Anxiety disorders affect millions of adults each year, and emerging evidence suggests that diet influences symptoms. Oxidative stress likely contributes to anxiety, but antioxidants may help counteract its effects. A recent study found that people with severe anxiety consumed fewer antioxidants than those without anxiety and that increasing antioxidant intake substantially reduced anxiety symptoms.

Researchers first compared the daily antioxidant intake of adults with and without severe anxiety. Then, they carried out an interventional study, providing 40 adults with severe anxiety with an antioxidant-rich beverage daily for six weeks to assess changes in anxiety levels. The beverage contained 15 grams of green tea (containing polyphenols and tannins), 3 grams of cinnamon powder (containing cinnamaldehyde and proanthocyanidins), and three lemon slices (containing flavonoids and vitamin C).

They found that people with severe anxiety had considerably lower daily antioxidant intake than those without. However, after six weeks of higher antioxidant intake, participants experienced a substantial reduction in their anxiety levels.

This was a small study, but its findings suggest that dietary antioxidants play a role in managing anxiety, potentially offering a simple, nutrition-based lifestyle approach to reducing anxiety symptoms. Learn about other lifestyle strategies for managing anxiety in Aliquot #8: Lifestyle interventions for depression and anxiety.