The definition of stress is a sense of anxiety, nervousness, or unease, typically about an impending event or something with an uncertain outcome. Sometimes though, there might be a sense of anxiety without any specific thought in mind. Common symptoms of stress include; sweating, increased heart rate, shortness of breath, dry mouth, and numbness or tingling in the feet or hands.
Anxiety
It is a really uncomfortable feeling to encounter so let us look at some natural ways we could alleviate it and conquer it once and for all. Always check with your healthcare practitioner before starting this or any other anxiety-relief protocol. Nature contains literally everything we want for our minds and bodies. Our crops and herbs contain powerful medicinal and healing properties. Consider making a tea or taking a supplement with herbs like chamomile, lavender, valerian, lemon balm, hops, or passionflower.
Some of these herbs have slight sedative properties so make certain to talk about the best one for you along with your medical or Naturopathic physician. Another terrific herb to consider as an overall daily supplement is Ashwagandha.
Ashwagandha
It is an adaptogen meaning it helps the body cope and adapt to daily stress. This can help to support your adrenal glands, reduce cortisol in the body and provide you a feeling of calmness and balance. This amino acid has strong calming and relaxing properties. A study done in 2004 revealed that l-theanine works just as well if not better compared to the drug Xanax. L-Theanine is non-sedating and may also help improve attention and focus. It may be taken in supplement form therapeutically at approximately 50-400mg daily, and it is also found in black and green tea (about 5-10mg per cup).
Always be cautious if you are pregnant and/or breastfeeding, it is best to speak to your physician or Naturopathic doctor . It’s really easy to get caught up in the anxiety itself and in doing so it really makes the anxiety worse. If you are focused on the symptoms you are experiencing and trying to determine what’s wrong you are just going to keep yourself in that state of stress. Redirecting your attention immediately to something else is the best option for squashing anxiety.
Exercise
It is an wonderful tool for bettering your energy and worries. Not only is exercise great for your body but when we exercise our brains create endorphins – these substances reduce pain and induce a sense of euphoria. Exercise might just become your new best friend, go to this friend at least 3-4 times each week! Our gut (digestive tract ) is our next brain. Our gut generates more serotonin than our mind. Serotonin is the thing that helps us feel positive and happy.
Nutrition
Along with eating mostly a whole foods diet it is important to get enough of the good bacteria (probiotics) in our bowels. Consider including more fermented food in your diet such as unpasteurized sauerkraut, miso, natto, kombucha and kimchi. I’d also personally recommend taking a probiotic supplement which you may find in the refrigerator at the neighborhood health food store. We know that eating sufficient protein daily is important for our muscles, healing and immune systems, but most do not recognize it’s importance in blood glucose regulation in addition to neurotransmitter production. Sometimes the shakiness from blood sugar spiking or falling can cause feelings of anxiety.
Including more protein-rich foods during the day can help to keep your blood sugar balanced, assuming you are not eating excessive amounts of sugar with your protein. The amino acids in protein also help form neurotransmitters in the brain. Neurotransmitters are the chemical messages that are sent out in the mind. When we have sufficient amounts of all of the essential amino acids (histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine) then we’ll help to balance and enhance our mood.
Take note
Omega 3s are essential fatty acids. Omega 3s are important for cardiovascular health, reduction of inflammation and pain and they fight depression and anxiety. They have a lot more benefits but let us concentrate on stress here for this article’s sake. Your absolute best source for omega 3s are out of fish, but in this day and age, an increasing number of people are concerned about heavy metals like mercury in our fish supply. You can acquire omega 3s in supplement form from fish oil (analyzed for purity) and algae.
Plant sources of alpha-linoleic acid that convert to omega 3 in the body (not everybody converts this nicely ) are flax seeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds, and walnuts. Your omega 3 fish oil supplement is going to be simplified into EPA and DHA (check tag ). For stress relief and mood balancing you might want to make certain you get at least 1g of EPA daily (not complete fish oil). This may mean you will need to take 2-3 soft gels daily depending on the manufacturer.
Quick tip
If you are going to purchase soft gels make certain to get enteric coated ones so that they bypass the stomach and release in the gut where they’ll be absorbed. This technique has helped people with phobias, addictions, obsessions, cravings, fears, anger, depression and anxiety. It’s called The Emotional Freedom Technique – I will write a complete article on this topic alone. This technique employs a tapping motion on acu-points on the body when verbalizing a succession of phrases about whatever the problem might be. There was a study done at Harvard Medical School demonstrating this technique reduces activity in the amygdala, hippocampus and other areas of the brain associated with fear and anxiety. It’s a remarkably powerful tool to execute and I highly recommend it. Experiencing stress is uncomfortable so you consider trying out a few of these remedies or mixing them. Never be ashamed though to talk to a counsellor or therapist to dig deeper and get to the source of your anxiety. You have more power over stress than you think.
