Eat away fear - just as big Thanksgiving dinners make you tired and candy bars give you a sugar high, what we eat affects how we feel. Take the edge off of fear and anxiety by eating these three foods before you go out. Music by Weslester.

Video Transcription

Eating away fear Three foods overcome anxiety. First, the crowd favorite: chocolate high in chemicals such as the theobromine (which has drug-like effects in large quantities), chocolate is also rich in other “feel-good” chemicals and antioxidants. All these (plus a bit of sugar) work together to take the edge off of fear. The more cocoa the better. Next, ginger. Drink a bit of ginger ale (be sure it uses natural flavoring) or eat a bit of ginger bread before you need to perform. Ginger naturally eases upset stomachs and quells nauseousness – some studies say it works better than popular medicines. Finally, our super food: the banana, so potent that some musicians eat bananas instead of taking beta-blocking medications. A number of nutrients combine to give bananas their calming effects from magnesium to potassium to tryptophan, a precursor of the essential neurotransmitter serotonin. Eat a couple of these natural beta blockers a few hours before you need to perform and watch the fear fly away.