what drives anxiety, we can find natural ways to bring back inner calm — that feeling of lightness many of us remember from childhood, when the world did not yet seem so complicated.

More interesting still: in richer countries anxiety is (considerably) more widespread than in poorer ones. Why is that so? When you really have nowhere to live, when you have to fight daily for food, water or safety, the brain works in “survival mode” — there is no room here for abstract projection of the future.

The price of the modern world: we live with a roof over our heads, a surplus of food and services that guarantee safety, yet we still feel an inner tension. Having everything, we paradoxically lose spiritual calm.

Let us briefly examine what is really happening inside us, so as to understand how to feel elevated and calm again — every single day.

Important: if you feel that your condition is severe and managing on your own becomes too difficult, be sure to seek professional help from specialists.

The variety of anxiety disorders

It is important to understand that anxiety is not one single state — it is a whole group of different disorders. It includes panic attacks, social anxiety, separation anxiety, phobias and the most common one — generalised anxiety disorder. Although the diagnoses differ, they are all united by a common denominator: an exhausting feeling of fear and insecurity. So from here on we will simply call this whole group anxiety.

Prevalence: according to the latest World Health Organization (WHO) data, anxiety disorders are diagnosed in about 4.4% of the world’s population (that is around 360 million people). But in some Western countries, especially after the crises of recent years, this figure ranges from 7% to 18%.

“Pill culture”: unfortunately, a common way of solving it remains suppressing the symptoms with drugs that can cause dependence. For example, in France studies show that about 30–33% of people over 65 take benzodiazepines. Similar trends are observed in other developed countries, such as the USA or Croatia.

The situation is more than serious, but it is rarely spoken about out loud. Since health systems are often oriented to suppressing consequences rather than removing causes, we have to take responsibility for our own well-being. After this short but necessary scientific overview, we will move on to practical solutions that will help bring back calm and start living fully again.

Why does anxiety arise?

So that you understand what works how, and how your daily actions influence (improve or worsen) the activity of the neurotransmitters, we will give a short, simplified explanation.

In our case, proper brain function depends on the balance of 2 neurotransmitters (carriers of information). This system regulates itself through two main forces. Just imagine a set of scales that is always seeking balance.

There are two main neurotransmitters: glutamate and GABA, which act in the brain opposite to each other — glutamate excites, while GABA inhibits. This is how the scales we mentioned form. Together these two neurotransmitters make up more than 90% of all neurotransmitter activity (the other 10% is shared by neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, acetylcholine, adrenaline, melatonin and others). The interaction of glutamate and GABA largely determines how you perceive your surroundings. This balance decides whether you are calm and safe or troubled by stress and anxiety.

What raises anxiety (glutamate) in your brain

What would be worth giving up or strongly limiting:

Sugar and fast carbohydrates: sweets, baked goods, sweet drinks and even an excessive amount of sweet fruit cause sudden insulin spikes that directly affect mood swings.

Tip: you will get vitamins and minerals far more effectively from dark green vegetables, eggs and fatty fish.

Caffeine and energy drinks: this is fuel for your anxiety. Caffeine stimulates the adrenal glands to produce cortisol, so your body constantly feels in a “fight or flight” state.

Information noise: constant checking of social networks and the stream of negative news keeps the brain irritable. Facebook and Instagram algorithms are designed to cause dopamine spikes, followed by a slump and anxiety.

Food additive E621 (monosodium glutamate): widely used in sauces, convenience foods and snacks. It directly raises the amount of glutamate in the brain, which can provoke inner trembling or even panic attacks.

Gluten: even in people without an established allergy or celiac disease, gluten-caused reactions of the body appear. Modern medicine increasingly recognizes non-celiac gluten sensitivity. The proteins in wheat cause many people a “silent” inflammation, which reaches the brain through the gut and shows up as “brain fog” or anxiety.

Alcohol: and the often-heard “just 50 grams” is not healthy! There is no “healthy” amount. Although alcohol relaxes for a short time, as the body breaks down the alcohol the anxiety level the next day (so-called hangxiety) rises twofold.

What you eat directly influences how you feel. The gut and the brain have a direct communication channel, so the functioning of your brain depends directly on the state of your belly.

What is this direct gut-brain communication channel? It is the vagus nerve. Through it the communication between the brain and the gut takes place.

So it is obvious that the state of the central nervous system and the treatment of anxiety largely depend on the “living conditions” of the good bacteria in your gut.

Instead of rushing to buy expensive good-bacteria pills, first take care of their “living conditions.” Imagine: does it make sense to invite new residents in if you intend to starve and poison them? It is far more effective to feed the bacteria you already have, so they can keep multiplying successfully.

What your body and the good bacteria do NOT like we have already discussed above; and what should you eat so that you and your population thrive and the anxiety attacks decrease? According to research, for anxiety you need as much water-soluble fiber as possible. The main types and sources: oats, apples, citrus, carrots, flax seeds, legumes and psyllium husk.

How to restore calm: activating GABA

The KETO diet helps fight anxiety and raises GABA neurotransmitters, so for those who follow this (low-carbohydrate) eating plan it not only helps manage anxiety but also improves memory and cognitive functions. More and more specialists recommend dietary correction as the first step before chemical treatment (which non-chemical pills help manage anxiety we will discuss below).

You probably already suspect that exercise raises GABA and helps cope with anxiety. You do not have to sign up to the most fashionable sports club in the city; you can exercise at home, in a little park; yoga, swimming in the pool or simply a brisk walk in the park works as therapy. And a newly bought pool membership might, look, even turn out to be enjoyable! Sauna and cold (hardening) teach the nervous system to adapt to stress, so in everyday life it becomes far more resilient.

Green tea (the L-theanine in it calms) — just do not forget to squeeze lemon into it or toss in some vitamin C; this doubles the absorption of the substances we need.

Breathing exercises are especially useful when quick changes are needed (for example, in the case of a panic attack). The golden rule of breathing: the exhale must be longer than the inhale. Inhale slowly and exhale even more slowly. The inhale activates the sympathetic (stress) nervous system, and the slow exhale the parasympathetic (calm) one.

Natural compounds for anxiety

If lifestyle changes are not enough, nature offers two powerful active compounds that can rival medications in effectiveness, without their side effects. There is sufficient research to form a picture of their impressive effect on the brain, so using both together is suggested for those who want to balance brain activity and live calmly amid the enormous information flow of everyday life. These are the flavonoid vitexin and the medicinal mushroom Hericium erinaceus (Lion's Mane).

Vitexin — nature's pulse of calm

From mung beans to buckwheat, vitexin is an antioxidant found in many plants, used as a medicine across continents since ancient times.⁶⁴ This flavonoid, placed under the scientists' magnifying glass, genuinely surprised researchers with its very broad pharmacological effect.⁶⁵ Its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects are studied, along with neuroprotective, anti-spasm and other properties.⁶⁶ Scientifically, vitexin is classified as an apigenin flavone glycoside, found in bamboo leaves, passionflower, buckwheat, lavender, mung beans and many more. But eating these foods is not enough to obtain a meaningful amount — strong, specific extracts are needed. Vitexin is studied for acting through the GABA-A receptor pathway in a way comparable to benzodiazepines, but as a modulator rather than a suppressor — which is why it is studied for reducing anxiety without sedation or dependence risk.

Hericium erinaceus (Lion's Mane) — the brain regenerator

H. erinaceus is a medicinal mushroom of especially rare effect, titled the "brain mushroom." Its extract is studied as particularly suited to feelings of anxiety. Neuroregeneration: it is studied for stimulating nerve growth factor (NGF) — in human neuron samples, this mushroom's extract effectively increased neurite outgrowth by 60.6%.⁸⁶ Research also examines its role in supporting mood and cognitive function. The right extract type, amount and strength matter for effect.

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