Can Food Trigger Anxiety? Caffeine and Alcohol Are the Clear Cases

You had a coffee, your heart started thumping, and now you’re wondering whether something in your cup, or your lunch, is behind the panic. That’s a very ordinary thing to wonder, and it’s worth saying first that you’re not imagining how you feel. This is general information, not medical advice, and it’s okay to read it slowly.

Here’s the honest picture. Two things have good support as anxiety triggers for many people: caffeine and alcohol. A few other things can feel like anxiety without being anxiety. Beyond that, the long lists you’ll see online of foods that “cause panic attacks” run well ahead of the evidence, and cutting out whole food groups on the strength of them can do more harm than good.

Caffeine: the clearest case

Caffeine is a stimulant. It can make your heart beat faster, leave you jittery and make it harder to settle, and those sensations overlap a great deal with anxiety. For someone who’s already prone to worry, or who has panic attacks, it can tip things over. Healthdirect lists cutting down on caffeine among the self-care steps for anxiety.

Caffeine isn’t only in coffee. Tea, cola, energy drinks, some pre-workout powders and chocolate all contain it, in different amounts. Energy drinks are worth a particular look because they pack stimulants into a single can that’s easy to drink quickly.

If you think caffeine might be affecting you, you might find it easier to cut back gradually rather than stopping overnight. Stopping suddenly can bring headaches and tiredness that make you feel worse, and then it’s hard to tell what’s what. A smaller cup, a half-caffeine blend or swapping the afternoon coffee for herbal tea are all gentle first steps.

Alcohol: calm first, worse later

Alcohol can feel relaxing in the moment, and that’s why so many people reach for it when they’re tense. The trouble is what happens afterwards. Beyond Blue notes that alcohol can make anxiety worse as it wears off, and that regular use can get in the way of managing anxiety over the longer term. Poor sleep after drinking is part of that, and it’s the kind of thing that can leave you jumpy the next day.

If you’ve noticed a wave of dread the morning after a night out, that’s a common experience and worth taking seriously. Cutting back, or having some alcohol-free days, is a reasonable thing to try and see how you feel.

Things that can feel like anxiety

Some foods and eating habits don’t cause anxiety but can produce sensations that feel just like it.

• Skipping meals or going a long time without eating. Low blood sugar can bring on shakiness, sweating and a racing heart, and those are easy to read as panic. Regular meals with some protein and fibre are a sensible habit anyway.
• Large amounts of sugar followed by a dip. Some people notice a crash after a very sugary snack and feel unsteady or irritable. That’s a different thing from sugar causing an anxiety disorder, but it can add to how you feel.
• Dehydration. Not drinking enough can leave you light-headed and tired.

None of these is a reason to fear food. They’re reasons to eat regularly and to notice patterns.

The claims that run ahead of the evidence

A lot of online lists name additives, artificial sweeteners, gluten, dairy, salty foods, aged cheese, spicy food and fried food as causes of anxiety and panic. Here’s a fair reading: some people do report that particular foods leave them feeling unwell, and it’s reasonable to take that seriously. But the research isn’t strong enough to say that these foods cause anxiety in the general population, and the lists rarely say which claims are well supported and which are guesses.

Coeliac disease and true food intolerances are real, diagnosed conditions, and they can affect how a person feels in many ways. If you suspect one, see your GP and get tested before you remove anything from your diet. Cutting out gluten or dairy without a diagnosis can make a test unreliable, and removing whole food groups can leave gaps in your nutrition. An Accredited Practising Dietitian, through Dietitians Australia, can help you work through it safely.

A simple way to find your own pattern

Rather than cutting out a dozen things at once, try keeping a plain note for a couple of weeks. Write down what you ate and drank, roughly when, and how you felt in the hours afterwards, including your sleep. You’re not trying to prove anything. You’re looking for a pattern that’s yours.

Then change one thing at a time. If cutting back on coffee helps, you’ve learned something useful. If nothing seems to change, that’s useful too, because it means food probably isn’t the main thing, and you can stop worrying about it.

When to talk to your GP

Panic attacks can feel frightening, and some of the sensations, such as chest tightness, a pounding heart and breathlessness, can also be signs of a medical problem. If you’ve never had these symptoms checked, or they come with chest pain, fainting or anything that worries you, see a doctor promptly. In an emergency, call 000.

If you’re feeling anxious or panicky often, a food change alone is unlikely to be the answer, and that’s okay. Effective help exists, including talking therapies and, where it’s right for you, medication. Our post on the signs of common mental health conditions and when to seek help is a gentle place to begin, and Beyond Blue has a support service you can contact any time. If you’re also looking at how your phone habits affect your mood, we’ve written about a digital detox that doesn't mean switching everything off.

One small thing for this week

A food note and a smaller coffee are small, kind things you can do for yourself this week. Start with one, let it be enough for now, and bring the note along when you see your GP, because it gives you both something real to talk about.

Sources: Beyond Blue, Alcohol and mental health (https://www.beyondblue.org.au/mental-health/alcohol-and-mental-health); Beyond Blue, Get support (https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support); Healthdirect Australia, Anxiety (https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/anxiety); Dietitians Australia, Find an Accredited Practising Dietitian (https://member.dietitiansaustralia.org.au/faapd)