Self-care for better mental health
Stress and anxiety are common terms that we could encounter in daily conversations. Stress is a normal human reaction to external triggers that affect us emotionally or physically. For example, a difficult situation in the office can cause you to have negative emotions as minor as irritation or worse like frustration. The body can also be physically stressed such as when doing extreme workouts or when it does not get adequate sleep, as well as when we have to work long hours without rest.
Anxiety, on the other hand, can occur in the absence of triggering factors or stressors. It is characterized by constant uneasiness, restlessness, worry, fear, and the feeling of dread.
Both anxiety and stress can cause various symptoms that affect the blood pressure, blood sugar, heart rate, quality of sleep, and especially the digestive system. Have you ever wondered why mental and emotional issues can give you stomach upset? Have you ever felt that you had to do “Number 2” (move your bowels) when you are nervous? This is because there is a connection between the brain and your gut.
Brain chemicals that stabilize mood, regulate sleep, appetite, and hormones that help you cope with stress, are largely produced in the gut or your intestinal lining. GABA is the brain chemical associated with fear and anxiety. Dopamine is your feel-good or happy hormone. Serotonin is a mood regulator. It also plays a role in sleeping, eating, and digestion. It’s safe to say that if you have a healthy gut through good nutrition, your mood will definitely be better—including how you cope with stress.
The first thing to do to promote mental health is to make sure that you feed the good bacteria or gut microbiome in your digestive system with prebiotics. Prebiotics come from plant sources like banana, mango, apple, garlic, onion, eggplant, soy, legumes, and whole grains like brown rice, oats, and psyllium husk.
The first thing to do to promote mental health is to make sure that you feed the good bacteria or gut microbiome in your digestive system with prebiotics.
The body also needs food rich in the amino acid tryptophan to make hormones like serotonin. Tryptophan is a component of protein, which is abundant in both animal and plant products. Plant-based sources of tryptophan, however, are better because plant food contains fiber and plant chemicals or plant nutrients that help bring down inflammation in the body. This type of inflammatory reactions not only damage the gut but also impact the mood.
Leafy greens, soy, mushroom, banana, nuts, broccoli, peas, oats, pumpkin, and sunflower seeds are abundant in tryptophan. Other relaxing and mood-boosting food includes green tea, dark chocolate, cinnamon, and turmeric.
Aside from nutrition, there are other natural ways to boost your mental wellbeing. The potent mood stabilizer, serotonin, is produced when we exercise. If you have never exercised or have led a sedentary lifestyle all these years, you don’t need to do anything strenuous initially. Taking 10 to 15-minute cycles of walking daily will go a long way. It will get your blood circulation going and get your brain well-oxygenated. Another way of producing serotonin is through sun exposure. You don’t need to stay out in the sun for too long lest you suffer the consequences of sunburn. Ten to 15 minutes of sun exposure in the morning, however, will help you produce happy hormones. This will also help your body regulate sleep by producing more sleep hormone, melatonin at night.
Just remember to nourish yourself with healthy food, move regularly and exercise, get adequate quality sleep, and daily sun exposure to have healthier mental and emotional health. In the event that you have already exhausted all-natural ways of lifting your mood, yet you still get anxiety and couldn’t cope with stress, it is recommended that you seek professional health.