Can your eating habits affect your mental health? Yes, they can. Studies suggest that certain foods may cause anxiety, intensify symptoms, or put you at increased risk of other psychological concerns.
5 Foods That Cause Anxiety
Experts have identified both specific foods and general food categories that can have a negative effect on a person’s anxiety levels and overall mental health. While there are few documented cases of direct cause-effect relationships between food and anxiety, the foods and ingredients listed below have all been linked with worsened anxiety symptoms.
1. Caffeine
Though caffeine isn’t a food, it is a regular part of many people’s diets. And even though some people use it as a mood-booster, the truth is that caffeine consumption can contribute to anxiety and other mental health concerns.
Limiting your caffeine isn’t simply a matter of reducing how much coffee or tea you drink. Other foods and beverages that contain caffeine include dark chocolate, many energy drinks, some energy bars, and some flavors of ice cream.
2. Fried food
An April 2023 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) found that long-term exposure to a chemical found in many fried foods may increase symptoms of anxiety and depression. This chemical, acrylamide, is naturally formed when certain foods are cooked at especially high temperatures, which includes roasting and frying.
3. Sugar
In August 2019, an article in the journal Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Review reported that a high-sugar diet “has been linked to cognitive impairments, negative neuroplasticity and emotional disorders such as anxiety and depression.”
This article, which was based on a review of more than 300 studies, noted that sugar consumption can cause neurobiological changes that are similar to what occur when a person develops an addiction to alcohol or another drug.
The article also identified a bidirectional impact between negative emotions and sugar overconsumption. In other words, difficult emotions such as anxiety can push a person to increase their sugar intake, and this increased sugar intake can worsen their anxiety. This can create a self-defeating cycle of increasingly unhealthy eating and progressively more severe symptoms.
4. Highly processed food
Highly processed foods, which are sometimes referred to as ultra-processed foods (UPFs), contain a variety of additives, preservatives, and chemicals.
As described in a November 2025 article on the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health website, ultra-processed foods are also often prepared using techniques such as “pre-frying, molding, extrusion, fractioning, and other chemical alterations that leave the final products bearing almost no resemblance to the original ingredients.”
Examples of UPFs include flavored yogurt, ready-to-eat meals, instant oatmeal, many breakfast cereals, and packaged bread.
A December 2021 study in the journal Clinical Nutrition ESPEN found that the prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms increases as the rate of UPF consumption rises.
5. Junk food
Soft drinks and other sweetened beverages, fast food, and various snack foods often contain a variety of ingredients that have been linked with elevated anxiety levels. For example, many of these are highly processed items that contain high levels of sugar and an array of potentially problematic additives.
According to a systematic review published in June 2024 by BMC Psychiatry, a study involving 1,591 adults found an association between the high consumption of fast food and processed food and symptoms such as anxiety, nervousness, low motivation, and depression.
That review also alluded to animal studies that suggest certain additives in junk food may alter the gut microbiome in a way that can increase both the risk of anxiety and depression as well as the severity of symptoms.
3 Habits That Can Worsen Anxiety
Eating foods that cause anxiety isn’t the only behavior that can contribute to mental health concerns. Other common habits, such as the three listed below, can also have a negative impact on a person’s emotional well-being.
1. Low activity level
Exercise is good for your mind as well as your body.
A January 2023 review in Cureus reported that physical activity may ease both anxiety and depression by prompting the brain to release beta-endorphins. These naturally occurring brain chemicals have been linked with improved mood and decreased physical pain.
You don’t have to train like an Olympian to reap the mental health benefits of exercising. A 2006 article in The Primary Care Companion of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry noted that 30 minutes of moderately intense activity – such as brisk walking – three times per week can be enough to help with stress, anxiety, and certain other mood-related concerns.
2. Neglecting sleep
In addition to moving your body, you also need to give yourself ample time to rest.
According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), an analysis of 154 studies conducted over the past 50 years has revealed that the impact of sleep loss includes fewer positive emotions (such as joy, contentment, and happiness) and an increased risk of anxiety symptoms.
Cara Palmer, PhD, the study’s lead author, noted that losing even a few hours of sleep can cause these types of problems.
3. Isolating yourself
When you’re struggling with anxiety, you may have little interest in interacting with others. But instead of giving you time to improve your mood, cutting yourself off from friends and family members can actually worsen your emotional distress.
An April 2025 Frontiers in Psychiatry study reported that the effects of social isolation can include:
- Increased vulnerability to anxiety and depressive disorders
- Increased stress reactivity
- Impaired emotional regulation
- Elevated levels of cortisol, a hormone that the body typically releases as part of the “fight or flight” response to imminent threats
Learn More About Anxiety Treatment in Atlanta
Certain dietary alterations and other behavioral changes can sometimes be enough to ease your anxiety symptoms. But if self-care alone yield the benefits you’d hoped for, please know that help is available.
Valor Behavioral Health offers personalized outpatient programming for people whose lives have been disrupted by anxiety disorders, other mental health concerns, and co-occurring addictions. Treatment options at our center in Atlanta, GA, include a partial hospitalization program (PHP), an intensive outpatient program (IOP), a virtual IOP, and an adolescent program.
To learn more about how we can help you or a loved one, or to schedule a free assessment, please visit our Admissions page or call us today.
