Foods That Can Help Reduce Anxiety

My 9th-grade son Jarret has a lot of anxiety. It might not help that Jarret's mother and I insist that he wear a bulletproof vest to school since President Sex Criminal refuses to possible gun control solutions. Then there's the fear of being picked last to play football and soccer in gym, even though we're practicing with the best soccer balls in 2018. And I bet Jarret is also feeling some anxiety since I've started seeing Chica Reyass, even though I assure him that the two of them are not in competition for my attention! So, I'm doing all I can to calm Jarret down, including teaching him about foods that can help reduce anxiety into his diet.

Oats aren't just for horses! They're high in tryptophan, melatonin, B6, and magnesium, and all those ingredients help reduce anxiety. That makes this a great way to start your day because you'll be calm and full. Hunger can certainly throw you into an anxious state. If people just remembered to eat so that they weren't hangry, we'd avoid so many problems!

"Tofu in the morning; tofu in the evening; tofu at supper time. When tofu's what you eat you'll be calm all the time!" That's because tofu has B1, tryptophan, and is high in magnesium and omega-3 fatty acids. Those are all calming agents! Jarret would really appreciate eating tofu instead of meat because he fears global warming and experts agree factory farms are putting climate at risk.

Chia seeds help reduce anxiety thanks to their high tryptophan and magnesium content. You can make chia pudding real easy. Just watch out because those calories add up! What I do is mix one serving into water, shake, and drink it as a snack. Chia is super filling because it absorbs the water and assumes a Jell-O like texture. This would be great for Jarret because even though he's in the 9th grade, he has body issues. Did you know that 9th graders in movies and on TV all have six-pack abs?!

Spinach is nutrient-packed, full of magnesium and B vitamins, which makes it one of the foods that can help reduce anxiety. All leafy greens are, really. You can put them into everything! Eggs, a smoothie, salad, a side dish. This would be great for Jarret because he has to make his own food after school, so he can be calmed down by the spinach as well as having fewer decisions to make since he knows that spinach is going to be one of the ingredients.

Salmon is tailor-made help reduce anxiety. It's high in omega-3s, B vitamins, and Magnesium; and it has a hint of tryptophan. You don't even have to cook salmon because it comes canned or in pouches! One of the dishes I make is just Shirataki Noodles and a salmon pouch heated up on the stove top. It's quick, easy, tasty, and calming!

Shellfish rival turkeys when it comes to tryptophan content; and shrimp are also high in omega-3s. That makes both of these foods that can help reduce anxiety. This is great for Jarret because he doesn't like eating animals that are bigger than him in the wild. He prefers eating animals he could beat up in a fight. Even salmon is pushing it; it's so badass that it swims upstream to fight off bears. Although, I bet if Jarret had the best tactical pens you didn't know you needed he'd be able to take down a salmon.

You need a healthy gut biome to produce the neurotransmitters necessary for being calm. That means serotonin, dopamine, and GABA. And that means consuming yogurt, drinking kefir, etc. Even though yogurt is primarily marketed toward women for reasons that boggle the mind, probiotics foods help combat anxiety.

Oranges are one of the are great for anxiety because they're high in vitamin C, which lowers blood pressure and cortisol (a stress hormone). I didn't even know that! A food that lowers stress hormones is great! So make sure to eat plenty of oranges and other foods high in vitamin C to keep your stress hormones low! Green peppers, strawberries, broccoli, and kale are just a few more. And strawberries are super low in calories.

Avocados are high in calming B vitamins. They're also chock full of blood pressure-lowering monosaturated fats and potassium. This combination makes avocados a great food for reducing anxiety. So enjoy the guacamole!

Lifehack: sometimes instead of getting dinner with Chica, we just split an order of guac and some drinks. Eating guac is less distracting than eating a full meal, so I'm able to direct my full attention to Chica. I gaze into her eyes and she asks, "What?" and I say, "You know what," and then she smiles that smile that I love. All thanks to guac!

Tofu is made out of soybeans, so it makes sense that soybeans are foods that can help reduce anxiety. 100 grams of edamame gets you two times the daily recommended dosage of tryptophan and plenty of omega-3s. 100 grams is just 3.5 ounces. That's good for Jarret because he's afraid of big portions. He doesn't want to get used to eating big meals; that way he eats less food in general and maintains his size. Seeing so many 9th graders in the movies with six-pack abs really did a number on him! He went on his first diet in the 6th grade! Hopefully eating all these calming whole foods will make him worry less about his appearance.