How Can Moringa Help You Manage Anxiety?
Dhow's pure moringa powder carries Tryptophan, an amino acid that contributes toward "mood regulation, anxiety & happiness."
“Ignorance is not always bliss” …Always true when it comes to our health & especially mental health. Isn’t it quite normal for us to talk about diabetes, hypertension, arthritis & even malignancy but why do we shy away from discussing Mental health?
Even in today’s so-called evolved world, it’s still taboo to discuss mental health which is not so healthy, after all. With changing times, work pressures, and societal pressures it’s become quite common even among youngsters.
The gradients may change but it could just start as a simple anxiety symptom which could progress to panic attacks & scale up if interventions are not taken. This can be a very debilitating disorder where everything seems calm & ok unlike other diseases which have pronounced physical symptoms. It affects an individuals personal & professional life bringing it to almost a standstill.
I recently came across a beautiful description by Scott Stossell in My age of Anxiety “The truth is that anxiety is at once a function of biology & philosophy, body & mind, instinct & reason, personality & culture. Even as anxiety is experienced at spiritual & psychological levels, it is scientifically measurable at the molecular level & the physiological level. It is produced by nature and it is produced by nurture. It’s a physiological phenomenon & a sociological phenomenon. In computer terms, it’s both a hardware problem (I’m wired badly) & a software problem (I run faulty logic programs that make me think anxious thoughts).
Reading this quite intense statement, I can almost hear a few of you thinking aloud that “Ignorance is bliss”! What drew me to this was the point about anxiety being produced by nature & at the same time being produced by NURTURE! Mull over it for a few minutes & you would realize how pertinent it is to most of our problems imagined or otherwise! How we nurture our destructive thoughts!
Let me try to make this a little simpler. We all experience anxiety; it is a natural human state & a vital part of our life. Medical books tell us that anxiety helps us to identify & respond to danger in ‘Fight or Flight ‘mode. It can motivate us to deal with difficult challenging situations in life. It’s even proved that the ‘right ‘amount of anxiety can help us perform better & stimulate action & creativity. However, what is the ‘right’ amount, is open to debate!
But there is another side to anxiety. Persistent anxiety causes real emotional distress & can lead to us becoming unwell & at worst developing anxiety disorders such as panic attacks, phobias & obsessional behaviors. Anxiety at these levels can be extremely distressing & have a debilitating impact on our lives which impacts both our physical as well as our mental health. So much so that today’s age is being dubbed the ‘The age of anxiety’. Statistics reveal that almost 1 in 5 people feel anxious ‘nearly all the time’ or ‘most of the time’. This keeps increasing with the social media pretense of maintaining a façade of the perfect life.
The Avatars that one has to maintain on social media are today being touted as one of the biggest contributors to anxiety! Wanting to match the other person's wealth, happiness, social connections & the list is endless!
Even though Anxiety is one of the most common health problems it is among the most under reported, under diagnosed & under treated problems because nobody wants to discuss it. It’s about time we challenge the stigma that still gets in our way of reaching out for help & support when our levels of anxiety become a real problem. We need to understand & engage with anxiety better, recognizing it when it’s calling out for attention & ensuring that we have strategies & mechanisms to cope with it.
It would be a boon to the society at large if we learnt to identify these symptoms in our circle among our friends & peers. If we could identify the red flags at the right time & make more people ‘Anxiety aware’, it would become possible to arrest the debilitating effects of anxiety. Always keep in mind that taking a medical opinion is important when you feel overwhelmed with your anxiety symptoms & the discussions that we are having are more of general anxiety.
Let me share with you a smart framework on how to manage Anxiety in your day-to-day affairs:
- Learn to identify your anxiety, especially how it manifests itself & how that makes you feel (Do you have a meeting with your seniors?)
- Taking action to manage it (it’s like pre-planning what you would do when that feeling arises)
- Smart decisions (Accepting that you are feeling anxious rather than negating it & go through the second step)
- Build a support infrastructure (this could be as simple as having a good friend whom you could have a small chat with to share how you are feeling. Words have the greatest power to soothe than any medication)
Today medical science has many pills to help you calm your nerves, to make you feel delirious with joy in a few minutes (if various advertisements are to be believed) & feel confident to face the world. These are effective but come at a cost in terms of the side effects & at times addiction to it as well. Hence finding an alternative safer natural source which can give you the benefits minus the side effects seem too good to be true, isn’t it?
Nature has always been extremely kind to us but we are too enamored with ourselves to notice the abundance that she blesses us with.
Moringa Oleifera is one such blessing. It’s a superfood which can be incorporated into your daily diet that can insulate you from a host of disorders, of which anxiety & depression are just 2 of them.
Moringa Oleifera leaves are one of the richest natural sources of Iron. It contains all 9 essential amino acids, 40 different antioxidants, 36 anti-inflammatories & 92 phytonutrients. It’s like having a nutrient rich power packed meal sufficient to help take you through your day with absolute joy & vigor.
The secret is Tryptophan, which is one of the most abundant amino acids in Moringa powder. Tryptophan is needed by your body to help synthesize protein. Sadly, our body cannot produce tryptophan, hence it has to be obtained from our diet. Tryptophan helps to produce serotonin & niacin. Serotonin is a very important neurotransmitter needed for mood regulation, anxiety & happiness. In most of the people diagnosed with major depressive disorders, serotonin levels are found to be low.
There is more than just serotonin, Moringa also contains Vitamins B1, B2, B6. Vitamin B6 is particularly known for its role in energy & mood elevation as it helps the body synthesize not just serotonin but also dopamine & GABA. Innumerable scientific studies worldwide have irrefutably proved that a B6 deficiency is linked to chronic fatigue, depression & many such mood disorders.
Having a daily dose of Moringa will ensure that your body maintains the perfect dose of this very important Vitamin.
Incorporate Moringa into your daily diet plan & safeguard yourself from anxiety, fatigue & depression.
Not sure how to use our Organic Moringa?
Check out these delicious recipes for ideas to add Moringa into some easy meals or treats. Or you can enjoy the benefits of this incredible food without the taste and at your convenience, just take our Organic Moringa Capsules!
Dhow X Dr Priya Cholayil
A pharmacy graduate with expertise in Alternative medicine. Having spent 25 years in the pharmaceutical industry now finding answers/solutions to various health conditions in alternative medicine. Investing time & thought into studying Superfoods with an MD in alternative medicine specializing in Dietetics & Nutrition.
