When you’re anxious or under pressure, your nervous system releases stress hormones such as adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol, to cope with the stressor.
Although at times this is a healthy and necessary coping mechanism, too much stress can lead to increased blood pressure, lower immunity, and higher risk of a stroke. It can also disrupt your digestive system, make you sick and fatigued, and leave you feeling restless.
Sometimes, daily exercising, nutritious eating, and adequate sleep are all you need to reduce your stress levels.
But that’s not always the case.
When you experience stress too often, or for too long, your body may need additional help from stress relief supplements to start functioning normally again.
In this guide, we’ll be going through everything you need to look for in stress relief supplements, and the best stress relief supplements you can use to reduce stress.
Read along for:
- 9 Stress Relief Supplements
- Other Ways to (Naturally) Reduce Stress
- FAQs on Stress Relief Supplements
9 Stress Relief Supplements
Here are 9 best stress relief supplements you can use to fight off stress:
#1: Joy-Filled
Joy-filled is a 100% plant-based supplement specifically created to help decrease your tension and anxious thoughts. Its formula contains:
- Gotu Kola Herb, a medicinal plant that’s shown to boost cognitive function, reduce stress, act as an antidepressant, and treat insomnia.
- Ashwagandha is an ancient herb that calms down the brain, reduces stress and anxiety, and helps fight depression.
- Rhodiola Root is full of bioactive chemicals that decrease cortisol levels in the body to support a healthy stress response.
- St. John's Wort is a herbal remedy that improves your mood and decreases nervousness and anxious thoughts.
- Lemon Balm Leaf is a calming herb that’s been used since the Middle Ages to reduce stress and anxiety and promote healthy sleep.
- Ginkgo Biloba is a 200 years old tree that counteracts the adrenaline in the body and reduces stress.
- Eleuthero is an adaptogen that supports adrenal function and prevents adrenal fatigue when your body is challenged to stress.
How to Take It: Take two capsules either in the morning or at bedtime.
#2: Organic Ashwagandha
Ashwagandha is a powerful adaptogen that’s been used for over 3,000 years due to its healing properties and numerous health benefits. The medicinal herb relieves stress, increases energy levels, improves concentration, reduces blood sugar levels, contains anti-cancer properties, and can even reduce symptoms of depression.
Our Organic Ashwagandha is made out of two ingredients: ashwagandha and organic black pepper. The black pepper enhances the absorption of beneficial nutrients and compounds found in ashwagandha, for a quick and effective stress recovery.
How to Take It: Take one to three of these vegan pills a day, depending on your stress levels.
#3: Organic Maca
Maca has been cultivated and used for thousands of years as a natural energizer and stress reliever. The plant is full of antioxidants, carbohydrates, fibers, amino acids, and fatty acids, which reduce stress, increase energy and improve your memory. These nutrients also support a healthy immune system, relieve menopausal symptoms, and boost reproductive function in women.
We offer an Organic Maca that’s 100% plant-based, with organic, non-GMO, and naturally-grown herbs.
How to Take It: Take one to two capsules daily.
#4: Rhodiola
Rhodiola Rosea is a herb that normally grows in the arctic areas of northern Europe and Asia. Its roots are considered adaptogens because they increase your body’s resistance to stress, allowing you to cope better during difficult times. The adaptogenic properties also help you elevate fatigue, improve brain function, and sleep better at night.
How to Take It: The appropriate dose depends on many factors, such as age, gender, health, and medical conditions, but generally, you’ll only need between 100 to 200 mg of Rhodiola a day to benefit from its adaptogenic qualities.
#5: B complex
Your body needs a total of 13 vitamins to function properly, 8 of which fall under the B-group category, also known as the vitamin B complex.
Due to its importance, the vitamin B complex has a direct impact on your brain function, blood sugar, energy levels, adrenal glands, and serotonin production. That’s why a vitamin B deficiency can lower your immune system, worsen your anxiety, and interfere with your ability to properly handle stressful situations.
How to Take It: To gain the best stress relief and energy-boosting properties from a vitamin B complex, take at around 400 mg a day, first thing in the morning.
#6: L-Theanine
L-theanine is an amino acid naturally found in green tea, black tea, and some mushrooms. It’s been known to lower stress-related symptoms, such as an increased heart rate, high blood pressure, and insomnia.
How to Take It: You can choose between taking it as a supplement or consuming it in the form of a hot cup of green or black tea, twice a day.
If you want to learn about 7 natural, delicious drinks you can consume to balance your hormones and energy levels, head over to our guide on drinks to balance hormones.
#7: Magnesium
Magnesium is a mineral that plays an important role in many biological processes. It helps keep your bones strong, blood sugar levels normal, and heartbeat steady.
Thus, when you’re not consuming enough magnesium the body experiences elevated inflammation, which can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and increased levels of stress.
How to Take It: To prevent these negative side effects and benefit from magnesium’s stress relief properties, consume around 310-400 mg per day, through foods that contain magnesium and/or magnesium supplements.
#8: Vitamin D
Vitamin D is linked to hormone balance, as it supports the production of adrenaline, noradrenaline, and dopamine in the brain and protects us from running out of serotonin. Hence, the more vitamin D you consume and absorb from the sun, the less likely it is you’ll develop anxiety and depression.
How to Take It: For most people, 4,000 UV of vitamin D a day is enough. This is equivalent to 10 mg of a vitamin D supplement or 10 minutes outside in the sun.
#9: Valerian
Valerian is a herbal medicine typically used for sleeping disorders, but which has also proven to be effective in treating stress and anxiety symptoms.
The supplement contains valerenic acid, isovaleric acid, and a variety of antioxidants, which help regulate nerve impulses in your brain and nervous system and provide sedative and calming effects for the body.
How to Take It: For anxiety, it’s recommended you take valerian in the form of an oral drop or as a herbal supplement, at around 120 to 200 mg.
Keep in mind to always consult with a doctor or health care professional before consuming any anti-anxiety supplement. The exact dosage and remedies you need depend highly on your age, gender, genetics, and health conditions.
Other Ways to (Naturally) Reduce Stress
Besides taking supplements, there are plenty of other ways you can naturally control and reduce your stress levels.
Here are our 5 top natural stress relief recommendations:
#1: Go for a Walk
Exercise doesn’t just change your body. It also affects your mental health, energy levels, and overall mood.
Simply going on a walk every day, be it on your way to work, school, during lunch break, or whenever your schedule allows it, can help ease the stress from your daily worries.
#2: Eat Healthily
The healthier you eat, the stronger your immune system gets and the easier it becomes to fight off stress. Make sure to maintain a well-balanced diet filled with antioxidants, vitamin C, omega-3, and other hormone-balancing nutrients.
If you want to know the best foods to consume for hormone balance, check out our hormone balance diet guide for 11+ great recommendations.
#3: Meditate
When you’re meditating, you focus your attention on one single thing - breathing and being in the present moment. This helps produce a deep state of relaxation and quiets the mind, which immediately stabilizes your heart rate and decreases stress.
#4: Improve Sleep Quality
Ever notice how agitated you are when you wake up from a restless sleep? That’s because sleep is one of the most vital human functions.
It cleans the brain of toxins, heals and repairs your heart and blood vessels, maximizes athletic performance, boosts your immune system, and improves your memory. Hence, when you don’t rest well, your body doesn’t have enough energy to easily tackle the day’s stress.
To get a full good night’s sleep, avoid coffee after 2 pm, reduce blue light exposure before sleeping, take a hot, relaxing bath, and aim for 7-8 hours of sleep per night.
#5: Talk It Out
Sometimes the best stress reliever is talking about your issues with a close friend, family member, or partner. When you get support from the people closest to you, whether that’s in the form of a listening ear, a hug, or a word of advice, you release all of your pent-up feelings. This soothes your anxiety and boosts your overall emotional health.
FAQs on Stress Relief Supplements
#1. What is the Best Supplement for Stress & Anxiety?
The best natural supplements for stress relief include:
- Ashwagandha
- Rhodiola root
- Lemon balm leaf
- Melatonin
- B-complex vitamins
- L-theanine
Organic Ashwagandha
Known for its use in Ayurvedic healing, Ashwagandha has been used for over 3,000 years to help reduce stress. It does this by:
- Normalizing your stress levels and mood
- Promoting speedier relief from cortisol and adrenal fatigue
- Boosting your immune system with this powerful adaptogen
Try it risk free with our 60-Day Money Back Guarantee.
#2. What Foods Are Bad for Anxiety?
Foods that invoke and worsen your anxiety are foods that raise inflammation. These include highly processed foods such as chocolate, candy, cakes, sugary drinks, fast food, and processed meats. Coffee and other drinks high in caffeine can also make your anxiety flare up because they stimulate your “fight or flight” response.
#3. What is the Healthiest Form of Stress Relief?
Daily exercising, a good night’s sleep, and nutritious eating are the best protectors against stress. They strengthen your immune system so that you can better manage your emotions in a crisis or stressful situation.
You can also relieve your stress through breathing exercises, mediation, journaling, or by talking out your feelings with friends and family.
For more ideas on how to ease your stress, head over to our guide on stress relief tips.
#4. How do Supplements Help Reduce Stress?
Supplements contain vitamin A, C, D, and E, omega-3, magnesium, melatonin, glycine, ashwagandha, and more, which are supplements that reduce oxidative stress and increase your body's resistance to stressors.
Key Takeaways
There are many natural supplements that can help relieve symptoms of stress and anxiety. The best ones will usually contain the following herbs and vitamins:
- Ashwagandha
- Vitamin B-complex
- Rhodiola Root
- L-Theanine
- Magnesium
Before rushing into the store and taking any supplement, though, make sure to consult a doctor first. You shouldn’t take any anxiety medication without a doctor’s approval, as it could end up causing more harm than good to your body.