Stress is something all of us deal with on a daily basis. Highly stressful scenarios include relationship issues, workplace issues with coworkers, workplace issues with your boss, over training /over exercising, lack of sleep, college exams, loss of a loved one, constant lack of sleep, financial burdens, and there are many other examples that can lead to these very high stress periods for our bodies. When our stress levels are increased we’re more likely to binge on unhealthy foods as our sugar cravings are drastically increased, we become moody or don’t appropriately react well to situations in our life, our athletic performance / exercise capacity is negatively affected, and most importantly sleep becomes affected which causes a cascade of negative effects such as muscle loss, fat increases, further loss of athletic performance, loss of mental clarity, loss of focus, increased anxiety, possible depression if stressed long enough, and further increases in stress levels. Diet and exercise play an incredibly important role to combat stress and there are vitamins and herbs that are up to helping make that task of managing stress much easier. Come in to our Fullerton, CA or Costa Mesa, CA Superstores if you have diet questions or need help with a complimentary diet plan.
B Vitamins Designed for Stress
Thorne Stress B-Complex
Our bodies highly accelerate the use of most of the B Vitamins such as B1, B5, and B12. It’s extremely important to load up on these vitamins during times of stress and even to take some in anticipation of highly stressful situations. We have 2 systems in our body that calm our body or excite our body which are the sympathetic system and parasympathetic system. The sympathetic system, in simple terms, excites our body and prepares us for the fight or flight systems in our body. The parasympathetic system, in simple terms, calms our body so we can restore our bodies to a calm, centered, and restorative state. When we stress the sympathetic system is activated we experience anxiety, blood pressure increases, cravings for sugars, release of stress hormones (cortisol), and more. At this point our body is eating up B Vitamins at an extremely fast rate trying to nourish the nervous system. When the B Vitamins run out we further stress due to deficiencies in B Vitamins and are unable to activate our calming parasympathetic system. Take plenty of B Vitamins designed for stress to calm your nervous system down. An extremely effective, low cost, high potency, and extremely high quality B Vitamin would be the Thorne Research Stress B-Complex. In this formula there’s 4,167% of B1, 4,167% of B12, and 5,000% of B5 which are the main players in reducing stress. It’s recommended to do 1 pill in the morning, 1-2 pills when experiencing higher levels of stress, and 1 at night.
It may also be necessary to add more vitamin B5, specifically the active form called Pantethine. I’d dose this at 250mg-500mg when experiencing higher levels of stress along with 1-2 pills of Thorne’s Stress B-Complex. Some of our bodies have a difficult time taking inactive B5 Pantothenic Acid and converting it to active B5 which is Pantethine. Test this after trying the Stress B Complex or if you feel your stress is more on the high to extreme side.
In addition to the Stress B-Complex this it’s highly recommended to consume non-fortified nutritional yeast on a daily basis. Nutritional yeast is a powerhouse natural form of B Vitamins and will assist more in natural energy and general nervous system health. Nutritional yeast has a cheesy like flavor and can be used as an incredibly delicious cheese like flavoring for meats, salads, vegetables, etc.
Ashwagandha
Gaia Ashwagandha
This Indian Herb is absolutely incredible in its ability to help our manage the stress hormone cortisol. Once we’ve experienced a high level of stress our bodies we usually have very high levels of cortisol. When cortisol is too high we’re susceptible to many of the negative side effects discussed at the beginning of the article and its time to ensure our stress vitamins are addressed along with managing cortisol with Ashwagandha. When taken at the proper doses many users report that they feel that the edge is off, anxiety is reduced, and people with depression begin to feel an improved level of mood. Furthermore, due to stress being a key factor in reducing our immune system, it will also help boost the immune system to fight off sickness. One of the best Ashwagandha products I’ve found has been Gaia Herbs Supercritical Extract Ashwagandha pills. Gaia uses high potency liquid tinctures in non-leak capsules for very easy, fast, and complete absorption. I recommend taking these pills identical to the Stress B-Complex. It’s recommended to do 1 pill in the morning, 1-2 pills when experiencing higher levels of stress, and 1 at night. Outside of Gaia Herbs there is a great form of Ashwagandha called KSM-66 which has an incredible quality like theirs.
If you have any questions about getting started on vitamins and supplements that will assist in managing your stress levels, then feel free to come into our Fullerton, CA or Costa Mesa, CA superstores so our team can assist you and get you the information you need.
References
Ashwagandha Reduces Cortisol – http://www.ijpm.info/article.asp?issn=0253-7176;year=2012;volume=34;issue=3;spage=255;epage=262;aulast=Chandrasekhar
