Stressed Out? Try These 4 Tricks

If one of your New Year’s resolutions was to reduce the amount of stress in your life, you’re in good company.

There are all kinds of reasons to cut stress out of your life –it can lead to chronic fatigue, headaches, stomach problems, anger, and other health issues.

And there are all kinds of ways to combat it – work less, sleep more, exercise, meditate, spend time with friends, the list goes on.

But did you know that there are a handful of vitamins and supplements that can work at the cellular level to help your body better handle stress?

Here are four of the best.

Rhodiola Rosea

This herb is known as an adaptogen, which is something that helps your body adapt to (and resist) stress.

One study shows that taking 400 mg per day of Rhodiola extract improved symptoms such as problems with short-term memory and poor sleep in people with chronic fatigue—in just one week.

Another study finds that in people with stress-related burnout, taking Rhodiola extract led to improvements in anxiety, exhaustion, and irritability.

Ashwagandha

This is another adaptogenic herb that’s been used for centuries to help combat both physical and mental stress.

Studies show that supplementing with ashwagandha can reductions in stress, anxiety, depression, and fatigue.

It’s can also reductions in the stress hormone, cortisol.

Melatonin

Stress and poor sleep are a vicious cycle. Stress causes poor sleep which causes more stress.

Supplementing with melatonin (your body’s natural sleep hormone) can decrease the amount of time it takes to fall asleep, increase the amount of sleep, and improve the quality of sleep in people with sleep disorders.

More sleep = less stress.

B Vitamins

They are best known for boosting energy, but the range of B vitamins can also improve numerous symptoms of stress—like mood and energy levels. They accomplish this by lowering homocysteine, which is linked to stress.

Studies have shown that supplementing with B vitamins reduces symptoms of stress like depression, anger, fatigue, anxiety, and low energy.