Combat Stress this Holiday Season

It’s that time of year again, the holidays are here! While it is a joyous season spending time with family and friends, it can also be a time of high stress. Stores get more crowded, schedules become busier, party planning and holiday eating ensue. Suddenly, the most wonderful time of the year has turned you into a high stress, anxious wreck! This year, don’t be caught off guard. Be prepared by supplementing with these stress-busting nutrients to help guide you through and bring the fun back into the holiday season.

Adaptogenic herbs - These unique nutrients improve the body’s ability to cope with stress and help to maintain a state of balance. Adapting to stress is a fulltime job of the body, especially during the holidays when life seems to become increasingly hectic. Planning large holiday meals, navigating the airport at the height of holiday travel, or spending hours upon hours with family can all test your ability to cope with stress and force your body, especially your adrenal glands, to work harder to maintain balance. Supplementing with adaptogenic herbs like cordyceps, holy basil, eleutherococcus, rhodiola rosea and the phytochemical gamma oryzanol found in Wellness Resources’ Adrenal Helper allow your body to adapt and cope better with high stress situations.

Pantethine - During periods of high stress, there is a greater need for energy production, causing B vitamins to be used up very quickly. Pantethine, or vitamin B5, is of particular importance because it is a key precursor to Acetyl CoA, which is the starting point for energy production.  Pantethine is also important for manufacturing hormones produced by the adrenal glands, the key regulators of stress in the body. Pantethine has also been shown to tone down excess cortisol in the body in times of stress. Pantethine is absolutely essential for getting through the holidays with energy and a positive mood.

Phosphatidylserine - Our brains are particularly susceptible to stress. Stress reduces circulation to the brain, resulting in oxygen and nutrient deprivation, which can damage brain cells. The brain is also susceptible to damage from the hormone, cortisol, which is released during periods of stress. If stress is an inevitable part of your holiday events, the nutrient phosphatidylserine can help calm and protect your brain. Phosphatidylserine is an integral component of cell membranes, especially in the brain. Cell membrane structure is so important because it regulates what comes in and out of the cell. Healthy cell membranes equal healthy cells. Phosphatidylserine has also been shown to have a positive effect on our emotional response to stress by reducing overall cortisol levels.

Magnesium - Magnesium is an extremely important mineral for dealing with stress. It is also one of the top nutrient deficiencies in the American population. While stress depletes the body of this mineral, studies have also shown that a lack of magnesium magnifies stress. Talk about a catch 22! Magnesium supplements help quiet a racing mind, relax your muscles, and help regulate your heart rate, making it easier to fall asleep at night. It can also help ease anxiety or stress throughout the day!

Theanine - Do the holidays leave you feeling anxious or wound up? One of the most powerful natural remedies to help settle and stabilize a wound-up nervous system is theanine. Supplementing with theanine has been shown to increase alpha brain wave activity, which produces a relaxed, calm, focused, creative state-of-mind. Taking theanine to manage stress throughout the day also pays off when bedtime rolls around. The degree to which you are stressed throughout the day will set the stage for sleep quality at night. Therefore, taking theanine during the day may help you be more relaxed at bedtime, promoting a more restful sleep. This way, you’ll be able to get a good night’s sleep and not be kept awake thinking about all the holiday decorating or shopping you have to get done the next day!

Whether it’s anxiety you are feeling from the undue pressure to put on the perfect holiday party or nerves of anticipation from wondering whether or not you got the perfect present for that loved one, stress has become part of the holiday season. Supporting your body with specific nutrients to help get you through this time of year is probably the best present you can give yourself. Supplementing with Stress Helper, PhosphaphatidylSerine, RelaxaMag, the adaptogenic herbs found in Adrenal Helper and/ or Sleep Helper for some calming theanine are all great ways to give back to yourself this holiday season.