CHICAGO — With the new year comes a lot of anxiety for some, but WGN News Now is exploring ways you can ease your anxiety by simply tweaking what you eat.
Liana Werner-Gray, a certified nutritionist, natural food chef, TV host, and author of multiple best-selling books shares anxiogenic foods you can include in your diet to ease your stress.
Werner-Gray says refined sugars are a proven anxiogenic and can cause anxiety when consumed. Trans fats are another anxiogenic food she says are linked to depression and anxiety.
Now, as for what you should look to add to your meals, Werner-Gray says chickpeas are packed with magnesium, fiber and protein. Magnesium speeds message transmission in your brain and helps relax blood vessels, allowing more blood to feed your brain
She says another great swap would be lentils which are a great source of polyphenol compounds, plus they possess anxi-oxidant, anti-obesity, anti-hyperlipidemic and anti-inflammatory properties.
In the video above Werner-Gray explains what newer terms like anti-anxiolytic foods and plant-based foods means. She also shares some of her favorite foods, products, healthy swaps and snacks.
Chocolate Cookie Dough Cups recipe
Total time: 20 mins/makes 12 cups
Ingredients:
- 1 bag Bhu Chocolate Chips
- 12 tbsps of Bhu Keto Protein Cookie Dough in a Jar – Chocolate Chip
Instructions:
- On plate, arrange 12 mini paper muffin tin liners.
- In a saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate until liquefied, about 2 minutes.
- Spoon chocolate into each cup to fill the bottom, top with cookie dough, then cover with more melted chocolate.
- Refrigerate 20 minutes until chocolate hardens.