The Consumer Guide to Stress Formulas

In this guide...
  What Is Stress?
  How Can Nutrition Help?
  Daily Requirements and Optimal Intake
  Food Sources and Safety
  References and Further Reading
Browse Our Wide Selection Of Stress Formulas

Excessive stress is a pervasive health threat in western industrial societies, and has been linked to cardiovascular disease and cancer. Nutrition can play an important role in reducing stress. Supplemental stress formulas combine vitamins, minerals, and nutritional factors that have been proven to help prevent and reduce stress.

What is stress? Stress is the physiological and psychological adaptation people experience to change, both good and bad. Physical causes of stress include exposure to toxins, pathogens and injury. During the alarm stage of stress, the adrenal glands secrete adrenaline and related hormones. This increases the heart rate and blood pressure, sends blood towards the heart, lungs, brain, and muscles, to prepare the body to fight or run. The rate of breathing is also increased to supply more oxygen to these organs. Finally, these hormones increase blood sugar and mobilize fatty acids in the blood.

During the adaptation stage that follows, steroid hormones such as cortisol are produced to break down fat and muscle tissue for energy. Psychological effects of stress include irritability, depression, anxiety, anger, and poor concentration. High levels of cortisol suppress the immune system and may lead to physical diseases, including ulcers, heart disease, elevated blood pressure, insomnia, and even cancer. (Ulcers, which were once thought to be linked to stress, are caused largely by intestinal bacteria.) Ways to limit stress include nutritional support, physical exercise, and mind-body practices such as yoga, tai chi, biofeedback, and meditation.

 

How can nutrition help? Nutrients that are often depleted by stress include the antioxidant vitamin A, E, and selenium, the B vitamins, and the minerals , potassium, sulfur, calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc and molybdenum. Herbs that can help include "nervines" like oats, St. John's Wort, skullcap, melissa, California poppy, chamomile, hops, lavender, passionflower, valerian and kava root. "Adaptogenic" herbs such as ginseng, codnopsis and astragalus, which help bring the body’s metabolic systems in balance, can also be helpful. Avoid sugary foods, alcohol, and stimulant drugs like caffeine and nicotine.

Daily requirements and optimal intake The recommended daily allowances or RDAs were developed for basic survival needs, not optimal health. Levels significantly above the RDAs are preferable for prevention of illnesses and adverse stress levels. A B-vitamin complex with 25–50 mg of each of the B vitamins is optimal and can help the body to relax. Vitamin C is a very important antioxidant, which protects cell membranes during stress. Doses should be from 1-5 grams a day, and should include bioflavonoids. Vitamin E protects lipids (fats) from oxidative (oxygen) injury during stress. Certain minerals, such as magnesium (300- 500mg. a day) which relaxes the heart muscle, and amino acid, such as L-tryptophan, which promotes general relaxation (500-2000mg a day), can also help.

 

Food sources and safety B-vitamins are found in legumes and brewers yeast, but are primarily found in animal foods, such as meat. Vitamin C is found in fruit, primarily citrus and fresh vegetables (e.g., potatoes, tomatoes, and peppers). Magnesium is found in meat and seafood. Tryptophan is found in bananas, cheese, and yogurt.

B vitamins and vitamin C are water-soluble so they are readily excreted in the urine and pose little risk of toxicity.

References and further reading

  • Askew EW. Environmental and physical stress and nutrient requirements. Am J Clin Nutr 1995 Mar;61(3 Suppl):631S-637S.
  • Caso Marasco A, Vargas Ruiz R, Salas Villagomez A, Begona Infante C. Double-blind study of a multivitamin complex supplemented with ginseng extract. Drugs Exp Clin Res 1996;22(6):323-9
  • Dressler, William "Culture, Stress and Disease" in Medical Anthropology, Wesport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1990
  • Grimble RF. Effect of antioxidative vitamins on immune function with clinical applications. Int J Vitam Nutr Res 1997;67(5):312- 20.
  • Lark, Susan. Anxiety and Stress: a Self-Help Program Los Angeles, CA: Westchester Publishing Co., 1993
  • Leatherwood, P.D. et al. Aqueous extract of valerian root (Valeriana officinalis L.) improves sleep quality in man. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior 1989; 32 (4): 1056-66
  • Matlin, Margaret Psychology NY: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1995
  • Rokitzki L, Logemann E, Sagredos AN, Murphy M, Wetzel-Roth W, Keul J. Lipid peroxidation and antioxidative vitamins under extreme endurance stress. Acta Physiol Scand 1994 Jun;151(2):149-58.
  • Ronzio, Robert. The Encyclopedia of Nutrition and Good Health NY: Facts on File, 1997
  • Tyler, Varro Herbs of Choice Binghamton, NY: Hawthorn Press, 1994

Browse Our Wide Selection Of Stress Formulas

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