Its easy to consider anxiety and other mental health problems as completely separate issues than your physical health.
Excess sugar, in particular, is an often overlooked but important potential contributor to mental health and wellness.
Understanding the connection between sugar and the brain.
Anxiety and depression often go hand in hand.
It turns out that the mechanisms aren’t quite so binary.
Serotonin and its role in brain function are muchmore nuanced2than originally thought (and still being worked out).
Guess what also raises serotonin levels?
From studies in rodents, we know that lower serotonin levels in the brainstimulate sugar craving4.
Linking your gut health to your mental health.
The gut microbiome and its beneficial bugs are important for optimal health.
Our gut microbiota are malleable and can be negatively or positively affected by our diet choices.
Did you know that yourgut and brain are connected11from the very start?
Familiarizing yourself with blood sugar.
Another piece of the anxiety puzzle comes into play when we reallyexamine blood sugar.
Excess sugar intake contributes to blood sugar spikes and insulin resistance over time.
If you want your HPA axis to function properly, keeping your blood sugar levels in check is paramount.
But thats the problem: You never get off the hamster wheel that is blood sugar imbalance and anxiety.
So making smart choices about sugar and carb intake can support mental health (and overall health).
Finding out if sugar is a problem for you.
Autoimmune reactivity brain labs.
These blood labs can look for raised antibodies against parts of the brain, ruling out neurological autoimmune reactivity.
However, its important to be smart about satisfying your sweet tooth by using natural sweeteners instead.
Raw honey is one of my favorite options due to its high antioxidant content.
Hop on over tomy sweetener guideto find the perfect sweetener for you!
