EATING CLEAN FOR A HEALTHY MIND

Q I often feel extremely anxious and am considering taking antidepressants and eating better as well. What can I do?

A Anxiety comes from overthinking. Overthinking happens when we either think about our past or obsess over having a perfect future. This is becoming increasingly common now and people are spending way too much money on finding ways to feel calm and less anxious. If you can control two things in your life, you can live a peaceful joyful life – what you eat and what you think. Consuming 80 per cent of your food in its natural original form and 20 per cent processed because of the need for convenience is fine. When you eat clean foods, you get real ingredients that help your system function better by replenishing your body’s nutrient stores naturally. When people start to eat better they start to feel better about themselves, get in a more positive state of mind and are also able to think better. But sometimes, we also see extremely health people having negative habits of over thinking and being anxious. There is a lot of scientific research on meditation and how it can improve the quality of life.

Various studies have been done proving how meditating even for 20 minutes a day helps improve cognitive performance, processing speed and improves your performance at tasks that require your attention and focus. It has also shown to help attain focused stability that helps break the constant habit of negative thinking patterns. It helps you become aware of the space between your constant thoughts and noise in your brain and make you an observer of your thoughts. You can start small by taking just 10 minutes every day and trying to focus on one thought and breathing deep.

I would recommend you start gradually but consistently with eating better and practicing mindfulness with the help of meditations rather than jumping to taking antidepressants. The power to heal ourselves is always within us and within our reach. We only have to be mindful enough to tap into it.