# curing myself of social anxiety



## areagan (Jul 8, 2008)

I am currently working on curing myself of social anxiety. The strategy that I am using all has to do with my diet. So far I have eliminated all dairy, meat and wheat from my diet and I have noticed improvement. The next step I will take is to completly eliminate all added sugar from my diet, which I believe will result in me being cured. My diet consists of TVP (textured vegetable protein), flaxseed, small white beans, frozen asparagus and oranges--that is all I eat. I am also taking two supplements called Focus Smart and Bone Up, and the only thing I drink is water. I believe that as long as I stay on this diet for one entire month I will be cured. However, I plan on staying on this diet for the rest of my life.


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## kikachuck (Nov 10, 2003)

I might cure you (I'm not sure how), but I can't imagine it being very healthy in the long term. It would get pretty boring too.


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## Beggiatoa (Dec 25, 2004)

I concur with the boring...but it sounds pretty close to the paleolithic diet, which is as healthy as you can get.

http://www.paleodiet.com/

When you say no meat you mean no red meat of basically no animal protein all together? Vegan diets cause many types of deficiencies and that will add on to your problems.

Are you supplementing with anything???


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## areagan (Jul 8, 2008)

Beggiatoa said:


> I concur with the boring...but it sounds pretty close to the paleolithic diet, which is as healthy as you can get.
> 
> http://www.paleodiet.com/
> 
> ...


I do not eat any animal biproducts at all. I take two supplements called Focus Smart and Bone Up.


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## kikachuck (Nov 10, 2003)

Beggiatoa said:


> I concur with the boring...but it sounds pretty close to the paleolithic diet, which is as healthy as you can get.


If it was paloelithic, I'd agree with you, but with no meat, dairy or sugar it doesn't sound like that is what it is at all.


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## striker (Jun 20, 2008)

I have been doing that for the last couple of years.. !!! 
It reduces my anxiety. But I have to do other things like yoga etc to keep it down completely.
Food allergies ---> social anxiety, Fatigue
For me my main problem is Food allergies. Caused cause my digestion is not strong. 
So I am working on my digestion.


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## areagan (Jul 8, 2008)

kikachuck said:


> Beggiatoa said:
> 
> 
> > I concur with the boring...but it sounds pretty close to the paleolithic diet, which is as healthy as you can get.
> ...


If a paleolithic diet contains dairy, meat and sugar, then the diet that I am on is much healthier than a paleolithic diet.


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## julie cooper (Jul 3, 2008)

areagan said:


> I am currently working on curing myself of social anxiety. The strategy that I am using all has to do with my diet. So far I have eliminated all dairy, meat and wheat from my diet and I have noticed improvement. The next step I will take is to completly eliminate all added sugar from my diet, which I believe will result in me being cured. My diet consists of TVP (textured vegetable protein), flaxseed, small white beans, frozen asparagus and oranges--that is all I eat. I am also taking two supplements called Focus Smart and Bone Up, and the only thing I drink is water. I believe that as long as I stay on this diet for one entire month I will be cured. However, I plan on staying on this diet for the rest of my life.


please dont misunderstand what im about to say as me being mean to you or having a go. trust me thats not what im doing. im just trying to tell you straight:

HELLO, reality check. please come back down to earth.

you CANNOT, i repeat CANNOT cure social anxiety in one month. and more importantly you CANNOT cure social anxiety by changing your diet.

ive created a fool proof theraputic step by step treatment plan to overcoming social anxiety. its so powerful and i simply have never come across anything better than it. it is the holy grail for curing social anxiety.
im using the holy grail and guess what deadline ive gave myself for curing social anxiety ?

3 YEARS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

its like someone getting the best fitness plan on eath, diet, training , the works and saying im going to transform my body in 12 weeks. thats a realistic goal. but this this deluded person comes along and says im gonna work out once a week and eat healthy once a week and ill have completely transformed my body in 6 weeks. its insane, absolutely insane.

i cannot beleive that you think this is possible . what makes u think this way ?

diet plays a part in treating social anxiety. if eat poorly and let urself go it deffinately makes u feel anxious and if you do the reverse it definately makes u feel good but its no were near enough to cure SA. your diet and exercise plan should play about 10%, not 100%, in your overall treatment plan for SA.

to overcome SA you have to :

1) change your thoughts
2) change your actions

and this takes a hell of a lot of work and more importabtly a hell of a lot of TIME.

consider this analogy :

to transform your body you need 2 things - diet and exercise. even if you change your diet and dont exercise you cant transform your body. you might feel healthier and u may lose a bit of weight but your body shape wont change because if transforming your body was as simply as eating the right foods then everyone would look like supermodels.
the reason we dont all have perfect bodies is cos transforming your body takes work and you have to earn it. doing the exercise is were you EARN the transformation cos it takes hard work - nothing is for free.

changing your thoughts in order to change your anxiety is the eqivilent to changing your diet in order to transform your body - its ESSENTIAL but its NOT enough on its own. combing the exercise to the diet in order to transform your body is the eqivilent to taking action to cure SA - its essential and its how you earn the change.

if you are just changing your diet to cure SA then u are in for a shock when you reach that 4 week deadline cos u'll still have SA. were is the work youve put in to change your behaviour, take action and face your fears ? were is the change in your thoughts ?

when transforming your body diet and exercise plays 90% in the transformation. other little things will make up the 10% that contridute to the overall transformation. these other things will include - adequate rest etc....

changing thinking patterns and taking action plays 90% in the process of curing social anxiety . the other 90% includes things like looking after yourself with diet and exercise etc....

getting adequate rest will never magically transform your body just as changing your diet will never cure social anxiety

i really hope that you understand what im trying to say here cos you relly are in for a rude awakening once youve reached that 4 week deadline. you need to open your eyes, i dont know who has gave you this advise but it is really bad advise trust me

again i wasnt trying to be mean or anything, i just really want you to get this message cos you really do need it.


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## striker (Jun 20, 2008)

julie cooper said:


> to overcome SA you have to :
> 1) change your thoughts
> 2) change your actions


From what I found Diet plays a bigger role than imagined cause it directly effects the nervous system.
The health of the nervous system effects the thought patterns we have. 
So its a chicken & egg situation. Which came first?
I have seen plenty of my friends who have low self esteem doing fine when it comes to social situations. How do they do it.
I was fine till I was 18. I was having equal or lesser Self esteem. What changed was my state of health. 
Even now, when I can subdue my nervous energy with lots of heat, my social anxiety vanishes.

I worked on the above thought pattern assumption for the last few years then I realized changing thoughts alone won't cure it. It will for some people whose nervous systems are slightly weaker than the average. For others, who are much weaker, they need to make their nervous systems stronger.


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## Conquistador (Sep 28, 2006)

Funny i always thought dairy was good for you. Milk n cheese though, not ice cream or chocolate milk or nothing like that.


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## areagan (Jul 8, 2008)

Conquistador said:


> Funny i always thought dairy was good for you. Milk n cheese though, not ice cream or chocolate milk or nothing like that.


Dairy is bad. If you want to get calcium and vitamin D take a good supplement like Bone Up. It's by Jarrow Formulas.


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## julie cooper (Jul 3, 2008)

striker said:


> julie cooper said:
> 
> 
> > to overcome SA you have to :
> ...


diet plays a role in curing social anxiety but its only a small role compared to actions and thoughts.

yes being healthy makes you feel good and yes your physcial state effects thoughts too but honestly diet is not the answer, its just part of the overall treatment

if you want to cure ANY problem, ANY probelm what so ever you MUST deal with the root cause of the problem. diet is not the casue of SA, thoughts are


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## areagan (Jul 8, 2008)

julie cooper said:


> striker said:
> 
> 
> > [quote="julie cooper":bom2dst0]
> ...


diet plays a role in curing social anxiety but its only a small role compared to actions and thoughts.

yes being healthy makes you feel good and yes your physcial state effects thoughts too but honestly diet is not the answer, its just part of the overall treatment

if you want to cure ANY problem, ANY probelm what so ever you MUST deal with the root cause of the problem. diet is not the casue of SA, thoughts are[/quote:bom2dst0]

I already did change my thoughts and I found that the more my thoughts changed, the more my diet changed also.


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## zzr999 (Sep 12, 2008)

Why is dairy bad? I guess if you are lactose intolerant or suffer from a dairy allergy, it could be bad. But what is inherently "bad" about consuming cheese, milk, and eggs?


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## areagan (Jul 8, 2008)

zzr999 said:


> Why is dairy bad? I guess if you are lactose intolerant or suffer from a dairy allergy, it could be bad. But what is inherently "bad" about consuming cheese, milk, and eggs?


I have a theory that consuming dairy, meat, wheat and sugar contributes to the negative symptoms of social anxiety. I have not consumed any dairy, meat or wheat for about 5 weeks straight now and I have not consumed any sugar at all for almost 4 weeks straight; I feel a lot less disabled than I did when I would consume those foods. My driving has improved, along with a whole lot of other situations. I am not as passive as I was when I did consume dairy, meat, wheat and sugar.


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## quiet_dove (Sep 17, 2008)

areagan said:


> zzr999 said:
> 
> 
> > Why is dairy bad? I guess if you are lactose intolerant or suffer from a dairy allergy, it could be bad. But what is inherently "bad" about consuming cheese, milk, and eggs?
> ...


Interesting. Do you happen to know of any scientific studies that could confirm that dairy, meat, wheat, and sugar all contribute to the negative symptoms of social anxiety? I'm just wondering whether yours is an isolated case or whether this diet will definitely benefit everyone else out there with social anxiety.


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## areagan (Jul 8, 2008)

quiet_dove said:


> areagan said:
> 
> 
> > zzr999 said:
> ...


It would be interesting to actually see if the diet that I am currently on right now does work on everyone. Well, all I know right now is that it definitely works on me. Even if it does not work on everyone, there is still no harm in trying it.


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## stealyourface722 (Aug 31, 2008)

have fun with that!!
anyways sugar is responsible for release of seretonin


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## areagan (Jul 8, 2008)

stealyourface722 said:


> have fun with that!!
> anyways sugar is responsible for release of seretonin


Sugar is absolute crap; unless it is the natural sugar that is already present in fruits and vegetables.


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## Zen Mechanics (Aug 3, 2007)

sugar is sugar man.. whether it comes from an apple or a jelly bean, same difference, and it's not healthy at all to cut it all out of your diet cos you'll become hypo-glycemic. also, supplements are called supplements for a reason! they're meant to "supplement" your diet, not form the basis of it! you should be trying to get the majority of your minerals and vitamins from healthy, whole food ie meats and dairy products etc, not from a bunch of pills!


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## areagan (Jul 8, 2008)

Zen Mechanics said:


> sugar is sugar man.. whether it comes from an apple or a jelly bean, same difference, and it's not healthy at all to cut it all out of your diet cos you'll become hypo-glycemic. also, supplements are called supplements for a reason! they're meant to "supplement" your diet, not form the basis of it! you should be trying to get the majority of your minerals and vitamins from healthy, whole food ie meats and dairy products etc, not from a bunch of pills!


The sugar in a jelly bean and the sugar in an apple are *NOT* the same thing. It is very healthy to cut out all added or refined sugar from the diet. However, one should keep the natural sugar sources such as vegetables, which contain small amounts of naturally occurring sugar.

Also, eating meat and dairy products is not healthy. Furthermore, if everyone switched over to a vegan diet, meaning no animal biproducts at all, we could easily produce 20 times more food than we are producing now and thus solve world hunger. The reason for this is that it takes 20 times more land to raise cattle than it does to grow crops. Also, all of the grains and water that people are using to feed and raise cattle could be used to grow crops instead. Thus, for every one pound of beef we could produce about 20 pounds of grain/crops.


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## Zen Mechanics (Aug 3, 2007)

man it's impossible to argue with you when you seem to think stuff like 'meat and diary products are unhealthy' is true despite the amount of people telling you otherwise. have you ever actually talked to a proper nutritionist?


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## areagan (Jul 8, 2008)

Zen Mechanics said:


> man it's impossible to argue with you when you seem to think stuff like 'meat and diary products are unhealthy' is true despite the amount of people telling you otherwise. have you ever actually talked to a proper nutritionist?


Over 5 weeks ago, I removed all dairy, meat and wheat from my diet and after about a week of not consuming any of these, I noticed an improvement. Then I decided to also remove all sugar completely from my diet, and after about another week of not consuming sugar I noticed an even bigger improvement. Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that eating these foods causes social anxiety to be worse, which is why when people tell me to eat them I get angry because they are basically telling me to go backwards and make my social anxiety worse.

I have talked to a dietician before and she seemed to have no idea what she was talking about; she basically spouted out b.s. However, as far as nutrionists go, I have never actually talked to a good, knowledgeable, nutritionist.


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## CallaLily (Oct 1, 2008)

I am trying to cut out sugar too & I don't know how you can stick to it, Congrats!! I have read several book on why sugar is bad for you :Sugar Blues & Potatoes not Prozac are 2 of them.


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## Beggiatoa (Dec 25, 2004)

Dairy is not bad. TOO much dairy is a problem and everything has either cheese or milk or some other dairy derivative. Dairy has lots of calcium. Calcium is not bad, we need calcium. However, TOO much calcium is bad. When your body has too much calcium (and not enough magnesium), it gets deposited in joints (causing arthritis) and soft tissue. I've seen CT scans where parts of people brain's are calcified. They call this physiological calcification to imply it's a natural phenomenon...ARE YOU KIDDING ME! LOL 

You can eventually wash off this excess calcium by avoiding dairy for a while and taking in enough magnesium. Also, too much calcium in your body makes you anxious and irritable.

Another reason dairy is bad is that most cows are fed grain diets instead of grazing. This affects the nutritional content of milk. The inject cows with hormones in to increase production. This causes mastitis in cows. Inflammatory mediators and pus gets into the milk. Finally, they inject cows with antibiotics to cure the mastitis. So, the milk we drink has less nutrients, it's pasteurized destroying any beneficial bacteria present (this is what causes lactose intolerance), has pus, hormones and antibiotics....yuck!

I am lactose intolerant but I find that drinking organic, raw, unpasteurized milk from grass fed cows (I buy it a whole foods) gives me no intolerance problems. This kinda milk, in moderation, is good for you.


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## Beggiatoa (Dec 25, 2004)

Also, sugar in garbage. It is absolute garbage!!!

Diabetes type I is an autoimmune disorder. However, Diabetes type II is brought on by a diet high in grain and sugars. Also, type II diabetes did not exist before the advent of refined sugar. There are many theories that also say grains are bad and there are also grain free diets. I've cut out all sugars and grains from my diet. From this alone, I lost weight! 

You do not need sugar to live. None at all. Your body will make glucose from anything you eat, but table sugar, refined sugar, etc. is unnecessary.

He seems to be on the right track about his diet except for the protein issue. You need protein, period. Exclusive vegan diets are unhealthy and create deficiencies of amino acids, B12, choline, zinc and other stuff. I go to Vegan restaurants all the time for the variety of vegetables and options. But I always feel like the meals would be perfect with a little fish or chicken. Why are the restaurant options either totally vegan with no meat or they include meats but have little vegetables? Again, for me the perfect diet would be that of a vegan, but with animal protein.


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## areagan (Jul 8, 2008)

Beggiatoa said:


> Also, sugar in garbage. It is absolute garbage!!!
> 
> Diabetes type I is an autoimmune disorder. However, Diabetes type II is brought on by a diet high in grain and sugars. Also, type II diabetes did not exist before the advent of refined sugar. There are many theories that also say grains are bad and there are also grain free diets. I've cut out all sugars and grains from my diet. From this alone, I lost weight!
> 
> ...


I am getting *plenty* of protein. Legumes are an *excellent* source of protein. My current diet is not lacking anything. I have been on this diet for 40 days straight now and I have seen a *huge* improvement. The only things that I have changed is instead of eating only one vegetable, I am now eating a variety of vegetables, and I am not consuming any fruit.

My current diet includes: raw turnip greens, raw mustard greens, raw alfalfa sprouts, raw spinach, raw fresh basil leaves, TVP (textured vegetable protein), small white beans (cooked), and flaxseed. I also take two different supplements: Bone Up and Focus Smart, mainly for the vitamin B12 and Vitamin D. Also, the only beverage I have been drinking is water--nothing else.

My diet is not lacking any nutrients.


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## sparkations (Nov 26, 2003)

i'm planning to subsist on a diet with the majority of my calories centered around ground flax and lentils. hopefully i'll notice a big improvement as well. 

i'll eat sunflower seeds and peanuts on the side, as well as kale. i have pyroluria, which contributes to my anxiety, so i really need to up my dietary intake of zinc and b6 and fatty acids-all of which are included in large proportions in lentils and ground flax.


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## stardog99 (Mar 22, 2008)

.


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## areagan (Jul 8, 2008)

stardog99 said:


> Is this thread a joke.


This thread is not a joke.


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## tiberius (Feb 9, 2007)

stardog99 said:


> Is this thread a joke.


It's an unintentional joke. But let the guy try. It can't be all bad.


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## areagan (Jul 8, 2008)

tiberius said:


> stardog99 said:
> 
> 
> > Is this thread a joke.
> ...


It is not even an unintentional joke. Changing my diet and making it more restrictive has definitely caused me to improve greatly. I have not had any dairy, meat, wheat or sugar (or anything containing anything artificial, preservatives, additives, etc.) for 47 days now and I pretty much do not have social anxiety at all now.


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## proximo20 (Nov 25, 2006)

areagan said:


> tiberius said:
> 
> 
> > stardog99 said:
> ...


this sounds like the blood type diet for type A. I know you developed it by yourself.

I tried it too, there was an improvement but because I was not getting enough protein I was thinking of fajitas and gyros all the time, but you also overcome this by taking textured vegetable protein.


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## stardog99 (Mar 22, 2008)

.


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## proximo20 (Nov 25, 2006)

stardog99 said:


> But for what price sir, you've pretty much sacrificed being able to live a normal life with such a restrictive diet? How long can you keep it up? Won't you be scared the SA would come right back if you eat a McDonalds or something?
> 
> Self-awareness is the most important thing, if you're no more self-aware then you probably haven't changed your underlying beliefs, and SA will always be lurking around the corner.


Sometimes I think some people here like having SA. I don't know is it a good thing that makes us special.

So eating mcdonalds is part of normal life? It was not so until this century my friend. A farmer until this century pretty much had the same diet except the bone up or other supplements. Meat was too valuable.

I just think he can change his diet plan more like a vegetarian type like eating more corn or stuff like that. I mean not eating 6 times the same stuff.

Adding some fruit also would not hurt but would be very beneficial.


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## areagan (Jul 8, 2008)

stardog99 said:


> But for what price sir, you've pretty much sacrificed being able to live a normal life with such a restrictive diet? How long can you keep it up? Won't you be scared the SA would come right back if you eat a McDonalds or something?
> 
> Self-awareness is the most important thing, if you're no more self-aware then you probably haven't changed your underlying beliefs, and SA will always be lurking around the corner.


I will probably keep up my restrictive diet for the rest of my life easily. I am finding it quite easy to stay on a resrictive diet. I know that I will never eat at any fast food places ever, so that is not an issue. I will also never eat out anywhere, which is also not a problem for me. There are plenty of other things to do besides eating. Eating is not the only form of enjoyment.


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## sas2012solar (Sep 26, 2011)

*hmm*

I have been shy since I was a kid...

I would hide when visitors came over.. maybe im just shy (SA)...

Or maybe it's the genetically modified wheat that is causing neurological symptoms.


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## Wander (Apr 16, 2010)

Wonderful approach!! You are on the right track for sure. I too eliminated gluten products (Wheat) and dairy, as well as all other allergens (eggs, yeast, grains) and felt SO much better. Now I'm moving to a plant based diet too, with no sugar, and I plan to heal myself, Much luck to you. Although I hope that eventually you branch out and eat other vegetables, nuts, seeds, etc, to gain other nutrients other than the slim selection of foods that you mention.


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## march_hare (Jan 18, 2006)

I think it's a very interesting approach and it's a shame that people are making fun of this, because I also believe that diet is implicated in a lot of the common physical and mental health problems that people have (in the developed world) these days.

However is this really healthy in the long term? : (textured vegetable protein), flaxseed, small white beans, frozen asparagus and oranges--that is all I eat. I am also taking two supplements called Focus Smart and Bone Up

You might be missing out on certain nutrients if you are eating such an unvaried diet. What's wrong with other kinds if fruits and vegetables?


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