Stress is everywhere. And while a little stress is OK —and completely natural— a high level can wear you down and even affect your health both mentally and physically.
For some, managing stress can be hard especially if someone doesn’t recognize the signs or causes. Your level of stress could be raised due to work pressure, an overload of schedules, challenging relationships, or a fear of physical harm.
What Is Stress?
Stress is the body’s reaction to harmful situations, whether they’re real or perceived. When you feel threatened, a chemical reaction occurs in your body that allows you to act in a way to prevent injury. This reaction is known as “fight-or-flight,” or the stress response.
A stressful event—whether it’s a fear of animals, flying on a plane, fear of losing your job or facing a physical form of danger—triggers a surge of hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol, that rages through the body causing heart rate increase, shortness of breath, muscle tightening, and high blood pressure. It is the body’s natural way to respond to “danger,” or what it perceives to be a “threatening situation.” But it’s not meant to last.
It generally takes some time for the body to calm down after the stress response has been triggered. One step you can take to help recognize that you are suffering is to recognize the symptoms.
Symptoms of Stress of include:
- Becoming easily agitated or frustrated
- Feeling overwhelmed, like you are losing control or need to take control
- Racing thoughts and difficulty relaxing and quieting your mind
- Feeling bad about yourself (low self-esteem), lonely, depressed
- Low energy
- Headaches
- Stomach issues, including diarrhea, constipation, and nausea
- Tense muscles
- Chest pain and rapid heartbeat
- Insomnia
- Clenched jaw and grinding teeth
- Constant worrying
- Forgetfulness and disorganization and an inability to focus
- Focusing on the negative
How can supplements help?
Stress consumes key vitamins and minerals. If you don’t replace them with the right foods and vitamins, anxiety and stress can worsen. While supplements aren’t meant to replace prescribed medication or other doctor-approved therapies, they can be helpful to maintain your symptoms. There are a few vitamins and supplements you can take to help you manage your stress symptoms.
Vitamin B-complex
B-complex supplements contain all the B Vitamins your body that is vital to a healthy nervous system. They may also help improve symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Vitamin C
This vitamin is not just for the common cold, it’s also said to have a positive effect on mood and brain function. It’s also a versatile supplement shown to have benefits for preventing heart disease, cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer’s.
Vitamin D
Due to the fact that hormone cortisol is produced when under stress blocks the absorption of Vitamin D, it’s necessary to help ensure you are getting enough of the vitamin in your diet.
Omega 3 – Fish Oil
In addition to supporting heart health, fish oil contains an omega-3 fatty acid called Eicosapentaenoic acid, which has been linked to mood. Omega-3s are known to be the basic building blocks of the brain and nervous system, so taking fish oil helps maintain a healthy level of cognitive function.
