How to naturally help improve depression & anxiety

Almost every client that i have worked with has reported anxiety and you wont believe what actually drove them to experience that. What if i told you it is not your thoughts and believes making you overly anxious and that 10 years in therapy wont help you because the cause starts in your body. It starts with an imbalanced system due to stress, poor breathing and posture, nutrient deficiencies, dehydration, toxicity, sleep deprivation and sedentary behaviour. Without addressing the physiology and biochemical aspects, talk therapy and medication are only band aid approaches which will cost you more on the long run than it is worth.

So let's talk about what a natural anxiety treatment is all about and what are some of the things you can start today to improve your health.

• Learn how to breathe. Swallow, rapid, chest breathing done through your mouth is a super stressor on body and brain. When you breathe like this, it changes the PH and triggers your amygdala (your anxiety centre) making you anxious and unable to think.
• TIP- always breathe through the nose, using your diaphragm using this method- in through the nose for 3, out through the nose for 5, hold for 2. This type of breathing support parasympathetic activation meaning you will feel relaxed in a 5 minutes of doing this. Practice this throughout the day and don't wait anxiety to hit before using it.

• Correct your posture. If you have bad posture and suffer from injuries and difficulties exercising this can stress your brain and keep your body in sympathetic overdrive... meaning you will have more cortisol which a stress hormone that can make you anxious and depressed. A bad posture also has negative implications for your breathing, slouching leading to more chest and shallow breathing.
• TIP- Find a practitioner who specialises in posture alignment and work with them to improve your health. Thought the day ensure you keep an upright posture and avoid slouching.

• Avoid being sedentary and walk daily. Sitting down for more 30 minutes leads to inflammation, insulin resistance and poor circulation. When we sit for 8 hours per day important nutrients and oxygen needed for proper brain function are not delivered optimally meaning your mood and cognition will suffer. Further as the body becomes more inflamed this also impacts your brain and further your mood.
• TIP- get off the chair every 20-30 minutes. Set an alarm or consider using a standing desk for work. Further ensure that you get daily walking in nature preferably (avoid gyms) and aim for minimum 10000- 15000 steps.

• Keep regular sleep, wake and eating hours. Every cell in your body has a circadian clock. When you have no routine the body is confused and not running at its peak. If you keep the same sleep and wake hours then the body will know that "by 10 pm i need to produce certain hormones to ensure proper sleep".  Same thing happens with eating. If your body knows that at 8 am you eat your brekky then it will produce more of the right gastric secretion ensuring better digestion and absorption of nutrients.
• TIP- Go to bed and wake up at the same time everyday including weekend. Keep regular breakfast, lunch and dinner hours. This will create balance and hormonal regulation in the body.

• Stay well hydrated and avoid feeling thirsty. Thirst already indicates you are dehydrated. When you are dehydrated nothing works properly in your body. You will experience lower energy, worse anxiety and depression, more aches and pain, migraines, dry skin, constipation and the list goes on. As you are more 70% water you simply can't afford not to drink enough during the day. This is a priority that needs to be addressed before food. When dehydrated your cells shrink and their ability to create energy, neurotransmitters, hormones etc reduces greatly making your less than you really are.
• TIP- Drink minimum 2-3 litres of water per day. To calculate your required recommended fluid intake multiply your weight by 0.35 ml.

• Avoid coffee and caffeine. Caffeine is known to exacerbate anxiety and worse sleep. While many people think they need it and it gives them energy, caffeine does exactly the opposite. It makes you more tired, less likely to have a good deep sleep and more anxious.
• TIP- avoid all caffeine- includes green, black, chai, early grey tea etc. Replace this with a dandelion root coffee which can work wonders for your liver.

• Eat organic whole foods. Organic food contains more nutrients and less chemicals making it much better for your brain health.
• TIP- eat minimum 3-4 pieces of fruit and 1 big salad daily to ensure you are getting needed nutrients.

• Correct nutrient deficiencies. This is one of the main reasons people struggle with poor mental and physical health and every client i have worked with was nutrient deficient. If deficient you wont be able to correct through food as such adequate supplementation is required. To find out what you need you are best to work with an integrative dietitian who can determine what is needed. Common nutrient deficiencies include vitamin D and C, B vitamins, magnesium, zinc and omega 3 which are needed for neurotransmitter and hormonal production.

As you can see different lifestyle factors impact on your body and brain health... and the good news is that healing is possible when you are willing to work holistically with your body. Start implementing some of the above tips and i promise you that you will notice a major improvement in your anxiety levels and overall health. Find more information at my mental health program.

Good luck :)

Anca Vereen is a Melbourne integrative dietitian, nutritionist, psychotherapist, breathing coach, Nutrigenomics lecturer who specialises in mental health. For more details or to book and appointment please visit www.ancavereen.com.



To learn more about anxiety please visit https://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/anxiety