Stress Center Peer Support

I went out to dinner last night for my mom's birthday with my parents, my sister, and 2 of my parents friends who both happened to be RN's. I asked them about my low blood sugar and how that ties into my anxiety (it's no secret to anyone in my family that I have anxiety lol) We determined that I am not a diabetic, but I am most likely hypoglycemic. I asked them what the best thing to do was, and they both said eating protein, especially when I first wake up. I always figured if you have low blood sugar, you should eat something with SUGAR or carbs, wrong I was. I am sharing this information with you all, because I figure someone else may have this same problem. They both said the best thing to do is carry around a peanut butter sandwich or some almonds with me and eat that when my blood sugar gets low. With anxiety it's not good to eat just sugar, it only causes more anxiety. He said that a great way to help anxiety issues is to eat the right diet, which we know through doing the program. I told him how I would wake up and eat cereal and he said it was a terrible idea. He said I should eat eggs, fish, or peanut butter. Which I know sounds terrible for breakfast, but how desperate are we to feel better? Anyone here make sure they add plenty of protein to their diet and has it benefited you? I'd love to hear about it.

Peanut butter for breakfast doesn't sound terrible at all to me. I have peanut butter on oat grain bread with a slice of pear on it all the time for breakfast. Ha - that probably sounds terrible to you! I'm sensitive to the blood sugar levels also and usually eat small amts several times a day. It does make a difference on how I feel. With my high cholesterol though, I have to make sure the protein is low fat.

I figured this out this year myself. I don't drink juice, or eat sweets, candy any more. If I have high carbs such as bread or pasta I make sure and have proteine with it. I read a book about this Krimmel is the author. He's pretty strict and I went a bit overboard with it at first, but it sounds like you're getting good advice. I know it has made a huge difference for me.

The only downside is now I'm more sensitive to sugar since I rarely eat it, so if I splurge and eat something too sweet it makes me feel pretty yucky. I guess that's OK; it's not good for anyone to eat a bunch of sugar.

In Krimmel's book they suggest eating a few spoons of plain yogart before bed and upon waking. I did that for awhile but once I felt more balanced out I stopped.

Good luck!

Very interesting. I've been meaning to really take a look at what I SHOULD be eating and when. I too wondered if my diet affected my mood. I would love to meet with a nutritionist or dietician to give me some information on the link between my diet and anxiety. I'll have to try to find that book you mention, Faith. It might be a good place to start. My neighbor who is a nurse mentioned the importance of amino acids to me and I was like "huh?". LOL! I've stopped eating beef and pork this year for various reasons and I know I need to get my protein somewhere. But I never heard that there was a link between protein and mood.

But how do you know when your blood sugar gets low? I've got the almonds but wouldn't know when to eat them! And I too eat cereal in the morning. Would yogurt be okay (that's got protein, right?) or is that too much sugar?

This is interesting to me also. My first problems with anxiety attacks happened during intense exercise and also at lunch usually the days when I didn't have a good breakfast. This was long before my GP diagnosed me with anxiety disorder. I remember distinctly feeling the light headed rush during the meal in particular after eating bread pasta or rice. I had convinced my self I had diabetes but blood testing showed nothing abnormal. The attacks were never more than a a 3 or 4 and for a year I stopped having them but beginning this year they started again, where more frequent and more severe 7-10. It got to the point where just going to a restaurant anxiety would start. On a couple of occasions I was ready to be taken to emergency. Thankfully my GP was keeping track of the incidents an saw the trend told me I was shaving anxiety attacks, he gave me several options but high on his list was this course and why I'm on this form. Take care, Larrito

As soon as I heard Dr. Fisher on tape 5 say that I should be eating protein for breakfast a bell went off. Somehow I already knew this but by him saying it affirmed it. I used to eat cereal and pancakes for breakfast with the kids, but no more. Now it's turkey or egss or peanut butter and not Jiffy or the like, it's the real stuff with oil on top, all natural and w/o sugar, on toast. I used to eat sandwiches all the time, no more either. Too much bread. And I love pasta and now no more either. Beside from losing a little weight, I can tell the difference as far as anxiety goes. I'm on a new vitamin regimen and they also suggest very little bread and pasta stuff and more fruits and vegetables and protein, nuts and stuff. So, now I may have two peices of bread a day instead of 4 or 6. And I try to watch the breads, like not 2 pc of bread for breakfast and then noodles and rice for lunch and dinner. I try to only do one of those a day, and if I have two, I have one serving size which means like 1/2 cup of rice or noodles and not a half plate full. Everything has sugar in it like ketchup and mayo, bread and just about everything, and of course fruit does so I get some from them, but otherwise I really try not to eat any sweets because they affect me now that I've taken notice. They can make me irritable or hyper or moody and if on a rare occassion I do splurge, I make note of it and when I have some symptoms, I try to remember it's because I've had a treat. But, I always have mixed nuts in my cupboard now for a treat.

Oh, I'm not on tape 5 yet. I look forward to hearing what they have to say about anxiety and nutrition. It's hard to find the right things to eat especially if you have high cholesterol, want to lose weight, don't eat certain meats, etc. Maybe I should hire a personal chef. :p

Faith, Is this the book by Krimmel that you referred to:

Vital Health Facts and Composition of Foods: An Essential Guide to Vitamin and Mineral Needs, Weight Control and More

I see it on Amazon for $4.50. Was going to buy it but wanted to check to be sure it's the book you mentioned. Would you recommend it as a whole?

The book I read was: "The Low Blood Sugar Handbook: You Don't Have to Suffer"

It's pretty strict, but take what you need from it. I learned a lot about where sugar and carbs hide. I cut out all carbs for a couple weeks to see how it would effect me and in some ways it was better and in some ways I felt horrible. But, that helped break my sort of addiction to them. Now I eat some but very few sweets however I do have some breads and such, just not with every meal.

I need to go back to eating more healthy again. I'm slipping into more junk food again. I was eating a ton more veggies which doesn't come naturally for me. One thing I found weird was he doesn't even eat fruit. I can't live without fruit. At the time I was seeing a counselor who was super strict about food and actually everything in general. I stopped seeing her. She had all these "rules" for things to repeat day after day on flashcards and such. It seemed a little too much.

But, that said I'm glad I got the book. Just take it with a grain of salt and everything in moderation. I actually ended up buying 3 books on hypoglycemia and even borrowed my sister in law's glucose monitor to see if my blood sugar really was dropping 1-2 hours after sweeter meals. It does.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

I always thought that was just a hoax, glad to know otherwise.