When I’m struggling with anxiety I crave sugar, salt, and alcohol. But I also sometimes focus on food and reduce my eating as a means of bringing what feels out of control into some sense of order. Turns out I’m not alone. I asked my podcast Kimberley Wilson this question: “Why do we love food so much and why does food speak to us, especially in moments of anxiety?”

Kimberley is a psychologist, nutritionist, “A nerd and a feeder.” She was also runner up on the Great British Baking Show, and she made amazing pea and ham tartlets that I have always meant to cook.

We love food because we have to, Wilson says. Food is of course essential to our survival. We’ve adapted to what keeps us alive. “And when it comes to food, there are some inbuilt nutritional preferences or flavor preferences because flavor is an indicator to your body of nutrient content. So we have an inbuilt preference for things like sugar, which tells your body that this food is a source of carbohydrates. Salt, because sodium ions are required for your nerves to function well. Umami, which is that kind of rich, savory protein flavor; that's about providing proteins and amino acids. They're essential for growth and repair of your tissues. So there are a group of flavors that we are innately designed to enjoy. Fatty flavors are in there as well, and that's one called Oleogustus.” And when we are hungry, we're adapted to find that uncomfortable. We experience a mood shift that comes with hunger, so that whether that's that feeling of irritability or agitation or kind of listlessness, all of those things become a driver, a motivator for you to get up and seek food so that you can avoid an energy crisis for your brain because your brain is a hungriest organ in your body and it can't store energy. So it wants to always be sure that there is a constant supply of energy. 

Anxiety is a threat response. And when our brain gets busy and sends signals that there is a threat, our hungry brain screams “feed me!”

Says Wilson, we know that a proportion of people experience shifts in their food intake and their food preferences when they are anxious or stressed. 30% of people  will eat more and another roughly 30% they will eat less, and for others it will make no difference.

Carbohydrates can help to blunt the stress response. “If I give you a kind of sugary beverage and then expose you to a stressor, the group of people who have had the sugary food or beverage have a lower peak of their stress response than those who haven't. And so for some people, increased craving and seeking out sugary carbohydrate rich foods actually helps to mitigate their stress response. This becomes really relevant when we're thinking about things like chronic work stress, maybe the stress of deprivation of poverty, social exclusion, and those sorts of things,” says Wilson.

The food is literally feeding our ability to meet that fight or flight instinct.

What’s a Good Diet for Anxious People?

I asked Wilson, what's your recommendation for a good diet for someone who may be like me, runs a little anxious, manages depression, manages bipolar two, and is trying to eat a diet that is anti-inflammatory and also builds that plasticity because I'm not getting any younger.

Wilson recommends everyone get sufficient amounts of Omega-3 fatty acids. But for us anxious people, B vitamins are key. “Make sure you're getting sufficient amounts of B vitamins and omega threes; they work hand in hand. You can't absorb your Omegas without your Bs.” So make sure you're getting the whole family of B vitamins together.

Wilson recommends: Try to have a mostly minimally processed diet. Aim for your five a day, make sure you're getting those fruits and veggies in.” If you eat a lot of more processed carbs, see if you can switch over to the whole grain versions, add half a can of lentils to your soup or your salad, that kind of thing. You don't have to overhaul anything. You can make slow introductions because if it's the rest of your life, then you don't have to do it all in once. I can try to eat more blueberries this month. I'm going to try to eat more berries, and then you can slowly build up over time. In terms of plasticity, its omega threes have been shown to improve plasticity or neurogenesis, polyphenol.” I love how she sums it up: berries and exercise. (And fiber. Eat more fiber. #eatmorebeans, she advises)