My journey with anxiety has led me down many a pathway to seek solace from the overwhelming physical and emotional feelings that hit me in waves during different periods of my life. This has included yoga, meditation, running, circuit training, talking therapy, acupuncture and energy healing. However it wasn’t until I addressed my nutritional choices that I felt a prolonged relief from my anxious periods.
Don’t get me wrong talking therapies have been a saviour for me. They have provided me with lots of tools to interrupt unhelpful thinking patterns. I continue to attend counselling sessions to this day as I think they are a vital component in offloading any stressors or worries that I may be carrying. I personally believe that every human that walks this earth should attend talking therapy of some sort… We all have ups, downs, difficult family members, arguments with our partners etc…Talking therapy allows us to untangle our thoughts and emotions around these situations and have a healthy view/reaction to them.
My journey down the rabbit hole of nutritional therapy..
By the time I reached my late twenties I would have considered myself to make health conscious choices around food. I enjoyed cooking and would only get a takeaway occasionally. My sweet treat was normally some dark chocolate and on the weekend I would have a few packets of crisps. I was making conscious efforts to stay away from dairy (but still having small amounts) along with eating a good mix of fruit, veggies and wholegrains. I was carrying a bit of extra weight but nothing major..around an extra stone.
I had just moved back to Ireland from Australia and was in a relationship that was causing me a lot of emotional distress. However I still held on as I was terrified of being alone. This was all contributing to a particularly dark period with my mental health and anxiety in particular.
I decided to go to a kinesiologist to have food allergy testing done. Little did I know that she would provide me with a lot more than food allergy testing. Firstly she advised me to cut out some foods which were mainly dairy, processed foods, garlic, onions, red meat, chilli and curry. I was eating A LOT of onions, garlic, spices and curry (it made me sad to think about not having these.) So for 6 weeks I literally didn’t eat out once, I made all my food at home to suit my new dietary requirements. This was before there were nice dairy free sweet treats available in supermarkets- I went all in and got Deliciously Ella’s vegan cook book to make tasty sweet treats.
There was no arguing with the results and the science of how my body reacted to these changes. The improvement with my physical health had a positive knock on effect with my mental health. I started sleeping the whole night through (which I had never done), waking feeling refreshed, improved energy levels, had lost that last stubborn stone in weight and most importantly my feelings of anxiety had subsided massively.
Within 9 months of making those changes along with continuously working on myself I had ended the toxic relationship and signed up for a Diploma in Naturopathic Nutrition that would enable me to practise as a Nutritional Therapist. I had truly found my passion and calling in life and had never felt better.
Now a fully qualified Nutritional Therapist (whoop whoop)..
after 3 years of studying and now with one year of practising as a therapist under my belt. My passion is using nutrition to support brain health. My mission is to shine a spotlight on positive nutritional changes that support mood management and mental health disorders (as part of an integrative health plan.)
I have found that it is difficult to get people to relate their physical health to their diet. So you can imagine the obstacle when relating diet to mental health. I aim to provide as much useful information as possible to help anyone who may need it.
Food is the fuel we provide our bodies. If we don’t provide it with the right type it cannot function optimally- same goes with our brain (and I am not even going to start with the gut brain connection…just yet!). Think of a car- if we put petrol in a diesel car it won’t go very far! Our bodies are exactly the same.
This blog..
Will provide a mix of nutritional information, lifestyle tips, personal stories and recipes to support you on your merry journey through life <3
Comments