Natural remedies for anxiety in kids abound, and many parents are curious to explore these before moving to medication. Children in the US and globally are experiencing unprecedented levels of anxiety, depression, and suicidality, making the need for remedies for anxiety and other mental health disorders in this age group critically important.

Your pediatrician and pediatric mental health providers are trained to provide medication as a first line offering for children over age five years, and to suggest play therapy for younger children before medicating. Medications in young toddlers are allowed as well. These professionals are not trained in nutrition impacts on mental health, or on how to use natural remedies for anxiety in kids. No wonder then that prescribing drugs as remedies for anxiety in kids has spiked by as much as 200% in recent years. If children are getting treatment with medications, why are mental health issues a leading cause of death in this age group?

In 2004, the FDA issued a black box warning on psychiatric medications because they increased suicidal ideation in children and adolescents. This scenario came true for a teen patient in my pediatric nutrition practice who swiftly activated to suicidal ideation on a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). She was hospitalized, then began a year long quest rotating several medications, only to make weak progress with side effects. It was at this point that the family contacted me for a therapeutic nutrition approach. With targeted functional nutrition assessment and integrative food and nutrition intervention for her found deficits, we were able to re-balance mood without medication, letting her return to usual activities and enjoyment. In her case, the natural remedies for anxiety were more successful than prescription drugs.

SSRI drugs – Prozac and Paxil in particular – are associated with a 50% jump in likelihood of convictions for violent behavior (including arson, assault, robbery or homicide) in children as young as fifteen years old, compared to kids not using these drugs, and compared to adults using these drugs. Meanwhile, polypharmacy for kids is another issue in the US that may cause more disability and even death than it prevents.There’s clearly a need for other options, and this is where natural remedies for anxiety in kids have potential.

Mental health, mood, and behavior are intertwined with nutrition and gut health

What natural remedies for anxiety in kids are the best to explore? Some are easy to do with your pediatrician. Some may warrant help from an integrative practitioner in functional medicine or with a naturopath. Either way, there are several options to consider. Remember that nutrition is a symphony, not a solo performance – so rather than hoping for that one natural supplement pill that might ease anxiety (and there are hundreds of those), think in terms of a whole health integrated picture for best outcome. Here are a few places to start:

• Assess iron. Iron is needed to make and break down serotonin. People with depression are more iron deficient than healthy persons. Marginal iron status will impair this chemistry before a child is actually anemic. This can be assessed by running a routine lab test called a CBC  (complete blood count) and an iron study (ferritin, serum iron, transferrin, saturation, and iron binding capacity). See this blog post for details on getting iron correctly assessed. This is work your pediatrician can do for you. If they are quick with the prescription pad for anxiety, ask for these iron screenings first. It may make all the difference, and I have witnessed this many times in my pediatric nutrition practice.
• Balance gut microbes. There is clear and mounting evidence that gut dysbiosis and status of gut microbiome have profound impacts on psychiatric features, including anxiety, hyperactivity, impulsivity, inattention, brain fog, and depression. The solution is to balance the gut biome environment. This may mean changing diet, using certain probiotics, or using antimicrobial or anti fungal herbs or medications. Ask you provider for functional stool analysis with a GI MAP (include zonulin and gluten peptide), a stool culture for fungal species and bacterial overgrowth. Many stool testing options exist, but be aware that functional medicine tests may not be covered on insurance. Looking only for basic problems – like whether or not you have stool pathogens like C diff or Giardia – is not informative enough, when targeting natural remedies for anxiety in kids.
• Tackle picky eating. It’s common for kids to eat white diets – dairy, milk, yogurt, cheese, bread, pasta, pizza, cereal, pancakes, sugar in juice, cereal, or processed food. These diets don’t fuel a brain so well! They lack vitamin and mineral cofactors as well as a good array of the essential amino acids (protein components) that the brain uses to make neurotransmitters. If these kids are constipated, that’s even worse – because that means their intestines are not doing an adequate job of breaking down what protein they do eat, leaving their brains even more bereft. Check this blog post on how weak digestion for wheat and dairy foods will cause mood changes. If your child can’t move the needle away from a picky pattern, supplement with vitamin and mineral supports to cover the missing pieces. A high potency child multi vitamin is a good start, like Pure Pals Junior Nutrients (small capsules kids can swallow) or Drs Advantage Super Multivitamin & Minerals. Create your own access to that and other products in my Fullscript platform.
• Test for undiagnosed food sensitivities. Gluten sensitivity is a documented trigger for mood disorders, ataxia, and even seizures. Screen for this at your pediatrician’s office with a deamidated gliadin antibody test. Note that this is not a celiac test. Though you may wish to have that screening done as well, celiac blood tests look at autoimmune markers and not for gluten reactions. If you have had celiac screening that was negative, request the deamidated gliadin antibody test to make sure your team checked for anti-gliadin IgA and IgG. Above range value for this antibody may worsen psychiatric features, attention, focus, and may reduce absorption of iron or B vitamins. Even values that fall inside the lab range, but are at the high end of “normal”, may be enough to trigger trouble in some children – a scenario I encountered often in my pediatric nutrition practice. If a child is symptomatic, the only way to know true impact of a gluten is to try a gluten free diet. Make sure all nutrition factors are well supported during that trial with lots to eat, and with multivitamin and mineral supplement support. Meanwhile, other foods may be reactive too, so ask your integrative or functional medicine provider to test other foods for IgG reactions too. This requires a blood test.
• Work with nutraceuticals. Nutraceuticals are nutrients or phyto (plant) extracts given in therapeutic doses. Decades of research supports the use of these natural remedies for anxiety and other mood or psychiatric features; I have used many of these in practice in kids safely and effectively. Steady performers include omega 3 fatty acids (fish oils), St Johns Wort, zinc, iron, B vitamins, methyl folate, methylcobalamin, probiotics, vitamin D, and N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) although many other products may be useful on an individual basis. Work with a knowledgeable naturopathic or functional medicine provider to choose what is right for your child. Your pediatrician, neurologist, neuropsychologist, or psychiatric provider may not have the training or skill set to use these tools – so if they insist drugs are the only way, reach out to providers who know how to use natural remedies for anxiety in kids.
• Check thyroid function. Undiagnosed imbalances in thyroid, reproductive, or adrenal hormones can wreak havoc on mood, anxiety, sleep, and reactions to stress. Work with a provider who understands optimal and age appropriate reference ranges for these hormones, how to accurately assess them, and how to discern whether your child needs prescription or non-drug hormonal support. A single blood draw for morning cortisol or thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) is not descriptive enough to tell if these are imbalanced. Twenty-four hour urine or saliva tests are available to chart patterns of these throughout the day and night, and detailed panels on thyroid function are widely available too. Many drug-free, herbal and nutritional options exist to modulate cortisol, thyroid function, and reproductive hormones. A number of children in my practice have benefitted from the simple addition of a cortisol lowering herb called Holy Basil, which reduced anxiety and OCD in these cases and permitted these kids to fall asleep easily at bedtime. Giving children enough to eat can balance these hormones as well, so look for your child’s growth pattern to be steady and strong.
• Remove opiate forming foods. Yes, I did say “opiate“! Depending on your child’s gut status, some food proteins can form opiate-like compounds. Weak digestion + leaky gut = formation of these, causing some food proteins to be absorbed in small, opiate-like peptide chains called exorphins. Prime offenders are gluten, dairy, and soy protein foods. This is the reason why so many children have fiercely picky, “white” diets – they are literally addicted to these foods. There are many strategies to break this addiction with nutrition support and gut cleanse tools. Dietary exorphins from casein (milk) or gluten (wheat) are bioactive compounds that affect behavior, learning, anxiety, impulsivity, memory, socialization, and pain perception. The impact of these dietary opiates is so powerful, it has been implicated as a trigger for psychiatric features seen in autism and schizophrenia. Strict avoidance of gluten, casein, and soy while replenishing with other proteins and minerals can make for astounding turn arounds in these children and teens.

Children with debilitating anxiety, depression, or mood and conduct disorders deserve a deep dive into these nutrition factors, which have the power to greatly improve quality of life and health overall, drug free. Beyond this, there are dozens of supplements children can safely use instead of drugs to enhance chemistry for more calm, more joy, more ease. Regardless of a psychiatric diagnosis – whether it’s PANS/PANDAS, autism, generalized anxiety disorder, conduct disorder or others – these natural remedies for anxiety have tremendous potential for kids. Thank you for stopping by, and contact me if you have a question regarding use of natural remedies for anxiety in kids.