The next time you’re in a high-stress situation and you feel a wave of panic wash over you, eat an extremely sour candy.
The intense taste acts as a distraction. It activates the parasympathetic nervous system, a part of the brain that curbs an anxiety attack.
A TikTok trend that has amassed over 23.7 million views is making waves to test this theory.
If you don’t like sweets, then something very spicy like sriracha or tangy like salt and vinegar chips will also have the same effect, according to Katie Pankonin, a licensed mental health therapist from Arizona.
Collecting over 23.7 million views on TikTok, a recent trend shows people using sour candy as a way to reduce anxiety and stop panic attacks
Sour candies aren’t the only foods that can distract the brain from a panic attack. Some strong sauces, such as mustard, vinegar or sriracha (left) have a similar effect. Peppermint (right), in addition, can also shock the brain
“The more sour, spicy in between, the more likely your brain is to come out of that anxious thought and more into your body of what you are tasting,” Ms Pankonin told DailyMail.com.
It also causes a physiological response. For example, eating something sour increases the production of saliva in the mouth, which is “the first step in re-engaging that digestive system,” said Micheline Maalouf, a licensed mental health counselor and owner of Serein Counseling in Orlando, at DailyMail.com.
“When we have high levels of anxiety or when we are in panic attack mode, our body is either fight or flight.
“Your mind basically thinks there’s a perceived or real threat, whereas what’s happening with anxious people in today’s world, most of the time there’s no real threat” , said Ms. Maalouf.
In response to anxiety, the amygdala, the brain’s emotional center, sounds the alarm to the hypothalumus, the part of the brain that acts as its command center.
Mental health experts Michele Maalouf (left) and Katie Pankonin (right) both recommend eating a sour candy, salty chip, spoonful or sriracha to soothe an impending panic attack.
This sends the body out of whack. Heart rate increases, breathing becomes shallow, and digestion slows.
“Anxiety wants to be felt, and it demands that you feel it when it happens,” Pankonin said.
However, the intense taste of a sour candy or a dollop of sriracha puts an end to it by activating the parasympathetic nervous system, a network of nerves that helps the body relax after periods of high stress.
“When we incorporate the body first, we can help our body slow down. Then we can go on and incorporate those thinking techniques,” Ms. Maalouf said.
However, the advantage is not just a handful of Sour Patch Kids or Warheads.
Physically, any food jump-starts the digestive system, but strong-tasting foods tend to produce saliva faster.
This includes strong mustards, salt and vinegar shavings, sriracha sauce, or even peppermint.
“I think more than anything, if it’s not a taste you’re used to having on a daily basis, it’s going to do,” Ms Pankonin said.
However, if you are having a panic attack every day, eating sour candy might start to lose its effectiveness.
“If it’s something we notice on a daily basis, turn it off permanently.” If it will be a sour candy one day, it may be a very cold glass of water the next. Maybe it’s hot sauce the next day. But bringing variety, I think, with adaptive skills is really important,” Ms Pankonin said.
Experts warn, however, that this is not a long-term solution. “It’s pretty much a band-aid to a problem,” Ms Maalouf said. “It’s not something you just want to depend on. It’s a tool, but it’s like any tool. If we find something that helps us today, it might not help us tomorrow. This does not get to the root of the problem.
Also, eating sour candy is unlikely to completely stop a panic attack.
“It might just reduce the intensity and duration of it, because you’re re-engaging your senses early on and re-engaging the digestive system early on,” Ms Maalouf said. “Maybe you won’t feel it as intensely, but that probably won’t stop it in its tracks.”
These foods also risk introducing large amounts of added sugar, which could discourage any health goals you’re pursuing or make certain medical conditions, such as diabetes, worse.
‘Know your body. If you have a health condition that can get worse from consuming these foods, then this is definitely not the tool for you,” Maalouf said.
Ms. Pankonin said this antidote is more effective for someone with episodic anxiety than for a chronic condition.
“When it comes to coping skills, you never want to have just one to rely on, but we can add it to the toolkit as something that can really be useful in the short term,” said she declared.
For someone suffering from regular panic attacks or chronic anxiety, it is essential to combine temporary treatments with long-term solutions. This includes cognitive behavioral therapy, medications, and even exercise.
A 2018 meta-analysis in the journal Depression and Anxiety, for example, found that cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness meditation, and exercise are all helpful in reducing anxiety.
Ms Pankonin stressed the importance of using all the senses to ground the body and mind during times of anxiety. “We can do sound, we can do visualizations. We can bring in every sense that we humanly can, because when it comes to the name of anxiety, it’s all about this distraction. It’s about separating yourself from that anxiety and acknowledging it for what it is and helping you through it,” she said.