Food Therapy for Stress and Anxiety

When we feel stressed and anxious—and we all feel stressed and anxious right now—our instinct is to reach for foods that soothe and provide escape.

Sales of snacks, chips, flour, sugar, and alcohol have all boomed in the last weeks, as we’ve holed up at home and have turned to snacking and baking to pass the time and connect with nostalgic flavors and comfort. 

But several weeks in, you might be noticing that too much of a good thing has a boomerang effect. While we reach for the old, processed standbys of our youth for short-term relief, doing so actually increases symptoms of anxiety and depression over the long run.

There’s a reason for that, according to Meghan Mabe L.Ac, MAcCM, Dipl. Ac, L.MT, of Northwestern Health Sciences University, a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner and also a former organic farmer.

“Unhealthy eating can flare mental health symptoms including anxiety and depression by disrupting sleep and causing inflammation in the gut and brain,” she says. “During this time of social distancing to protect our health, it’s more important than ever to be eating fresh, nutritious food, going outside for fresh air, and getting as much good sleep as possible.

“That means avoiding excess caffeine and alcohol, as well as sugar and refined carbohydrates to prevent mood swings and energy crashes. And also being careful to avoid an excess of inflammatory industrial omega 6 oils (sunflower, safflower, soy, grapeseed, canola, etc.) used in pre-packaged processed foods like cookies and crackers, and in foods that are fried and served as fast food.”

So how do you find both delicious comfort and healing from foods?

Mabe notes that Traditional Chinese Medicine looks at deficiencies and excesses to make food choices that help bring the body back into balance. Fresh foods have certain properties—beyond just nutrients—that can address symptoms so you find balance more quickly.

She outlines four patterns that arise in patients experiencing stress and anxiety, and offers food choices that aid in reducing the symptoms and balancing the body:

1. Chi Deficiency 

Marked by a lack of energy, fitful sleep, prolonged grief or worry, dizziness, shortness of breath, anxiety, poor digestion, and fatigue after meals. Recommended foods are warm, lightly cooked whole foods that are nourishing yet easy to digest, including vegetables, legumes, brown rice, and wheat berries. Avoid raw/cold foods like big salads loaded with uncooked vegetables and focus instead on a dish like congee, which is a savory porridge made with rice, wheat berries, and bone broth, and is soothing and nourishing for when you’re feeling fatigued and are healing.

2. Blood Deficiency

Characterized by signs of not absorbing nutrients properly, including dry skin and nails, forgetfulness, fatigue, depression, and heart palpitations when tired. To address malabsorption, eliminate nutrient-poor snack foods and focus instead on nutrient-dense foods like red meat, leafy greens, beets, dates (especially before bed), and sipping nettle tea.

3. Yin Deficiency

Marked by panic attacks, night sweats, low back pain, ringing in the ears, waking, worrying, and adrenal fatigue. With yin deficiency, it’s extra important to avoid stimulants like coffee/caffeine, sugar, and hard exercise. Focus instead on foods like black sesame seeds and chia seeds, goji berries, cucumbers, spinach, zucchini, mung beans, small amounts of cow or goat dairy, water and watery foods like soups, and chamomile tea. Avoid spicy foods like garlic, ginger, chiles, and cinnamon.

4. Phlegm/Stagnation

An excess pattern marked by congestion, mucus, heaviness in the chest, and heat in the body. It often accompanies poor diet and lack of movement, with symptoms of dizziness, vertigo, irritability, gas, flushing, and feeling warm. Avoid fat, alcohol, dairy, sugar, high sugar fruit, and eating late at night and instead look toward cooling foods like cucumbers, seaweed, mushrooms, plenty of greens, salads, vegetables juices, and chamomile tea.

How we eat our meals matters, too—when addressing stress and anxiety, it’s important to slow down and eat quietly. One potential upside to this time in seclusion is that without rushing to school events, sports, and dinners out, we have the ability to take the time to listen to our bodies, pay attention to signals about aversions to certain foods, realize when we’re full, and examine cravings for what our bodies truly need.

If you can, eat at a table, light candles, linger and talk after your meal is done (which helps digestion), and notice that nourishing foods, eaten with attention and pleasure, offer more long-term anxiety and stress relief than any quick-fix bag of chips ever could.

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Salmon Cakes with Rutabaga Chips

Serves 2

1 rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch fries

Olive or avocado oil

7-ounce can wild salmon (without bones & skin), drained

1 scallion, minced

Sea salt

Few grinds black pepper (skip for AIP)

3 tablespoons cooked potato (or sweet potato for AIP), mashed

2 tablespoons arrowroot starch

1-2 tablespoons water

Garnish:

Sliced dill pickles

Spicy Cilantro

Pesto

1 lemon, cut into wedge

Apple cider vinegar

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Line a dinner plate with paper towels.

Add rutabaga to a medium bowl and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt and toss to coat. Spread rutabaga chips evenly over baking sheet (reserve bowl to use below) and bake for 15 minutes. Turn rutabaga and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until tender and browned. Season with more salt if needed.

While rutabaga chips roast, in the same medium bowl, combine salmon, scallion, pinch of salt, potato, starch, and 1 tablespoon of water. Using your hands, work mixture until it loses its crumbly texture and starts to come together. Add more water if needed. Divide mixture in half and using your hands, form into 2 compact balls.

Set a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat and add enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan in 1/8-inch of oil. When oil is hot, pat salmon balls into 1/4-inch patties between your hands, evening out the edges. Carefully slide patties into the hot oil and repeat with the second salmon ball. Fry salmon cakes until quite crispy and deeply golden brown, 3-4 minutes. Flip and fry until golden brown on the second side. Transfer to paper-towel lined plate.

To serve, divide salmon patty and rutabaga chips between 2 dinner plates. Top with garnishes (optional). Squeeze with lemon. Sprinkle a bit of vinegar on the rutabaga chips.

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White Rice Congee

Serves 4

1 cup jasmine (or any) rice

6 cups rich chicken broth

Sea salt (if stock is salted, skip until the end; otherwise add 1/2 teaspoon)

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 star anise pod or 1/2 teaspoon Chinese Five Spice powder

1 teaspoon fish sauce

1-inch strip of orange peel (optional)

Instructions:

Simmer all ingredients for 1 hour, over low heat, stirring occasionally, until rice breaks down into a medium-thick porridge. Discard star anise & citrus peel. Season with salt to taste.

Serve simply, with chopped scallions and a drizzle of tamari, or choose more toppings from below.

To reheat leftover congee, use a bit of broth or water to thin to original consistency.

For Instant Pot: pressure cook high for 45 minutes. Turn off for 15 minutes then release pressure.

Toppings:

Poached or fried egg

Braised beef, chicken, or pork

Sautéed greens

Kimchi

Chopped scallions

Sesame seeds or drizzle of sesame oil

Drizzle of tamari

Minced garlic and ginger fried until crispy

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Located in Bloomington, Northwestern Health Sciences University Bloomington Clinic is a pioneer in integrative natural health care education, offering degree programs in chiropractic, acupuncture, Chinese medicine, massage therapy, medical assisting, medical laboratory programs, post-bac/pre-health, radiation therapy, and B.S. completion. Its Bloomington clinic is open to the public, and provides chiropractic treatment, acupuncture, Chinese medicine, massage therapy, naturopathic medicine, cupping, and physical therapy.

Telemedicine is a convenient way to care for yourself during these unprecedented times. Appointment times vary depending on service. Providers are part of Northwestern Health Sciences University, a non-profit industry leader in integrative and natural healthcare education that provides access to the latest evidence and state-of-the-art technology so you get the natural solutions you truly need.

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