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Anxiety

Cognitive state of displeasing worry or concern with the feeling that bad events may arise; an impairment to well being, many supplements are anxiolytics (things that reduce anxiety).

Our evidence-based analysis on anxiety features 42 unique references to scientific papers.

Kamal Patel
Research analysis led by Kamal Patel.
All content reviewed by the Examine.com Team. Published: Feb 6, 2013
Last Updated:

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Frequently Asked Questions about Anxiety

Does chewing gum offer any health benefits?
Chewing gum can provide health benefits ranging from improved oral health to reduced hunger and stress levels, but for some people these are balanced out by possible downsides such as increased headaches.
Read full answer to "Does chewing gum offer any health benefits?"
How eating better can make you happier
Food and supplements that can help fight stress, fatigue, anxiety, depression, and help you sleep better.
Read full answer to "How eating better can make you happier"

Human Effect Matrix

The Human Effect Matrix looks at human studies (it excludes animal and in vitro studies) to tell you what supplements affect anxiety
Grade Level of Evidence
Robust research conducted with repeated double-blind clinical trials
Multiple studies where at least two are double-blind and placebo controlled
Single double-blind study or multiple cohort studies
Uncontrolled or observational studies only
Level of Evidence
? The amount of high quality evidence. The more evidence, the more we can trust the results.
Outcome Magnitude of effect
? The direction and size of the supplement's impact on each outcome. Some supplements can have an increasing effect, others have a decreasing effect, and others have no effect.
Consistency of research results
? Scientific research does not always agree. HIGH or VERY HIGH means that most of the scientific research agrees.
Notes
grade-a
Kava
Notable Very High See all 8 studies
Appears to be quite reliable and effective in treating non-psychotic anxiety, with less reliability on the topic of generalized anxiety (which lavender shows some promise for). It is possible that long-term usage of kava may have similar side-effects as long term usage of benzodiazepines (note demonstrated, but wholly logical) and most studies on kava are of a few weeks in duration without any problems.
grade-b
Ashwagandha
Notable Very High See all 6 studies
Evidence suggests potent anxiolytic effects in the context of chronic stress and anxiety disorder, with lesser potency in standard forms of anxiety not related to stress. There may be more benefit to social anxiety as well with Ashwagandha relative to other anxiolytics
grade-b
Inositol
Notable Very High See all 4 studies
There appears to be a decrease in anxiety symptoms associated with high dose inositol, and it has been noted to be comparable to fluvoxamine in potency.

All comparative evidence is now gathered in our ​A-to-Z Supplement Reference.

The evidence for each separate supplement is still freely available ​here.
grade-b
Curcumin
 
grade-b
Theanine
 
grade-c
Lavender
 
grade-c
Red Clover Extract
 
grade-c
Bacopa monnieri
 
grade-c
Caffeine
 
grade-c
Centella asiatica
 
grade-c
D-Serine
 
grade-c
Fish Oil
 
grade-c
Ganoderma lucidum
 
grade-c
Ginkgo biloba
 
grade-c
Maca
 
grade-c
Melissa officinalis
 
grade-c
Nicotine
 
grade-c
Saffron
 
grade-c
Sceletium tortuosum
 
grade-c
Vitex agnus castus
 
grade-c
Yamabushitake
 
grade-c
Yohimbine
 
grade-c
Black Cohosh
 
grade-c
Melatonin
 
grade-c
N-Acetylcysteine
 
grade-c
Synephrine
 
grade-c
Valeriana officinalis
 
grade-d
CBD
 
grade-d
Holy Basil
 
grade-d
Phenylpiracetam
 

References

  1. Simons D, et al. The effect of medicated chewing gums on oral health in frail older people: a 1-year clinical trial. J Am Geriatr Soc. (2002)
  2. Fu Y, et al. Assessment of chewing sugar-free gums for oral debris reduction: a randomized controlled crossover clinical trial. Am J Dent. (2012)
  3. Itthagarun A, Wei SH. Chewing gum and saliva in oral health. J Clin Dent. (1997)
  4. Wessel SW, et al. Quantification and qualification of bacteria trapped in chewed gum. PLoS One. (2015)
  5. Nayak PA, Nayak UA, Khandelwal V. The effect of xylitol on dental caries and oral flora. Clin Cosmet Investig Dent. (2014)
  6. Smith A. Effects of chewing gum on mood, learning, memory and performance of an intelligence test. Nutr Neurosci. (2009)
  7. Tänzer U, von Fintel A, Eikermann T. Chewing gum and concentration performance. Psychol Rep. (2009)
  8. Tucha L, Simpson W. The role of time on task performance in modifying the effects of gum chewing on attention. Appetite. (2011)
  9. Johnson AJ, et al. Chewing gum moderates multi-task induced shifts in stress, mood, and alertness. A re-examination. Appetite. (2011)
  10. Johnson AJ, et al. The effect of chewing gum on physiological and self-rated measures of alertness and daytime sleepiness. Physiol Behav. (2012)
  11. Allen AP, Smith AP. Effects of chewing gum and time-on-task on alertness and attention. Nutr Neurosci. (2012)
  12. Allen AP, Smith AP. Demand characteristics, pre-test attitudes and time-on-task trends in the effects of chewing gum on attention and reported mood in healthy volunteers. Appetite. (2012)
  13. Johnson AJ, Muneem M, Miles C. Chewing gum benefits sustained attention in the absence of task degradation. Nutr Neurosci. (2013)
  14. Hirano Y, et al. Effects of chewing on cognitive processing speed. Brain Cogn. (2013)
  15. Allen AP, Jacob TJ, Smith AP. Effects and after-effects of chewing gum on vigilance, heart rate, EEG and mood. Physiol Behav. (2014)
  16. Allen AP, Smith AP. Chewing gum: cognitive performance, mood, well-being, and associated physiology. Biomed Res Int. (2015)
  17. Tucha O, et al. Chewing gum differentially affects aspects of attention in healthy subjects. Appetite. (2004)
  18. Hirano Y, Onozuka M. Chewing and attention: a positive effect on sustained attention. Biomed Res Int. (2015)
  19. Tucha L, et al. Detrimental effects of gum chewing on vigilance in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Appetite. (2010)
  20. Scholey A, et al. Chewing gum alleviates negative mood and reduces cortisol during acute laboratory psychological stress. Physiol Behav. (2009)
  21. Zibell S, Madansky E. Impact of gum chewing on stress levels: online self-perception research study. Curr Med Res Opin. (2009)
  22. Sasaki-Otomaru A, et al. Effect of regular gum chewing on levels of anxiety, mood, and fatigue in healthy young adults. Clin Pract Epidemiol Ment Health. (2011)
  23. Sketchley-Kaye K, et al. Chewing gum modifies state anxiety and alertness under conditions of social stress. Nutr Neurosci. (2011)
  24. Gray G, et al. The contrasting physiological and subjective effects of chewing gum on social stress. Appetite. (2012)
  25. Smith AP, Chaplin K, Wadsworth E. Chewing gum, occupational stress, work performance and wellbeing. An intervention study. Appetite. (2012)
  26. Smith AP, Woods M. Effects of chewing gum on the stress and work of university students. Appetite. (2012)
  27. Smith A. Effects of chewing gum on stress and health: a replication and investigation of dose-response. Stress Health. (2013)
  28. Konno M, et al. Relationships Between Gum-Chewing and Stress. Adv Exp Med Biol. (2016)
  29. Torney LK, Johnson AJ, Miles C. Chewing gum and impasse-induced self-reported stress. Appetite. (2009)
  30. Ekuni D, et al. Gum chewing modulates heart rate variability under noise stress. Acta Odontol Scand. (2012)
  31. Walker J, et al. Chewing unflavored gum does not reduce cortisol levels during a cognitive task but increases the response of the sympathetic nervous system. Physiol Behav. (2016)
  32. Hasegawa Y, et al. Flavor-Enhanced Modulation of Cerebral Blood Flow during Gum Chewing. PLoS One. (2013)
  33. Morinushi T, et al. Effect on electroencephalogram of chewing flavored gum. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. (2000)
  34. Hetherington MM, Boyland E. Short-term effects of chewing gum on snack intake and appetite. Appetite. (2007)
  35. Hetherington MM, Regan MF. Effects of chewing gum on short-term appetite regulation in moderately restrained eaters. Appetite. (2011)
  36. Melanson KJ, Kresge DL. Chewing gum decreases energy intake at lunch following a controlled breakfast. Appetite. (2017)
  37. Park E, et al. Short-term effects of chewing gum on satiety and afternoon snack intake in healthy weight and obese women. Physiol Behav. (2016)
  38. Xu J, et al. The effect of gum chewing on blood GLP-1 concentration in fasted, healthy, non-obese men. Endocrine. (2015)
  39. Lippi G, Cervellin G, Mattiuzzi C. Gum-Chewing and Headache: An Underestimated Trigger of Headache Pain in Migraineurs?. CNS Neurol Disord Drug Targets. (2015)
  40. Watemberg N, et al. The influence of excessive chewing gum use on headache frequency and severity among adolescents. Pediatr Neurol. (2014)
  41. Tabrizi R, et al. Does gum chewing increase the prevalence of temporomandibular disorders in individuals with gum chewing habits?. J Craniofac Surg. (2014)
  42. Graff-Radford SB. Temporomandibular disorders and headache. Dent Clin North Am. (2007)

This page is regularly updated, to include the most recently available clinical trial evidence.

Each member of our research team is required to have no conflicts of interest, including with supplement manufacturers, food companies, and industry funders. The team includes nutrition researchers, registered dietitians, physicians, and pharmacists. We have a strict editorial process.

This page features 42 references. All factual claims are followed by specifically-applicable references. Click here to see the full set of references for this page.

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