Just something to think about.

Do you count your calories? If not, maybe you should! (More specifically, just work on keeping a very healthy diet.)

Recently, I've realized that I've not been eating much. In addition, recently, my anxiety has gotten worse and I have to struggle much harder to keep my perspective positive / healthy. I don't know a whole lot about the physiology behind malnutrition and anxiety, but the link definitely exists! I took the time to count my calories, and it looks like I'm getting between 800 and 1500 calories a day, despite being a 200lb 5'10" male with a fairly muscular build (was 220 a few months ago, but like I said... I've not been eating much o_0). If you average that out, that's about 1150 calories per day, about HALF of what I should be eating just to maintain my body weight, and FAAAR below what would be considered to be a horrible starvation diet. I didn't even realize it.

Anxiety and depression are very insidious. The more anxious you are, the more you worry. The more you worry, the more anxious you become. The more anxious you become, the less hungry you are. The less hungry you are (i.e the more malnutritioned you become), the worse your anxiety. It's a horrible viscous cycle, and its up to us to use those brains of ours to keep on top of our own health/progress, and our PCP's and Pdoc's who at times can be very complacent. (E.g. not one of the 3 or so doctors that saw my cholesterol levels said anything about the fact that they're horribly low, a feature commonly associated to many bad things, not the least of which is anxiety (due to poor serotonin metabolism)).

Remember, we are what we eat (and think)!

I can certainly appreciate the idea of being properly nourished. I know that there are (not that I can name them off the top of my head), but certain foods that are said to have a calming component to them. Oh... like having turkey maybe (with tryptophan) or theanine found in some teas as opposed to a candy bar with tons of sugar.

But let me ask you a question trn450. You mentioned cholesterol levels. Mine are also rather low. 117 total (HDL is 38 and LDL is 58). Trigs are 95 if that factors in as well. The last time I was tested was 15-20 years ago and my total was 124 at the time. I saw the new number and thought "wow... that's amazing. I can't believe it actually went down." I assumed I'd be at least at 150/160. Anyway, are you saying that if my chol was higher my body would accept/use more serotonin? Why? Is that HDL specifically or both types? And what other concerns should I have if my levels are too low? Not that I'm blaming you for setting it off (I'm not), but as you can see I have some health anxiety as well. Thanks in advance for any input you may have!