Anxiety can affect men and women of any age group. In our hectic society, rest and relaxation is not encouraged by our bosses and deadlines imposed upon us by our creditors keep us hopping! Life is just hard and some can handle these pressures more effectively than others. Here is an example of a fellow I saw in my practice.

Joel, age 35, had his own business, with the pressures of employees as well as government deadlines for payroll, taxes and GST. He was managing okay until he and his girlfriend starting having problems. He came in with her to discuss alternatives to the anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medication that his doctor was recommending. He really didn’t want to take pharmaceuticals.

The first question I always ask in this situation is does he have trouble with his blood sugar. He didn’t know what I meant, so explained if he missed a meal and then became very irritable, light headed and then more anxious this indicated that his blood sugar could be either too high or too low. He said that he had trouble with this his entire life and he would reach for sugary things like fruit and candy bars to get him through. Well, I said, those types of foods would only make his symptoms worse in the long run. I then went on to explain the benefit of protein snacks and eating more protein at his meals so that these low blood sugars would be prevented. He said he is often so busy at work he doesn’t have time to eat proper meals, so this is when I recommended the “Greens First” drink with our Ultra Protein Plus made from pea protein. The Greens First provides the antioxidants and greens of 10 fruits and vegetables and it tastes great! One scoop of the protein powder provides 18 grams of non allergic protein and the vanilla flavor is enjoyed by most. They can be shaken in a shaker cup if there isn’t a blender handy to make a true smoothie with fruit.

The next question I ask is how is he sleeping? Terrible he says. He takes gravol every night to help him get to sleep but then he is so groggy in the morning he needs to rely on several cups of coffee to get him going. What does he put in his coffee? That flavoured coffee whitener put out by International Coffees which is not only loaded with sugar, but all kinds of additives and preservatives! As an alternative I suggested he try Silk Coffee Whitener. He had never heard of it, but I said it was right next to the International stuff proving once again that you can only find answers if you are asking the questions! Silk is an organic soy product, it does have sugar in it, however it is not laced with additives and it is well tolerated by those sensitive to cow’s milk.

For proper sleep hygiene I suggest taking a good quality calcium and magnesium supplement in capsule form, 30-60 minutes before he goes to sleep. I also recommend the protein glycine, which has a calming effect on the brain and is great for insomnia caused by anxiety.  I also prescribed for him homeopathic remedies called Rubimeds. These are Swiss made homeopathic combinations that I have been using in my practice for the last two years with good success. They are very effective at helping people wean off anti-depressants and/or sleeping pills and they also prevent people from having to start them. These remedies also help to shrink emotional conflicts that are getting in the way of people healing. I use the REBA diagnostic machine to determine which remedies he needs and I explain this process may take up to two years.

Over the next year I worked with Joel and even within 6 months he was feeling a lot better. He was handling his stress better, learning to delegate and prioritize his commitments so they weren’t all coming at him at once. He was sleeping much better and now had the energy to exercise which not only helped him sleep, but helped him deal better with the stress. He was beginning to notice that coffee really made his anxiety worse and he was enjoying the recipes on my website.

By teaching Joel to become more aware of his body and what it was telling him, how it was reacting to foods and the environment, he learned to listen and make changes to avoid future health problems.