In the busy world that we live in today, stress can be a very real threat to your health. In addition to taking over your brain with negative thoughts, stress can lead to serious physical symptoms that can be a major detriment to your body and mind. When the mind is stressed, the body wanes and the vitamins and minerals it needs are used up much more rapidly. For this reason, it can be a great idea to take vitamins for stress to help minimize the damage stress can have on your body.
Studies show that people who are in a stressful mind state tend to have lower levels of B-complex vitamins. Deficiencies of the B-complex can lead to a host of other problems, including depression, irritability, and irregular nerve functioning. Vitamins C and E are also depleted faster when the mind is under stress. These vitamins are antioxidants, which are also key to health. Deficiencies of these nutrients can result in damage to cell membranes caused by free radicals.
Beyond these vitamins, essential minerals are also depleted when the body is in a stressful state. Magnesium and zinc are two prime examples of minerals sapped from the body during these tough times. In addition to taking supplements to decrease these deficiencies, there are certain foods that can help aid the damage caused by stress.
• Oatmeal helps to fight stress and anxiety by feeding the brain to produce more serotonin.
• Spinach and broccoli improves your body’s response to stress.
• Eating dark chocolate helps to lower stress level hormones.
• Avocado helps to block the absorption of bad fats that cause oxidative damage.
• Fish helps the body to block stress signals to the brain.
• Oranges, spinach and parsley are high in vitamin C to build up immunity.
• Drink herbal teas during times of stress to calm the nerves and sooth your body: Basil tea, honey and lavender tea, green tea, lemongrass tea, cinnamon tea all work wonderfully.
A combination of eating the rights foods for stress, getting the required minerals, and drinking tea to help ease stress in general, can result in a knockout punch to the stress that may be affecting you. Your body cannot operate to its full potential without the nutrients it needs, and these supplements can help you get back on the right track.
To learn more about beating stress naturally, check out my online shop where you can find a 10 Day Detox and my 7 Day Clean Eating Meal Plan!