Anxiety- Getting Your Brain to Work For You, Not Against You

Is anxiety all to do with your psychological side, or could there be imbalances in your body’s chemistry behind it?

Anxiety is the most common mental health condition in Australia, with one in three women and one in five men suffering from it at some time in their life. (Depression and anxiety often occur together, as over half of those with depression also experience symptoms of anxiety.)

A certain level of short-term anxiousness is a normal part of life, including when going through pressure situations such as exams, work deadlines, or issues with family or friends. However, chronic anxiety can become very distressing, uncontrollable, or even debilitating.

Symptoms can vary tremendously. The physical symptoms can include a constant feeling of tightness or pressure in the chest or throat, sleep problems or insomnia, tension headaches, feeling ‘wired and tired,’ heart palpitations, and concentration problems.

Anxiety can be very emotionally draining, as you may feel like you are constantly on guard and fearful of something. Some people may avoid socialising, as they are worried about having an embarrassing or stressful interaction with others. In some people, the frustration of being anxious all the time can lead to irritability.

As with any condition, it is always important to establish what is causing the problem. For some people there will be an obvious traumatic incident or period in their past. But for many people, there will be nothing obvious that has caused their anxiety, or there has been something relatively minor that has triggered far more anxiety than you would reasonably expect. In these cases, there is often an underlying physiological cause for their condition. (It can be an immense relief and incredibly empowering for a person when they find out exactly what is likely to be causing their anxiety.)

Some of the Physiological Causes

1. Nutrient Deficiencies

There are some important vitamins and minerals which are crucial for healthy brain and nervous system function, and the vast majority of those with anxiety are found to be deficient in one or more of them.

• Magnesium has important roles in healthy neurological activity. Magnesium can calm the nervous system, relax muscle tension, and is needed for a healthy stress response. (It is also important for energy production, balancing blood sugar levels, and hormone balance.) Magnesium is usually deficient in anxious people because it is quickly depleted by chronic stress
• Zinc is needed for the production of every neurotransmitter and hormone in the body.  Australian soils are low in zinc, and so most Australians are zinc deficient. There needs to be a balance between the zinc and copper in the body, and there can be a copper excess when someone has a zinc deficiency. Those with anxiety typically have this low zinc and high copper combination. Zinc is also an important antioxidant, and has profound effects on our immune and digestive systems as well as our neurological system.
• B Vitamins are needed for the biochemical pathways to create neurotransmitters and nerve cells. The B6, Folate (B9), and B12 vitamins are especially important for a biochemical process called methylation, which is used to create neurotransmitters, for heavy metal detoxification, and for DNA repair.

However, not everyone should take B vitamins. Some people feel better immediately they start taking them, whilst for others it can make their anxiety worse. For this reason we recommend seeing our naturopath to see if they are indicated for you.

• EPA/DHA (Omega-3) Fats are crucial for the healthy functioning of our brain and nervous system. Every nerve and brain cell has a fatty layer that acts as insulation and prevents incorrect signalling with other brain and nerve cells. A lack of the right fats can result in bad transmission between the cells, sometimes causing mental health or neurological conditions. A lack of EPA/DHA can also cause low mood, inflammation of the nerve and brain cells, inflammation generally, and cognitive decline.

2. Excess Adrenaline

Adrenaline is part of your body’s emergency response system (‘fight or flight’). If a tiger jumps out at you from behind a tree, your pulse rate goes up, your breathing rate goes up, certain muscles tense up, your blood sugar levels are raised, and non-emergency systems in your body are shut down. (Typically this affects your digestion, but sometimes your immune system or reproductive system can be impacted.)

Some of the main causes of excess adrenaline include

• A prolonged period of stress in your like (work, family, relationships, study, etc)
• A shock or trauma
• Keeping going when you need to rest- your body says “Hey, I’m tired, I need a rest, give me a break.”, but your mind says “No, you have to keep going”. Your body then says “Ok, I’ll pump out more adrenaline, to give me a boost and keep me going”.

This is great for emergencies, but if your body gets stuck in this mode you will constantly feel tense and anxious. And the more anxious you feel, the more your adrenaline will be raised, which in turn makes you more anxious. So a vicious cycle can develop, where the anxiety keeps getting worse for no apparent reason. (We often find adrenaline issues occurring in those who get panic attacks.)

Over time, excess adrenaline will leave a person feeling drained and exhausted, so they will end up being ‘wired and tired’. Over time they will often develop sleep, digestion or hormone problems. Click here for more about excess adrenaline.

Treating excess adrenaline often involves a combination of adaptogenic and adrenal tonic herbal medicines (e.g. Withania somnifera, Rhodiola rosea, Rehmannia glutinosa) and specific nutrients for the adrenal glands.

3. Gut Health

The connection between the gut (intestines) and the brain is becoming more well-know and medically accepted. (Some researchers now talk about our gut being a ‘second brain’.)

An example of this connection is serotonin, a neurotransmitter which carries messages between nerve cells in your brain and throughout your body. Serotonin in your brain regulates your mood, and it is often called the body’s natural “feel good” chemical. When serotonin is at normal levels, you feel more focused, emotionally stable, happier and calmer. Low levels of serotonin are associated with depression. Many medications used to treat anxiety, depression and other mood disorders often target ways to increase the level of serotonin in your brain.

However, there is 400x more serotonin produced in your gut than in your brain.

Serotonin is made from the essential amino acid tryptophan, which cannot be made by the body, and has to be obtained from the food you eat or supplements.

One of the other ways the gut health can influence the mind is through inflammation. There is a saying amongst natural therapists that “Fire in the gut – fire in the brain”. This inflammation can be due to small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), parasites, fungal overgrowth, stealth infections (e.g. Lymes disease), or dysbiosis in the gut,

The third major way the guts can affect the brain is through an imbalance of gut bacteria. In very simple terms, the wrong gut bacteria causes inflammation in our guts, affecting the brain. For more on how gut bacteria influence the mind and body, please read these articles.

• How Bad Gut Bacteria Can Cause Serious Diseases
• How Bad Gut Bacteria Can Cause Diabetes, Asthma, Ulcerative Colitis, Multiple Sclerosis, Autism, Allergies & Autoimmune Diseases

Imbalances in gut bacteria are very common, and you can have a problem with your bacteria without having any digestive symptoms at all. (Occasionally, we have clients who did not experience any anxiety until they were put on a course of strong antibiotics, so for these people the major cause of their anxiety and the treatment for it is very obvious.)

4. Heavy Metals

The brain is highly susceptible to a variety of toxic metals, and due to its high fat content it can store toxic metals over long periods of time. The most dangerous heavy metals and how we may come in contact with them are

• Lead, water from lead pipes, batteries, lead paint, lead petrol, construction materials.
• Mercury, the liquid in mercury thermometers, lightbulbs, metal dental fillings, batteries, seafood, topical antiseptics
• Arsenic, topical creams, herbicides, insecticides, pesticides, fungicides, paints, enamels, glass, seafood, algae.
• Cadmium, cigarette smoke, metal plating, batteries
• Thallium, rodent baits, pesticides, fireworks

If heavy metals are found to be present in the brain or nerve cells, they must be removed from the body very carefully to prevent causing further damage.

Free Assessment

The information above covers some of the very basics of what can cause anxiety. There are many possible causes of this condition (or combinations of causes), so it is crucial to carefully diagnose and treat what is creating the problem.

We are currently offering a limited number of free Comprehensive Assessments. (Terms and conditions: the Assessment is a completely free service, with no obligations whatsoever.)

The Assessment helps to identify:

• What is going on in your body
• What is working properly, and what is not
• What is causing the problem
• The best way to sort it out

If you would like to book in for an Assessment, please give us a call on 3376 6911, or you can book online using the link at the top of the page.

Be well, and have a very happy life!