I dig my thumbnail into my higher proper thigh for distraction, feigning normalcy within the salon chair. I am strolling a psychological tightrope above a staggering canyon of tension, which threatens to grip my ankles and drag me down complete. “Only a trim please,” I say by means of shallow breaths, sustaining a poker face regardless of interior chaos. Mid-haircut, I am on the point of having a panic assault—till I keep in mind the banana I’ve stashed in my bag for at any time when nervousness strikes.
That’s proper: For nicely over a yr, throughout one of many worst bouts of tension I’ve ever skilled, my protection was a tropical fruit. I began carrying a banana with me in every single place after a determined Google search in mid-2021 revealed that the fruit may assist alleviate nervousness. Sure, I’m nicely conscious of how ridiculous which will sound, and on the time, I used to be skeptical, too. However I used to be additionally right down to strive something to cease having panic assaults.
For nicely over a yr, throughout one of many worst bouts of tension I’ve ever skilled, my protection was a tropical fruit.
For many of my life, nervousness has been like just a little child clinging to my decrease leg—typically sleepy and tame, mendacity dormant; different instances, roaring and disruptive, making an attempt to tug me down arduous in the midst of the room for all to see. Regardless of having extra run-ins with nervousness than I care to recount, I’ve at all times been decided to maneuver by means of it naturally, even when that is meant making an attempt bizarre issues like protecting a banana in my bag 24/7. Admittedly, it wasn’t probably the most handy factor to maintain readily available. However a lot to my shock, it labored wonders.
Specialists In This Article
- Lena Elkhatib, LMFT, CST, relationship and intercourse therapist and founding father of Avid Intimacy, in Chicago
- Romane Guerot, RDN, registered dietitian, sport nutritionist, and way of life coach at vitamin app Foodvisor
- Sara Chatfield, MPH, RDN, registered dietitian nutritionist and vitamin knowledgeable at Healthcanal
- Shari Botwin, LCSW, therapist with a specialization in trauma, abuse, consuming problems, nervousness, and melancholy
Minutes after I demolished the aforementioned banana in entrance of your complete salon, I felt my shoulders calm down. I reveled in a much-needed deep breath. It was like waking up from a foul dream. As soon as once more protected inside my physique, I hoped I may maintain onto this sense, a want I had on most days throughout this era of my life.
The fast soothing impact of the banana was borderline unfathomable—a lot so, I had a sense it couldn’t simply be the results of the fruit’s biochemistry (extra on that under). If it was that straightforward to knock out a panic assault with a bit of fruit, everybody would toss out their nervousness drugs and begin making smoothies as an alternative. It seems my aid could have been as a lot a product of the banana’s dietary content material because it was the calming energy of merely realizing I had one with me, able to wield it at any time when needed.
Why consuming bananas could assist to restrict nervousness
Whereas it could sound far-fetched, there’s some science to assist the truth that bananas may also help with nervousness. For starters, you may recall listening to that bananas are wealthy in potassium, which has given the fruit its popularity as an answer for muscle cramps: Potassium is a star with regards to facilitating muscle contractions and wholesome communication between muscle tissues and nerves. However it could possibly even have a helpful impact on the cardiovascular system which will assist psychological well being.
“While you really feel anxious, you might have an excessive amount of of a hormone known as adrenaline [coursing through your body], which makes your coronary heart race and your thoughts really feel jumpy,” says registered dietitian nutritionist Romane Guerot, RDN. “Potassium can hold adrenaline in examine.”
Certainly, analysis exhibits that potassium could act as a pure beta-blocker, decreasing blood strain by easing stress within the blood-vessel partitions and blocking such blood-pressure-raising hormones as adrenaline. That is a flowery approach of claiming, “potassium helps your coronary heart beat steadily and your muscle tissues work correctly, together with those concerned within the nervousness response,” says Guerot.
Over time, the supportive connection between potassium and coronary heart well being could have a ripple impact on psychological well being. A 2023 examine of greater than 500 folks in China discovered that low potassium ranges correlated with larger ranges of tension and melancholy, suggesting grounds for growing potassium consumption. And on condition that bananas are wealthy in potassium (a medium one accommodates about 400 mg), consuming them extra typically may assist to maintain nervousness ranges at bay.
In response to registered dietitian nutritionist Sara Chatfield, MPH, RDN, it’s not simply the potassium that would give bananas their anti-anxiety impact, both. “Bananas are additionally excessive in tryptophan, an important amino acid and serotonin precursor [meaning that it’s a building block of the happiness neurotransmitter], which can assist to ease stress and nervousness,” she says.
Uncovering this wealth of analysis made me really feel at the very least 10 p.c extra regular for carrying a banana round as a mental-health device—and but, it is price noting that none of those research level to the fast results of consuming a banana on a panic assault. However as psychology would have it, even simply believing within the energy of my emotional assist banana could have been sufficient to show it right into a bonafide nervousness answer.
How the placebo impact can play a task in managing nervousness
Throughout the time frame when a banana accompanied me in every single place—to work, on errands, and to social plans—I felt extra comfortable simply realizing I had it inside attain. Typically, I would not even eat it (except I truly acquired hungry). Many instances, I did use my tropical device to remain calm. However no matter consumption, I got here to consider I would be alright so long as I may down a banana earlier than a panic assault downed me.
In drugs, that is known as the placebo impact: a phenomenon that happens when believing within the efficacy of a treatment makes us really feel higher, even when that treatment lacks any physiological impression. In response to therapist Shari Botwin, LCSW, the placebo impact can work wonders with regards to mitigating nervousness. “Once we take concrete steps to handle feelings that really feel out of our management, it provides our nervousness much less energy, and it turns into much less consuming,” she says. In my case, the concrete step of packing a banana could have had that impact no matter whether or not I ate it.
“Once we take concrete steps to handle feelings that really feel out of our management, it provides our nervousness much less energy, and it turns into much less consuming.” —Shari Botwin, LCSW, therapist
There’s additionally a sure sense of psychological security that may include routine and predictability. “Carrying round a banana, or a ‘good-luck allure,’ can serve the aim of interrupting the nervousness spiral and offering the sensation of being protected,” says therapist Lena Elkhatib, LMFT, CST. “That permits nervousness to take a step again and for optimistic outcomes to have their probability to be realized.” And the extra optimistic outcomes happen, “the extra knowledge our mind has that optimistic outcomes are a risk, serving to shield towards future nervousness,” she provides.
Meaning every time I ate a banana and had a optimistic consequence, my mind strengthened the affiliation between the 2, finally main me to really feel much less anxious simply carrying a banana in tow. It goes to indicate how impactful the mind-body connection may be—one thing which may be useful for us all to recollect when signs of a panic assault come up. On the finish of the day, we’re (and at all times can be) those in management.
Discovering an nervousness answer that works for you
Do not get me mistaken: If you happen to’re taking treatment for nervousness, do not ditch it for a bunch of bananas. (What works for one particular person isn’t essentially what’s going to work for the following.) And in case your nervousness is protecting you from doing the belongings you want and wish to do, it’s essential to see a licensed psychological well being skilled for assist quite than counting on methods for self-soothing.
That stated, in case you’re seeking to discover other ways to assist your self within the face of tension, listed here are a pair different issues to contemplate:
Respiratory workouts
Analysis has proven that deep respiration can shut down the bodily signs of tension. It would take some observe to get the rhythm down, however I can attest: This actually may also help. Strive an app like Breathe+ to get began with 4-7-8 respiration, a way that entails a four-count inhale, seven-count maintain, and eight-count exhale.
Participating all 5 senses
If you happen to assume you are inching near a panic assault, strive the 5-4-3-2-1 technique to close it down: Give attention to 5 issues you’ll be able to see, 4 issues you’ll be able to contact, three issues you’ll be able to hear, two issues you’ll be able to scent, and one factor you’ll be able to style. (Banana, anybody?) The truth is, all these instances I ate a banana to outsmart nervousness “could have additionally served the aim of bringing you again to your 5 senses,” says Elkhatib. “The sensory course of may have been part of your nervous system enjoyable.”
Effectively+Good articles reference scientific, dependable, current, sturdy research to again up the data we share. You’ll be able to belief us alongside your wellness journey.
- Filippini, Tommaso et al. “Potassium Consumption and Blood Strain: A Dose-Response Meta-Evaluation of Randomized Managed Trials.” Journal of the American Coronary heart Affiliation vol. 9,12 (2020): e015719. doi:10.1161/JAHA.119.015719
- Wu, Zihao et al. “Decrease 24-h urinary potassium excretion is related to larger prevalent melancholy and nervousness standing typically inhabitants.” Mind and conduct vol. 13,4 (2023): e2842. doi:10.1002/brb3.2842
- Richard, Daybreak M et al. “L-Tryptophan: Fundamental Metabolic Capabilities, Behavioral Analysis and Therapeutic Indications.” Worldwide journal of tryptophan analysis : IJTR vol. 2 (2009): 45-60. doi:10.4137/ijtr.s2129
- Jenkins, Trisha A et al. “Affect of Tryptophan and Serotonin on Temper and Cognition with a Potential Function of the Intestine-Mind Axis.” Vitamins vol. 8,1 56. 20 Jan. 2016, doi:10.3390/nu8010056