This is part of an ongoing series of real life success stories from people all over the world who have been impacted by the Paleo lifestyle and The Paleo Solution. Read Christina’s story below.
Hi Robb,
I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder shortly after I graduated college in 2005. For the last few months of college and consistently once I entered the workforce, I started having horrible panic attacks and generalized anxiety all day, every day. I sought help once I had a job and decent insurance. I started seeing a psychiatrist once a month and was prescribed Xanax for the anxiety (the first recommendation was anti-depressants, but the idea of those “brain drugs” scared me). At my worst, I was taking up to 2.5mg of Xanax a day to feel “normal.”
I’m 5′ and 100lbs. I’ve never had weight problems, but I was not healthy. I was inactive and ate at Taco Bell at least three times a week. For many years I only drank soda. I didn’t like how water had “no taste.” I hated cooking. Pizza and McDonalds snack wraps were my best friends.
After 5 years of this, I made a few changes. Shortly before my 27th birthday this year, I moved to Austin, TX from Washington, DC with my boyfriend of two years who eats only a Paleo diet and is a CrossFitter. I was determined to build a new life – take on a less stressful job, eliminate bad friends, and remove other toxic influences that I was sure was contributing to my anxiety. I even took up yoga, going 3-4 times per week. No change. I had to take Xanax before I went to yoga!
Once we had moved, my boyfriend was cooking for us all the time and I was really embracing Paleo. We watched the CrossFit games this year and I decided that I too would join CrossFit. I started in August of this year. I started to thrive. I wasn’t taking any Xanax before those classes. Everyone was so nice and welcoming.
I started noticing that I was going most of the day without reaching for my medication.
Finally, after reviewing the nutrition information about my latte, I gave up my morning Starbucks. I’ve gone full blown Paleo – no grains, no dairy, no sugar, no processed foods, only carbs from fruits and vegetables, lots of protein and healthy fats.
It’s been almost a month and I’m medication and anxiety-free. For the past five years, I’ve lived every day on the verge of flight or fight. There’s always been a knot in my stomach. Even on the medication, my emotions (including happiness) were dulled.
I can’t thank people like you enough for raising awareness on how vastly important an appropriate diet and exercise are to all aspects of quality of life – not just weight loss.
Christina B.
Austin, Texas
Update from Christina:
I’ve been eating about 90% Paleo – any diversions from that only including occasional alcohol or sugar. I have not reintroduced grains into my diet whatsoever. Interestingly, when my diet is not optimal, I do feel an increase in anxiety. However, being able to attribute that anxiety to my poor diet choices makes the anxiety very manageable.
In conclusion, there has been no need for further medication or treatment…and my life continues to go wonderfully.
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Congratulations Christina.
Even though I do not know you, I am very proud of you.
Buck
not to get too gooey, but reading something like this “For the past five years, I’ve lived every day on the verge of flight or fight.” really hits home. For years, primarily due to a seriously high-stress job, i lived this way. Think every night during sleep waking up and just fretting and fretting the next day, etc. Horrible. Anyhow, things are much better now and its really cool to see that others have made moves to change their lives. Sometimes we have to hit a very low low to realize a very high high. Good for Christina
Christina, this is amazing. Congrats to you, I’m so glad you are healthy and happy now!!! (And Austin is amazing, congrats on the move as well!)
This is awesome.
If you’re in the area, come join us at CrossFit Austin!
What an awesome Story! We’re lucky to have you at CrossFit Austin. So proud of you, Christy!
Great to read this. I’ve had minor bouts with panic attacks in the past, in my SAD eating days compounded by anxious circumstances in my life. Never turned to medication for it but my health certainly took a hit.
I’ve been Paleo for months now, and as the stresses of work and life related issues are ramping up lately, I’m so much more able to stay centered and weather these storms, since my body doesn’t need to deal with added distresses from a poor diet.
These are the kinds of experiences that can be effectively shared with a lot of people, especially those unconvinced who are not physically ill per se on SAD. Everyone deals with modern stresses and knows it takes a toll on the body and mood in some way or another.
j
Don’t get mad at me, but it’s all a placebo effect. Drugs, exercise, diet, whatever. Pretty much a proven placebo effect, just like the “anxiety disorder” was in the first place.
I’m still very happy that you’re finding more peace, etc. At the same time, there’s never any reason to attribute things to places they don’t deserve the attribution.
“It’s been almost a month and I’m medication and anxiety-free. For the past five years, I’ve lived every day on the verge of flight or fight. There’s always been a knot in my stomach. Even on the medication, my emotions (including happiness) were dulled.”
One month, or almost a month, isn’t very long. Again, congrats and all, but you’re eagerness to jump the gun and pronounce yourself “cured” of something that’s self-induced anyway is probably a symptom of why you ever started feeling anxious, etc., in the first place.
Thought I’d do a quick google on gluten and anxiety:
Seems lots of people get relief with gluten free
http://www.celiac.com/gluten-free/topic/41662-anxiety-relief-from-going-gluten-free/
Jamie (fellow Kiwi nutritionist) has just done a great post on gluten and the brain.http://primalmuse.blogspot.com/2010/12/gluten-it-messes-with-your-head.html
Henry I understand this a an old post. But I have just read this and felt sympathy & happiness that there is relief for this woman. Have you ever been scared or had a really bad fright or shock? That’s a really body function happening. Now at the moment, my leg isn’t broken but my brain is ( I’ve a broken amygdala) myself & very foruntely no longer for Christina live that fear, shock, fright most all the time, all day yesterday…. Horrible. So Christina has recovered her amygdala is not broken anymore. Broken leg, pain relief, broken brain chemical relief is also needed & yes recovery. Mental illness is simply that your brain gets sick. You need to fix it & food really helps the recovery.
But we don’t talk about it nor give people with broken brains a bunch of flowers or sign there cast.
thanks for the Buzz-kill Henry!
seriously.
Says someone who obviously hasn’t dealt with anxiety, depression or mental illness firsthand.
Just think of it this way Hank, there are healthy choices, and less healthy choices that can lead to any number of disease states. Switching from Taco bell, McDonalds and Pizza to veggies, higher quality meats, healthy fats and fruit is a healthy choice. Starting an exercise regime that demands a level of intensity that a majority of people had lost touch with after they left elementary school, is a healthy choice.
And I’m sure moving to a new location, a new job, getting more sun, eating and exercising more have all lead to a reduction in stress, which is also a healthy pseudo-choice.
I’m not sure people are willing themselves to have panic attacks as much as they are willing themselves to make healthy choices. Congrats Christina! Glad you’re enjoying your new sense of health!
Is your psychic ability always so refined and this precise, Henry L?
I doubt very much that you have even met Christina B, let alone conducted an in-depth psychological evaluation of her. So, you must be relying on some sort of airy-fairy, pie-in-the-sky “psychic” ability to arrive at your “opinions”.
That you ACTUALLY (!!!) make the unsubstantiated, indeed, unsubstantiable allegation that Christina B has experienced a “Pretty much a proven placebo effect, just like the “anxiety disorder” was in the first place…” speaks volumes about YOU and YOUR presumptuousness; but says nothing, absolutely NOTHING, about Christina B – zip, zero, nada, sweet poop all.
You might take a high school logic course, Henry L. But, such a course would require an open your mind to fully appreciate and understand how to apply logic on a blog.
I should have added: Well done, Christina B.
Keep at it;I am sure things will only get better for you!
No need to be a dick, Henry. Perhaps your zen-like mastery of your own universe doesn’t allow you to empathize with other human beings, but just because you have never suffered from a condition doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. You sound like one of those anti mental health treatment Scientologist assholes. Or maybe you are just naturally an obnoxious jerk. Either way, your ignorance on the subject of anxiety disorders is profound.
I hate to say it, but the Scientologists sort of have a point, *inasmuch as* the psychiatric community has had its share of whackjobs and quacks over the years and they have done a lot of damage. And their first-response approach is still to put people on drugs rather than give them any real help. I wish I could remember the title, all I remember is it had a yellow cover, but about 5 or 6 years ago I checked a book out of the library that was written by a Harvard psychiatry professor and he said there was this study conducted with prisoners who complained of depression. He said bloodwork was done on all of them, and a significant number of them had underlying health issues that showed up on the labs. In the free world, so to speak, their docs would have put them on Prozac or Lexapro or Xanax and not bothered considering that something else might have been going on. And that’s the mild cases of abuse. We won’t even get into the ways psychiatry has been used as a political tool to keep dissenters from the status quo intimidated and subdued. At one time, for instance, it was not unusual for a disobedient wife to be declared insane and committed, simply for being unhappy in her marriage. (Those were the days before no-fault divorce, incidentally.) If you look you’ll notice they are still trying to invent mental illness diagnoses that suit some political agenda, like the “disease” of orthorexia.
What difference does it make? I believe that there are many reasons for anxiety and stress. The brain/body connection is a very important piece. “If you think it…it is.” Diet and exercise are also a very important piece. It all fits together for the end result.
Congratulations Christina!
exactly
For a person who struggles with anxiety for years, one month is a HUGE accomplishment. For you to trivilize Christina’s success is amazingly selfish, ignorant and mean.
Christina, congratulations. I have not suffered from anxiety to the degree you describe, but as a crossfitter for almost two years and a paleo diet follower (80/20, not perfect yet), I can vouche and say my axiety levels have certainly decreased thanks to both of these components in my life. Keep up the great success.
Tom, I’d be really interested to see what a strict paleo, especially strict gluten / wheat free does for your anxiety.
I’m pretty low on the grain/gluten end. I would say the only “cheat” if you will is a single nightly light beer. Otherwise, I’m grain free. My other imperfections would be from a little more sugar and perhaps fruit than I should allow. My untrained diagnosis for the very little anxiety I still is that I am a single thirtysomething who has a bit too much time on his own hands to sit around and ponder himself. I’ve found substantial help in an increased level of spirituality, but I digress.
yeah, Henry, this is not only an uneducated reply, but also rude. anxiety disorders are actual chemical imbalances similar to bi-polar disorder. for people who have faced crippling anxiety on a daily basis, the first sign of relief is life changing, and I don’t think she’s jumping the gun to say she’s cured, let her feel good! (and it’s not self-induced, while it can be environmental, believe me, nobody would bring this on themselves.)
this is just a downer comment, maybe next time keep it to yourself.
I’m not Paleo, I’m still in transition to a healthier diet (one day at a time… one day at a time…), but I can attest that what you eat makes a huge difference in how your brain works. The brain is a physical organ and it is subject to the effects of bad diet just like any other organ in your body. There’s no evidence that there are any spirit imps driving the meat car. Your brain IS you. If you don’t take care of yourself, you fundamentally change as a person in how you interact with your world. Cold hard fact. Accept it or don’t, your opinion about this doesn’t matter any more than it would matter if you decided gravity doesn’t actually work.
The notion that people seek out depression or anxiety is a myth invented by two-bit bullies who want to believe that other people’s fondest wish is to be treated like garbage. No one ever says, “I know! I want to spend the rest of my life miserable!” It’s a vicious cycle. Brain gets wonky, person acts weird, other people respond badly to the weird behavior, weird-acting person gets sad and neglects their self-care even more, brain gets even wonkier, person gets weirder, lather, rinse, repeat.
Til you’ve lived it, you don’t know.
Dana, I totally agree with everything you just said and appreciate your frank practicality. In my experience (having experienced depression and anxiety much of my life), anxiety comes “from the body” in the sense that I get an anxious sensation, which leads me to a thought (“my leg’s been hurting lately, I wonder if I have leg cancer? I’ll probably be dead soon…”) which intensifies the anxiety. Depression is similar but the “body sensation” is harder to appreciate, especially since potential physical causal agents are so routinely dismissed by most people as “buck up” and “smile” – as if the depressed individual were choosing to be said. The more I learn, the more I believe that we have minimal control over how we “feel” and “think” (don’t get me wrong, it’s great to optimize with diet, exercise, and knowledge) and we are largely programmed. Of course, I usually don’t say these things out loud because then the issue of god and soul comes up. . . .
Since this is Christina’s post, just wanted to add that what you’ve accomplished is terrific and I hope you remain anxiety-free for the duration!
Wow!! I literally started clapping. I wrote this down to save so I can have something to say when people tell me it’s all in your head, etc.
Wow Dana. I know that you wrote this comment 2 years ago but I just wanted to tell you that this is a truly poetic and beautiful description of mental illness. A quotable quote, if you will.
Great Job!!! You are an inspiration to us all! See you at the next WOD
Christy your an amazing person, and we’re so lucky to have you and Sleeves as a part of our family! Great story, and kudos to you for having the courage to share it!
Hey Christina, such an inspirational story! Congratulations on all your success! Just to let you know there is a Paleo meetup group in Austin and we would love for you and your boyfriend to join.
Awesome!! Congrats and keep it up.
I am so proud of you and I am so blessed to have you in the gym pushing me everyday! Here’s to the 1 second twins.
Awesome, Christy! I am so glad you’re feeling better. It’s been a pleasure getting to know you and doing WOD’s with you! Hope to see you soon.
Great job Christina!!! I also have GAD which Ive been fighting for the last 14 years. Ive seen every sort of doctor and specialist you can imagine but they offered minimal help. Ive been Paleo for about a year and my symptoms are much less then they used to be. I think that inflammation must be an issue for me as I would wake up stiff as a board, clogged sinuses and some arthritis in my shoulder (Im only 30 yrs old). I just recently dropped eggs and nightshades from my diet and it’s made a HUGE difference. Hope to be anxiety free soon (my depression of 14 years is already gone)!
High Five! Diet has such a HUGE impact on mental health its unreal. When you look back after a good bit of time has gone by, you won’t believe you lived the way you used to 🙂
Go fellow ginger friend!!!! U r awesome.
Congratulations Christina! I am going to share your story with a friend of mine who has an anxiety story similar to yours. She just started eating Paleo and this will be an encouraging to her. I had pretty severe anxiety problems brought on by work related fears about 6 years ago. I started taking a little fish oil and the anxiety and nights of disturbed sleep disappeared within 2 days–after 6 months of increasing to the point where any little worry would trigger it. This doesn’t seem to work for everyone, but it really awakened me to the need for better nutrition. I am 64 and have been 100% Paleo for 7 weeks. I feel like a lifelong bondage to food has been broken–not a single craving in those 7 weeks! Thanks Robb, Sarah F, and all the others who have been so willing to share their experiences.
I’ve been following Robb’s dietary recommendations for 7 months now. I’ve experienced the disappearance of long-time acid reflux, afternoon fatigue and seasonal allergies. My baseline muscle mass shot up without changing my already very low frequency exercise schedule and I became very cut–a friend of mine, who is a professional athlete estimated that I’m at ~7% subcutaneous. Unfortunately, I did not have a “before” measure to contrast this with.
The diet has also helped my mother cut a substantial amount of weight and eliminated a great deal of digestive discomfort. She has been on the diet for approximately 3 months with no change in her exercise routine. Her test results indicate sensitivity to dairy and gluten.
Christina – good on you!
I can relate to what you’ve said, you’re a star for taking control of how you want to live life! 🙂
Well said.
Congrats Christina! I’ve had relief from anxiety attacks too since starting down a higher-fat lower carb approach and it’s definitely something to celebrate. Anxiety attacks are nothing to be flippant about.
In mid September I saw my doc about PCOS symptoms and he measured my insulin levels and a few other things. End of September I read The Paleo Solution and started incorporating more of the Paleo approach. Three months later my insulin has dropped from 118 to 36 and I’ve lost 16 lbs. All while eating really decadent meals. I’m not fully Paleo yet and I still need to get myself into a regular workout program, but I’m really stoked about my progress this far and can’t imagine better, more enjoyable approach to retooling my body and my health.
Christina,
Thanks a lot for posting your story. Most lifestyle/diets focus more on the physical changes in people, and I’m actually doing this lifestyle for similar depression/anxiety problems, so I am very encouraged after reading your testimonial. I hope I have the same kind of results you have, and if I do, I’ll be sure and post it here on the website. Good luck and enjoy the rest of your anxiety-free life!
Anxiety is actually self-induced. Anxiety is not a chemical imbalance. Anxiety can be cured best with CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy). Medication just places a banaid on the symptoms. Encourage everyone to check out Midwest Center for Stress and Anxiety by Lucinda Bassett. I am actually going through her program now and start CBT soon for my anxiety. Major contributors to anxiety because they activate the flight/fight system which includes many neurotransmitters are CAFFEINE, SUGAR, and after reading this possibly gluten. The major chemical responsible for the anxiety is adrenaline. Exercise, Yoga, CBT, running really helps me, may all aid in the relief of anxiety. When you have a big ball of adrenaline in your systems best way to free it is EXERCISE. Exercising everyday will really help. The one part of all this that I need to attend to is my diet. I have tried paleo in the past. For some reason I can never make it work. I think the first two weeks of feeling lousy are what gets me every time. I am a crossfitter as well and this has help me tremendously become a stronger person both physically and mentally.
Very good work Christina!! Very proud of you. My only advice is that anxiety can come and go if you never fully understand it. You need to learn the mechanisms on how to combat it yourself because YOU are creating the anxiety and if you learn positive self talk and other mechanisms from CBT you will be much better off. Best wishes to you and congrats again on your road to recovery!
i was in therapy for 5 years with no results. being a psychology major in college, therapy was (obviously) my first route. still going strong (with no therapy) and only following the diet. – Christina
HI Christina,
What do you think helped you the most. Was it the diet or the exercise? It sounds like you were fairly inactive before, so do you think that was the biggest factor in helping you with your anxiety? Another words if you didn’t exercise now, do you think the anxiety would creep back.
Thanks!
i exercised before – did soccer and yoga regularly. i’m sure cross fit had something to do with it, but it was/is 90% the paleo diet.
Gyday Mate;
Well; you look great!
Tell your story.
Its OK to be anxious about stuff.
You will handle even the worst outcomes mate…no matter what happens; you can COPE.
You are here and You are allowed.
Awesome story mate.
Zeph.
This seals the deal for me. I’ve been thinking about going Paleo for the undiagnosed stomach problems I’ve been struggling with for the past 3 years, but now hearing that someone was cured of panic attacks by going Paleo? THAT is exactly what I needed to hear. I take Xanax daily and spent 2+ years in therapy that helped a lot but never completely eliminated my panic attacks. I am going to give this diet an honest to God try and see if it helps. Obviously my doctors, as kind and well-meaning as they are, don’t have anything else for me at this point. Thank you so much for sharing your story!
I had an extremely similar experience. I had gut wrenching panic attacks that would literally wake me up in the middle of the night and eventually lead to vomiting and other intestinal distress they were so severe. Getting diagnoses with celiac and eventually cutting out all grains ‘cured’ me too- I flushed my xanax down the toilet and never looked back. Only someone who is utterly ignorant of 1)the numerous causes of the chemical imabalances leading to anxiety and 2)the reality of what it is like to feel physically and mentally incapable of dealing with even the most basic aspecst of life- would make comments such as the one made by Henry. I cannot congratulate you enough, Christina. Discovering emotions like peace and contentment as part of your daily life is an experience that you can only appreciate after going through hell, and people who haven’t gone through something like that cannot appreciate the difficulty of living like that. Hope you are still doing well and enjoying life.
Heya,
I have situational anxiety (PTSD) rather than the chemical version BUT I have been diagnosed so often with low iron. Long term low iron can cause panic attacks and anxiety 🙂 paleo fixes low iron! 😀
I am about 50% paleo and have only known about it for 4 weeks, 😛 massive learning curve here!
But just thought I’d throw in the low iron issue for anyone who follows this link looking for a paleo-anxiety story of optimism, which this one is! 🙂 IF it’s the gluten, if its your iron, if it’s your body in distress from a lack of nutrition and all these things can cause it – then paleo can only help and at WORST it can’t make the anxiety bigger.
Would love an update Christina, hope you are still thriving and well 🙂
Hi all , I have suffered of panic attacks all my life , before I came to North America and end up at ER after a nasty panic attack I didn’t even know that such a thing existed , I thought that was normal to have them , that everybody had them …( That is for you Henry , so you know that I could not fabricate them , and in the case that we do fabricate our symptoms it desn’t make a difference does it? they are real enough) I just learn to live with them , and wake up in the middle of the night half way down the void trying to swallow me …
Anyway I have a son with Autism and I started experimenting with diets to help him , as I couldn’t see him suffering because I was eating something that he could’t eat , I stared all my family on the same diet called SCD diet , that with the recommendations for Autism end up very similar to the Paleo Diet and oh ! surprise ! I feel so much better , Im so relieved to find something that works !!!! I didn’t know what made the difference until this morning , last week I stray from the diet I bought bread for the first time in 3 months and eat sandwiches all week .. Yeah I had to make the connection I woke up with panic attacks every night of the week … So there you have it , it really seams to work for me.
Good luck everybody , there is nothing worse than a paramedic looking down at you like if you where a drama queen inventing stories…
I too suffer from anxiety, esp in work situations where I could have a panic attack over someone just walking up to my desk to ask me a question.
However, I have not had relief with paleo.
I am gluten free and eat a lot of fat and few carbs (currently cycling 5 days keto + 2 days carb refeed). I take Vit D and fish oil. The only thing I haven not tried is going dairy free so that is next on my list.
I have also tried CBT and it helped a bit but not fully. It allowed me to intellectually understand my anxiety but not emotionally avoid it.
I do deep breathing, vigorous exercise, have tried herbals and hypnosis. Nothing has worked. Caffeine exasperates anxiety so I usually avoid it or have 1 cup of decaf a day, and maybe 1 decaffeinated at weekends.
My only saviour right now are beta blockers, but I really don’t want to take them forever.
I am Jake and I suffered from anxiety for about two years. I always fear of losing something. I always feel like something is about to lose, and I am terrified because I don’t know which, who or what is it. It scares me a lot. I would start to palpitate for whatever reason. At some point, I accidentally made a chat with a life coach. He keeps on telling me how powerful the mind is; that it controls almost everything in your body. I kept on listening to him and began to think about meditating. I started a five-minute meditation and I did it everyday. And it worked. After few weeks, I can control anxiety and control panic attack. It is such a good anxiety relief. I kept on doing meditation everyday until now. It is definitely one of the best anxiety cures. It just requires practice.
She did everything right, in my opinion. She said she also cut out toxic relationships, got a lower stress job, etc. So here’s my story (shortened): I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder as a teen. I was homebound actually, and wouldn’t even leave my couch or take a shower. It was from panic attacks. One day I called 9-1-1 and told them I was going to kill myaell because I knew they’d force me to go to the hospital to get help if I did that. I was too terrified to leave my couch so I needed to do something drastic. That’s when I first had Ativan. I need to say that I think psychiatric drugs are lifesavers. I understand that they have their drawbacks and people can become dependent on them. I also know that because I finally took a small amount of anti anxiety medication after years of suffering from debilitating panic, I was able to leave my house and function somewhat “normally.”
Anyhow I’ll make this quick but I was hospitalized over a dozen times in my 20’s. I would fall into deep, deep depressions or my panic attacks would be so bad I couldn’t function. I was also paranoid at some points. After one hospitalization I left on 7 different medications. Can you imagine? I gained a ton of weight! I hid in my room at my parent’s house behind a computer day and night. I was a zombie.
One day I realized I was embarrassed and disgusted with the weight I had put on so I started running. Well, at first it was jogging for maybe .25 miles. Every night when everyone else was asleep I would go out and jog. During the day I would eat very plainly. I would eat a can of tuna fish and munch on baby carrots. I also cut dairy out of my diet but only because I thought fat was bad for you. Within 3 months I was running 2 miles a day, completely off my medications, no panic attacks. As time went on and I continued exercising and eating healthy (I started to learn more about nutrition and began eating more salmon and things like avocado with sliced turkey), I noticed more improvements. I had moved out into my own apartment, enrolled in university, bought a car, entered into a relationship, etc.
I no longer needed anxiety meds which was unheard of for me. I used to have to at least have them in my purse for intense fear of a panic attack happening and being without them.
I don’t believe any one thing changed me but I think food was the biggest factor. I now eat Paleo because I grabitated towards eating what I would imagine our ancestors ate, then found out there’s a name for eating this way. I would love to figure out which came first: the exercise or the food, maybe it was sleep (I started to naturally fall asleep at 11 and wake at 7). I don’t know what the magic ticket was!
This was not a placebo effect for Christina and I know that by personal experience. It’s so important to address all of the things she addressed in her life.
Sorry I lied, this wasn’t short.
It is an absolute pleasure having you at CF Austin! I had no idea you were struggling with this. What an amazing story. You are an inspiration to everyone in the gym and just keep getting stronger every day. I would say you are getting faster, but I don’t think that is possible! Congrats!