Just as with depression, nutrition plays a key role in anxiety. Have you ever noticed feeling jittery after too much coffee or feeling more irritable when you’ve skipped a meal? What we eat (and when we eat) can significantly impact our nervous system. A holistic anxiety treatment plan always looks at diet.

One common factor we address is blood sugar stability. When you go too long without eating, or consume a lot of sugary foods/drinks, your blood sugar can spike and crash. Those crashes trigger stress hormones (like adrenaline) which can mimic and worsen anxiety symptoms – you might get shaky, heart pounding, or dizzy, which can even trigger panic in some people. To avoid this, we advise eating regular, balanced meals. Incorporate protein, healthy fats, and complex carbs in each meal to keep blood sugar steady. For example, instead of just having idli (which is mostly carbs) for breakfast, add a side of peanut chutney or an egg for protein; or have a handful of nuts with your fruit snack. Little changes like this can prevent those mid-day energy crashes and keep your mood on a more even keel.

We also look at caffeine and alcohol intake. While many of us love our filter coffee or chai, caffeine is a stimulant and can provoke anxiety. If you’re dealing with a lot of anxiety, consider cutting down or switching to decaf or herbal teas (like chamomile, which is naturally calming). Alcohol might relax you in the moment, but it can disrupt sleep and make anxiety worse the next day (the “hangxiety” effect). Moderation is key, and some people choose to avoid these substances while they heal from chronic anxiety.

A nutrient-rich diet supports your nervous system. Magnesium, for instance, is nature’s tranquilizer mineral – it helps relax muscles and nerves. Leafy greens, nuts, and whole grains are good sources, and if needed, we might suggest a magnesium supplement (which can also aid sleep). Omega-3 fatty acids (found in fatty fish like salmon or in flaxseeds and walnuts) are known to support brain health and have anti-anxiety effects. B vitamins (found in whole grains, eggs, and legumes) are critical for neurotransmitter balance; deficiencies in B12 or B6 can cause anxiety and fatigue, so we ensure those are addressed. Our functional nutritionists at Arka Anugraha can guide you through a nutrition plan that emphasizes these calming, nourishing foods. We sometimes even use Intravenous nutrition for patients who are very depleted or have malabsorption issues – for example, an IV infusion of magnesium and B vitamins can quickly alleviate symptoms in someone who’s very deficient and anxious.

Importantly, we also consider the gut-brain connection for anxiety. Your gut health can influence your mood and stress response. If you have chronic digestive issues (like IBS) along with anxiety, it’s possible that healing your gut could ease your mind. We might suggest probiotic or fermented foods to increase the good bacteria in your gut. These “good bugs” produce calming neurotransmitters and reduce inflammation. In fact, certain probiotics are now dubbed psychobiotics for their positive effect on mental health. For example, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strains in the gut can help modulate stress hormones. While more research is underway, there’s no harm in adding foods like curd, buttermilk, fermented pickles, or kombucha to your diet and seeing if your anxiety improves. We’ve had patients who reported feeling less anxious and more clear-headed after a month of tending to their gut health and diet – it’s quite remarkable but makes sense given how interconnected our body systems are.

Holistic anxiety management doesn’t mean we ignore psychological therapies. In fact, counseling and therapy are incredibly important – but we integrate them with all the other strategies for maximum benefit. At our hospital, you have access to experienced therapists who can guide you through techniques like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).

CBT is a well-proven therapy for anxiety; it helps you identify and challenge negative thought patterns and beliefs that fuel your worry. For example, if you tend to catastrophize (“If I make a mistake at work, I’ll get fired and everything will collapse”), a CBT therapist works with you to question that thought and replace it with a more balanced one (“Everyone makes mistakes; I can fix it and it doesn’t mean I’ll be fired”). Over time, this retrains your thought habits, so anxiety isn’t triggered as easily by the same situations. We often combine CBT with mindfulness techniques, teaching you to observe anxious thoughts without getting swept away by them.

For those with deeper trauma contributing to anxiety (say, past abuse or an accident), we have trauma-informed therapists who might use methods like EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) or somatic experiencing to gently work through those memories. Releasing trauma can dramatically lower a person’s baseline anxiety and reactivity.

A very interesting tool we offer in our integrative toolkit is Neurofeedback. Neurofeedback is essentially biofeedback for the brain. You wear a non-invasive cap or sensors that read your brainwave activity, and you play a sort of computer game that gives your brain real-time feedback. Over sessions, this can train your brain to shift into calmer brainwave patterns. Think of it like exercise for your brain’s self-regulation. It has shown good results for anxiety, as well as insomnia and ADHD. The process is relaxing – you might just watch soothing visuals or listen to music that adjusts based on your brain activity. Over a number of sessions, many people report feeling more resilient to stress and less prone to anxious spirals. Neurofeedback essentially helps your brain practice staying in a focused, calm state, and those skills carry over into daily life. We’ve had clients who, after a course of neurofeedback, find that situations which used to trigger panic (like driving in traffic or speaking in meetings) no longer do, or at least the intensity is much lower. It’s a gentle, side-effect-free method and can be a great add-on to therapy.

Another cutting-edge aspect of our program is Vagal Nerve Stimulation (VNS) techniques. The vagus nerve is a key part of the parasympathetic “rest and digest” system, and stimulating it can reduce anxiety. We often teach simple VNS exercises like humming, gargling, or specific breathing patterns that naturally activate the vagus nerve. In some cases, we use non-invasive VNS devices that gently stimulate the nerve through the skin. Strengthening your vagal tone (how responsive your vagus nerve is) can improve your heart-rate variability and overall stress resilience.

It’s fascinating science – for instance, have you noticed some people faint or puke when stressed? That’s the vagus nerve overreacting. By training it, we aim for a balanced response instead of an all-or-nothing. Improved vagal tone has been linked to better mood, digestion, and even immunity, so it’s a truly holistic target.

Many individuals ask us about natural remedies for anxiety: things like herbal supplements or Ayurveda or homeopathy. Our approach is to use evidence-backed remedies as complements to the strategies above. For instance, Ashwagandha, an Ayurvedic herb, has been shown in studies to lower stress and cortisol levels. We sometimes recommend a high-quality Ashwagandha extract to patients with chronic stress, as it’s generally safe and well-tolerated. It can gently support your adrenal glands (which pump out stress hormones) and help your body adapt to stress better – that’s why it’s called an “adaptogen.” Other calming herbs we might use include Brahmi (Bacopa), which can improve anxiety and cognitive function, and Chamomile, often taken as a tea, which has mild sedative and anxiety-relieving properties.

Magnesium supplements (as mentioned earlier) can have a tranquilizing effect on the nervous system. L-theanine, an amino acid found in green tea, is another supplement that can promote relaxation without drowsiness – some people take it to take the edge off anxiety during the day. These natural options can be quite effective when used appropriately, and we incorporate them as needed in a personalized plan. Of course, any supplements are used judiciously, considering any other medications you might be on (to avoid interactions).

Another natural modality is acupuncture, a part of traditional Chinese medicine. Some patients find that acupuncture sessions help reduce their anxiety, improve sleep, and balance their energy. In our integrative network, we have referrals to trusted acupuncturists in Bangalore for those interested. Acupuncture involves inserting very thin needles at specific points on the body to regulate the flow of energy (“Qi”) and can stimulate the body’s natural painkilling and relaxing chemicals. It’s an option one can explore as part of a holistic plan.

Finally, spending time in nature is a terribly underrated but powerful stress medicine. Even a short walk in a garden, tending to plants, or sitting by a lake can lower stress hormones. In a city, we might not always have immediate access to wild nature, but Bangalore’s gardens or even a balcony with plants can be your daily mini-retreat. We encourage patients to find what we call “micro-moments of peace” – small pockets in the day where you disconnect from devices and reconnect to something calming (nature, music, prayer, art, anything that soothes your soul). These moments act like pressure valves, preventing stress from building up too high.