Anxiety Therapy with Blood Sugar Balancing Meal Plans
I teach many classes on how to balance blood sugar. It isn’t something a person can learn in an hour or even a month, it’s an ongoing process and even I’m still learning (years later!). It is possible via balancing blood sugar to achieve a very potent form of anxiety therapy.
Many people don’t realize that one of the #1 causes of anxiety and panic attacks is blood sugar imbalance. What makes is “anxious” is when blood sugar levels drop and the body needs to release adrenaline (epinephrine) to raise up blood glucose levels. When there are other underlying imbalances in the body, this can create the feeling of uneasiness, jitters, and even panic attacks.
Here I’m going to outline two days of example of how to eat to support the adrenals by balancing blood sugars. Adrenals – when fatigued- can be an underlying cause of hypoglycemia and other blood sugar issues. Be sure to also check out the Blood Sugar Category on the right!
DAY 1:
AM SNACK:Few slices of apple with a handful of sprouted almonds
LUNCH: Two soft boiled eggs & half an avocado
AFTERNOON SNACK: 1 ounce of fresh mozzarella with a small carrot
DINNER: Cabbage soup (recipe coming!), Salmon Steak, Steamed Brocooli (buttered).
BEFORE BED SNACK: 3/4 cup plain yogurt, dressed with 1/4 c. blueberries and 2 tablespoons of fresh ground flaxseeds
DAY 2:
AM: Power Meal Pancakes (Powermeal, flax, eggs, Ningxia Red)
AM SNACK: Handful of sprouted walnuts with Ningxia Wolfberries
LUNCH: Tuna Salad
AFTERNOON SNACK: 1 hardboiled egg with a few stalks of celery
DINNER: Salad (romaine, carrots, celery, tomato, avocado), Steak, and Stir Fry Zucchini
BEFORE BED SNACK: Apple with raw almond butter
For ideas for quick, on the go visit the FAST FOODS post from Feb. 24, 2010
I also drink at least 70 ounces of water a day and rest 8 hours a night. There are very important in addition to the above type of eating regimen for anxiety therapy.
Anxiety Relief with Essential Oil Therapy
Have you ever heard about using lavender or chamomile for calming stress and anxiety relief? Since 2001 I have been educating people on the benefits of medicinal quality essential oils (not bath and body or health food store stuff). When I became personally ill in 2007 with panic attacks, anxiety, depression, and is when I realized they help steady and calm the mind.
But why would we want to use essential oils? How do they work? What are they? I am going to do a series of posts on essential oils because they are one of the fastest and safest forms of relief I have found for myself and my clients. In an instant a deep inhalation of Stress Away blend can take me out of fight or flight and back to serenity when I’m stuck in a traffic jam.
Essential oils are the protective forces of a plant. They are what make herbs, conifer trees, seeds, flowers, roots, and tree resins have aroma. Have you ever been in an herb garden and smelled your hands after running them through a peppermint plant? Or at Holiday time enjoyed the fragrance of a Christmas tree? You’re smelling the essential oils!
Essential oils are volatile (evaporates quickly) liquid and not greasy like olive or vegetable oils. They work so quickly because they are instantly absorbed through the skin and are distributed throughout the body.
They also affect the brain as soon as they are inhaled, think of the nose is an extension of our brain. It is the most rudimentary and ancient of senses and we get a response faster via aroma than if we experienced stimulus through the eyes, ears, or touch. The olfactory nerve in the nose is a part our limbic system – the seat of our emotions. Oils that have relaxing and calming properties reach the limbic system during a deep inhalation and can result in the AHHHH of relief.
When I was very sick and the anxiety was 24/7, I used essential oils to keep me grounded and “hanging in there” while my doctors figured out what was wrong with me. I did not want to use addictive drugs like benzodiazepenes (Xanex and Valium). So, I used Harmony and Grounding oils applied to the on the base of my neck, temples, and abdomen. I even diffused them at night while I slept!
Please, whatever you do … don’t run out to the health food store and get essential oils. Almost all commercially available oils have man made chemicals in them that can mess up an anxious or depressed brain even worse. They are what we call “neurotoxic” (toxic to the brain and nervous system). Visit http://www.AnxietyTherapyRemedies.com for more information or contact me directly for assistance choosing the right oils for your situation.
Gluten Free Insanely Awesome Bread Recipe!
Just in time for Thanksgiving, this is the best gluten free recipe that is also blood sugar friendly. Keeping blood sugar balanced is a huge part of anxiety therapy. It helps heal the adrenals and repairs insulin resistance.
These amounts are good enough for a medium sized loaf. If you would like a big loaf, double the recipe. I’ve also made muffins with this by adding 1/4 c. Ningxia Wolfberries. YUM!
This is the base:
Gluten Free Coconut Flour Bread
3/4 c. coconut flour sifted
1/2 c. melted coconut oil or melted butter
6 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tblsp. grade B maple syrup
Start with dry ingredients mixed together in one bowl. Blend in another bowl the wet ingredients – eggs, melted butter (or coconut oil), maple syrup, and salt. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones slowly using a hand mixer. Blend until smooth for a few minutes. Pour into a greased bread or muffin pan.
Bake at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes. Top of the bread/muffins should be golden brown.
This recipe can be dressed up or down depending on what you would like. Add 1 tsp of rosemary or Italian herbs for a savory bread (even some finely cubed cheddar is delicious!). For a sweet bread, add 8 drops YLTG lemon oil, 5 tblsp. of grade B maple syrup, 1 1/2 tsp of vanilla.
This bread is best when served within a few days of baking. Longer than that is starts to taste coco-nutty. Then, make it French Toast! Talk about delicious. Gluten free, blood sugar balanced comfort food.
(ps. there’s another amazing recipe for gluten free bread at Elana’s Pantry Gluten Free Blog made with almond flour instead. Click on the photo to be taken there!)
Anxiety Therapy the Functional Medicine Way
Functional Medicine is NOT!
Last post (November 9, 2010) was a basic introduction to the principles of Orthomolecular Psychiatric Medicine. This post I will explain its parent — Functional Medicine — and how it relates to anxiety therapy and anxiety relief.
Even though I am not a doctor, I use the principles of Functional Medicine in my nutritional consulting practice. It is also what my ebook “Let’s Get Physical: Anxiety is NOT All in Your Head“. People who have read it have found there were many things they were doing every day that was taking away from their health and creating a lifestyle of anxiety, panic, overweight, hormone imbalance, and fatigue.
This is the definition I found from the Institute of Functional Medicine: “Functional medicine is personalized medicine that deals with primary prevention and underlying causes instead of symptoms for serious chronic disease. It is a science-based field of health care that is grounded in the following principles:
- Biochemical individuality describes the importance of individual variations in metabolic function that derive from genetic and environmental differences among individuals.
- Patient-centered medicine emphasizes “patient care” rather than “disease care,” following Sir William Osler’s admonition that “It is more important to know what patient has the disease than to know what disease the patient has.”
- Dynamic balance of internal and external factors.
- Web-like interconnections of physiological factors – an abundance of research now supports the view that the human body functions as an orchestrated network of interconnected systems, rather than individual systems functioning autonomously and without effect on each other. For example, we now know that immunological dysfunctions can promote cardiovascular disease, that dietary imbalances can cause hormonal disturbances, and that environmental exposures can precipitate neurologic syndromes such as Parkinson’s disease.
- Health as a positive vitality – not merely the absence of disease.
- Promotion of organ reserve as the means to enhance health span.”
They also have a fabulous brochure explaining Functional Medicine and working with Functional Medicine practitioner found HERE.
American College for Advancement in Medicine, American Board of Holistic Medicine, and American Holistic Medical Association are organizations you can learn more about Functional Medicine as well as find practitioners. One of my favorite authors and Functional Medicine celebrities is Dr. Mark Hyman. I encourage all of my clients to read his book UltraMind Solution. It is AMAZING! (Maybe I’ll do a book review in the future?)
