Stress is the number one reason so many of us have let our health go.
Whether it’s just a busy schedule, stress from our environment, emotional stress you name it too much stress = bad health.
Studies are now linking many diseases to over abundance of stress, and I don’t know about you, but that’s not something I want to partake in!
Stress management is something we really pride on trying to help our members with here at RAW Fit.
We like to practice things like, mindfulness practice, visualization, our distraction method, managing our time better etc.
However, if it where as simple as that, we wouldn’t have the epidemic of high stress lifestyles that we all tend to find ourselves in.
So one thing we can do is to supplement with some common supplements that help with our stress and sleep.
The reason we have partnered stress and sleep in the same category is they go hand and hand.
Think of a teeter toter, when stress hormones go high, sleep and recovery hormones are low, and when sleep and recovery hormones are high, those stress hormones drop.
So if your living daily with a ton of stress, guess what happens… You got it, our sleep severely suffers.
And do you know the worst part of that? Sleep is the best way to handle stress in the body…and it’s free!
Now that is rough.
So like we have been doing this month, in our last two blog posts (if you missed those, you can find them here):
The Best Supplements for Weight Loss
The Best Supplements for Energy and Performance
We created our 3rd installment of The Best Supplements For Stress and Sleep that we will share with you today.
So with out further ado, here is our list!
- Ashwagandha: Ashwagandha is an ancient medicinal herb that has been used for a long time in treating things such as stress, increasing energy, and improving concentration. It has been shown to reduce cortisol, the stress hormone, and has been shown to decrease stress and anxiety in humans studies
- Magnesium: is a mineral that many of us are deficient in. One of the main side effects of that, is poor sleep. As mentioned above, when we don’t sleep well, or don’t produce sleep hormones well, our stress isn’t managed as well. It has a lot of benefits including increased energy production, an electrolyte, but for today we want to highlight it’s benefit in controlling how your body handles stress responses.
- Zinc: Zinc is another thing many of us, especially men, are deficient in. Having higher levels of zinc in the body helps the body to produce more GABA levels, and when the GABA levels are higher, our body has been shown to battle anxiety symptoms better.
- Omega 3’s: This is a more common supplement, and for good reason. Omega 3 or fish oils, is an essential fatty acid, that due to our lifestyles and eating choices, we tend to have low levels of relative to omega 6. This can lead to decreased cardiovascular and mental functions, higher levels of inflammation, and many more issues. According to a study done by Ohio State University, higher levels of omega 3, in relation to omega 6, where shown to decrease inflammation and anxiety, which both will correlate to lower stress levels.
- Tart Cherry Juice: So unlike omega 3, tart cherry juice isn’t as common. Tart cherry juice has been shown to help the body produce natural melatonin, the sleep hormone, and if you’ve been following along, you know that means better sleep, and lower stress hormones…yayy!
So there you have it, our top recommended supplements for stress and sleep!
If you live a stressful lifestyle, give one or a few of these a try, but as always, please consult with your primary doctor before partaking in any new supplements.
I hope this helps!
