7 Vitamins and Supplements to Help You Fight Stress
Finding new ways to manage stress seems to be high on many people’s to-do lists, and while yoga, meditation, and mindfulness are all smart activities for calming yourself and reducing anxiety, making sure you’re taking all of your essential stress vitamins might be a good place to start.
“While supplements can be a great help in stress management, it’s important to remember that they should be part of a holistic approach that also includes a healthy diet, regular exercise, and enough sleep,” says registered dietitian and authorNourishedsaid Melissa Snover, founder and CEO of .
Still, supplementing with vitamins can make a big difference in how you manage stress. With that in mind, we asked nutritionists to share their thoughts on how vitamins and minerals affect stress and how to choose the best supplement for you. Here are the expert-approved vitamins for stress:
Dietary supplements are products intended to supplement the diet. They are not medicines and are not intended to treat, diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or cure any disease. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, be careful about taking dietary supplements. Also, be careful about giving supplements to children unless recommended by a healthcare professional.
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How to Choose the Best Stress Vitamin for You
Look for third-party validation. White says it’s important to choose supplements that are backed by research, have proven benefits, and are third-party tested. “Research the company that develops the supplement to make sure it adheres to FDA guidelines and is medically sound,” she adds.
Try to avoid filler ingredients if possible. When choosing vitamins, look for products that are formulated with high-quality, bioavailable ingredients and free of unnecessary fillers and additives, says Snover, which means keeping the formula simple and avoiding added sugars and preservatives.
Please consult your doctor. White says it’s important to talk to your doctor before taking any supplements on a regular basis, so before you add any pills, infusions or powders to your daily diet, talk to your doctor about the best vitamins, treatments and stress management for you.
How do vitamins and minerals affect stress?
Vitamins and minerals have a positive impact on your physical health, which in turn has a positive impact on your mental health caused by external stress, White says. “For example, antioxidants (vitamins A, C, and E) help prevent oxidative damage, which is caused by free radicals, which leads to oxidative stress,” so these vitamins help regulate environmental stress, he explains.
In other words, vitamins and minerals can play an important role in stress management by supporting the body’s physiological functions, says Snover. “Key nutrients such as the B vitamins and vitamin D contribute to the production of neurotransmitters, regulating the nervous system, and reducing inflammation, all of which help relieve stress,” she explains.
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Other ways to relieve stress
It’s important to keep in mind that dietary supplements can’t counteract the chronic effects of stress, says Julie Stefanski, M.Ed., RDN, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “Practicing good self-care, like getting enough sleep, limiting alcohol and nicotine, eating nutritious foods, and talking to a health care provider or mental health professional about what’s causing you stress, are important steps to dealing with both chronic and short-term stress,” she advises.
How to choose the best vitamins for stress
We asked three experts to share their product recommendations and expert insights on how to choose the best vitamins for stress: Julie Stefanski, M.Ed., RDN, registered dietitian and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics; Melissa Snover, registered dietitian and CEO and founder of Nourished; and Jim White, RDN, ACSM EX-P, owner of Jim White Fitness & Nutrition Studios. We also combed through tons of online reviews and did our own research to select the best supplements for this list.
Why trust us?
For over 70 years, Prevention is a leading provider of trusted health information, providing readers with practical strategies for improving their physical, mental, and emotional health. Our editors interview medical experts to guide our health-focused product selections. In addition, Prevention We also research hundreds of reviews and often conduct personal testing by our staff to help you make an informed decision.
Madeleine, PreventionShe has a background in health writing from her experience as an editorial assistant at WebMD and her personal research in college. She has a degree in biopsychology, cognition, and neuroscience from the University of Michigan and is involved in strategizing for success in a variety of fields. Preventionsocial media platforms.