Stress

Millions of years ago, our bodies were designed to react quickly to danger. Like wild animals we were on constant alert so we could run or fight if threatened. When your brain thinks your life is in danger it stimulates the release of adrenaline and cortisol

This fight or flight response is incredibly clever and thoroughly efficient. It provides instant energy for 5-10 minutes allowing you to react swiftly to dangerous situations.

These days, many of us live under chronic stress. But our bodies can’t distinguish between late trains, missed appointments, spiralling debt, infuriating work colleagues, family disputes and the truly life-threatening stress it gears up to challenge. So it reacts exactly the same as it’s always done.

Stress can give you a number of symptoms including moods swings, anxiety, irritability, nervousness, aggressive outbursts, fatigue, palpitations, forgetfulness, anxiety, confusion, inability to concentrate, crying spells, insomnia, headaches, muscle cramps, digestive problems and food cravings.

You may not be able to control the stress but you can control how it affects you physically and also you can make sure you are not making it worse

Supplements

A good quality multivitamin and mineral would form the foundation of your supplement programme to make sure that you are getting a ‘little bit of everything’. You then add in those nutrients in slightly higher amounts which are known to be helpful for Stress.

B vitamins especially vitamin B5

The B vitamins are known as your ‘stress’ vitamins. It is important to take them when you are working on nourishing and calming the adrenal function When you are under stress you use up a lot of your B vitamins especially vitamin B5. The B vitamins are water-soluble vitamins, so your need to eat them in your diet on a day to day basis (or get them from food supplements) because they are not stored in your body.

Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid) is the most important B vitamin for your adrenal function. When you are under constant stress, your body’s need for this vitamin will rise as it uses it to make the stress hormones, adrenaline and cortisol. It is present in every cell in your body but in much higher concentration in the adrenal glands because it is crucial in producing the adrenal hormones.

Magnesium

Known as ‘nature’s tranquilliser, magnesium helps to calm your adrenal glands. But it can become depleted when you are under stress. Magnesium helps to relieve anxiety and relax muscles which often become tense when the stress response is triggered. Magnesium deficiency is often reflected by waking up in the early hours of the morning and not being able to get back to sleep again.

L-theanine

This amino acid has been shown to help calm your body without casing drowsiness. It can help with both mental and physical stress. It may also give you better quality sleep by helping your mind to ‘switch off’.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is crucial for your adrenal gland function. The more cortisol you make, the more vitamin C you use. Under stress you’ll excrete more vitamin C through urine. Even a small deficiency in vitamin C can trigger higher levels of cortisol. A number of studies have shown that giving vitamin C to people undergoing a stress (such as surgery or a sporting event) can bring cortisol levels back to normal fairly quickly. In one study, giving marathon runners vitamin C (1,000-1,500mg per day) for a week resulted in a 30% lower cortisol level (compared to runners given a placebo).

Chromium

Chromium is a useful mineral when you are under stress as it helps to control cravings and keeps your blood sugar in balance. Your food selection can change when you are stressed and it is easy to go for the comfort foods – sweets, puddings – which only make you feel more stressed. So taking chromium can help ward off those feelings.

Omega 3 Fatty Acids

Chronic stress can cause inflammation because your body thinks you are under attack. If you are really under attack and you have been injured with a knife and been cut, then you want your body to produce an inflammatory response quickly to create heat, pain, soreness, redness even to make your blood clot faster as it mobilises your immune system to start healing the wound.

But you don’t want chronic, persistent inflammation going on in your body, as that can lead to not only visible signs such as joint pains, arthritis, swollen gums and colitis, but also serious illnesses such as heart disease, type 2diabetes and cancer.

Omega 3 fatty acids are so important because they help to control inflammation in when you are under stress. Many of the women I see in the clinic have been taking evening primrose oil supplements – an Omega 6 fatty acid – for years and have not been eating enough Omega 3 oils, or taking them in supplement form, to counterbalance this. Some women are also taking combinations such as Omega 3, 6, and 9 in supplement form because they have heard that we need a good balance of all the Omega fatty acids. This is true, but you have to take into account what your own levels may be in the first place. It is no good adding in more Omega 6 if you have already got enough or in fact too much in your body. (You can now have a blood test to tell you if you have the correct levels of Omega 3 to Omega 6 in your body see below). To check whether you have sufficient levels of Omega 3 please click Omega 3 Deficiency Test (at home finger prick blood)

Tests

There are a number of tests available that are extremely useful and are well worth considering. These tests can give you invaluable insights into understanding what is going on in your body at the moment.

The analysis of these results lets you know what supplements you need to take in order to bring your body back into balance and into optimum health. You would then be re-tested after three months to monitor your progress and to adjust the supplement programme accordingly.

Adrenal Stress Test (saliva)

How stressed are you?

The test measures the level of the stress hormone cortisol which is released when you feel physical or psychological stress. Symptoms can occur if you are producing too much or little cortisol. The test also measures DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone), which is the hormone that works to balance many of the negative effects of cortisol and helps you cope with stress. Four saliva samples are collected in a kit, supplied by the lab, at home over the course of one day and the samples are then sent back to the lab for analysis.

Find out more – Adrenal Stress Test (saliva)

Online Personalised Supplement Assessment Programme
Discover what vitamins and minerals you need and should be taking
The analysis of this comprehensive questionnaire will give you a three monthly supplement programme to help balance any vitamin and mineral deficiencies you may have. Find out more – Online Personalised Supplement Assessment Programme

Omega 3 Deficiency Test (at home finger prick blood)

If you want to find out if you are getting enough Omega 3 fatty acids from your diet and whether you have the correct balance of essential fatty acids.
Signs of an Omega 3 fatty acid are dry skin, lifeless hair, cracked nails, fatigue, depression, dry eyes, lack of motivation, aching joints, difficulty in losing weight, forgetfulness, cystitis. If you have also tried to lose weight by going on a low-fat or no-fat diet, you are likely to be deficient in these essential fats. It is now estimated that we are getting ten times more Omega 6 fats from our diet than Omega 3 and over the last century there has been an 80% decrease in the consumption of these Omega 3 fatty acids. When you eat Omega 3 fats they are converted to substances that have an anti-inflammatory effect on the body. Find out more – Omega 3 Deficiency Test (at home finger prick blood)

Many of the women I see in the clinic have been taking evening primrose oil supplements – an Omega 6 fatty acid – for many years as it can be helpful with PMS. But you can end up with too much Omega 6 and not enough Omega 3 in your body. Some women are also taking combinations such as Omega 3, 6, and 9 in supplement form because they have heard that we need a good balance of all the Omega fatty acids. This is true, but you have to take into account what your own levels may be in the first place. It is no good adding in more Omega 6 if you have already got enough or in fact too much in your body. (You can now have a blood test to tell you if you have the correct levels of Omega 3 to Omega 6 in your body see below). To check whether you have sufficient levels of Omega 3 please click Omega 3 Deficiency Test (at home finger prick blood).

After three months you would then have a re-test in order to monitor your progress and adjust your supplement programme according to your new condition.