Diet.

[Horse]

Has anyone here managed to relieve their symptoms by changing their diet? Although I eat reasonably healthy (when I do eat), I probably could do better. I should point out that when I say change diet, I mean really change diet to eat all the things we are supposed to everyday!

I know for a fact that I do not drink enough water. Basically, I can't stand the stuff out of the tap, so buy bottled but only sparkling. Secondly, I never seem to eat the 'five a day' fruit and vegetables that are recommended. It would appear that everything has sugar or salt content in it as well. Some years ago I used to consume a considerable amount of yoghurt everyday thinking I was doing myself the world of good until I discovered the amount of suger in it meant I was getting through nearly a bag of the stuff a week!

Be honest, when we're feeling peckish, we have a choice between a stick of celery and an apple or opening a box of Jaffa Cakes........I know which one I would prefer!

My weight is not an issue, if anything, on a bad day the wind could blow me over. I am lucky enough to be able to eat anything without gaining an ounce (although I believe anxiety may have some relation to this) but I don't exactly gorge on cakes or biscuits or sweets. I only eat chicken and occasionally tinned tuna as far as meat is concerned. I do smoke off and on which is due to my nerves being bad.

But I would like to know if anyone has had success with a complete change to a healthy diet......100%........all of the time.

Kevin.

[Bill]

I can't really say anything about a complete change of diet but I would like to say something about fruit.

They say to have 5 a day but I find if I tried to follow that rule I'd never be off the loo and yet I know fruit is good for you. I find that when I'm peckish I'll eat a banana because they're not acidic like other fruit.

I also think that if we eat too much fruit and it makes our tummy feel unsettled, the feelings could make us feel more anxious.

I wish I could eat more fruit because I enjoy fruit but fruit doesn't seem to like me!

On a general note, I do know that things like caffeine and coke can make our anxiety worse because of the stimulants. Also alcohol is a depressant so doesn't help when we already feel low.

Personally, I just believe in a balanced diet with everything in moderation but I do find some things such as muesli cause me IBS. I found it very interesting reading the do's and don'ts list of foods on this site which if I remember correctly Nicola pointed me to.

[Lilith1980]

I have had to change my eating habits due to gluten intolerance and recently discovering I had IBS. My doctor thought dairy might be the culprit there so I am now off the dairy too.

In a way, gluten intolerance has its benefits (apart from when you accidentally eat it!), in that I can't eat junk food like pizzas, I cant eat a lot of the unhealthy sauces you can cook your food in nowadays.

I really try and eat plenty of veg (I cant stand fruit) and eat wholemeal bread/rice. Eating healthy in itself makes me feel better in my mindset as I feel like I am looking after myself more.

I have cut down on alcohol and decided that on nights out, I will start off having a few soft drinks as the booze wasnt helping my anxiety and to be honest, I was fed up of getting totally drunk and didnt see that it was helping my mind or body.

Jo xxxxx

[happydylbob]

I find that I always feel better if I have had plenty to drink throughout the day. Even if you can't stand water try fruit squash with no added sugar and make sure you have 6/8 glasses per day. I find it stops me from feeling so tired which is when my anxiety is worse.