Anxiety is a feeling where an individual believes that their brain is betraying them.
Now researchers are wondering whether some of that betrayal is due to a missing ingredient or nutrient in a regular diet.
A new analysis from UC Davis Health suggests that people with certain anxiety disorders tend to have lower levels of choline, an essential nutrient that helps the brain regulate mood, memory and cellular health.
Foods such as eggs, fish, chicken, beef and soybeans are all rich sources of choline.
The study collected data from 25 previous brain imaging studies, comparing 370 people with anxiety disorders to 342 people without anxiety disorders.
Using a non-invasive MRI technique that measures brain chemicals, the researchers found that participants with anxiety showed an 8 percent drop in choline levels in brain regions responsible for emotional regulation and cognitive control.
Speak with Fox News Digital, Dr. Richard Maddock, senior author of the study and research professor at the University of California, Davis, said: “An 8 percent reduction doesn’t sound like much, but in the brain it is significant.”
The problem with choline is that your brain uses a lot of it to function normally and your body only produces a small amount, meaning most of it has to come from food, and research shows that many Americans are deficient, whether they have anxiety or not.
Maddock and his team suspect that the connection also has to do with chronic stress and not so much with a simple nutrient deficiency.
Anxiety disorders involve long-term stress responses that increase the brain’s metabolic workload, which over time can reduce choline levels in areas that regulate threat and emotion.
The researchers are careful not to discuss this finding openly because the research does not show that low choline levels cause anxiety, nor does it suggest that people should start taking supplements.
