While it’s perfectly OK to experience stress from time to time, it shouldn’t be a daily visitor! Chronic stress leads to undesirable health consequences, including sleep disorders and migraines.
Thankfully, there are literal chill pills you can take that’ll help calm you down.
Best of all? They’re natural, too! So, without further ado, here are the top 9 natural vitamins and herbs that’ll help bring you a sense of peace.
Gotu kola, a member of the parsley family, is a type of leafy plant with a long history of use in both traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurvedic medicine.
Interestingly, research shows that it may help reduce anxiety and stress. According to a 2016 study, gotu kola exhibited anti-anxiety effects on male mice that were sleep-deprived for 72 hours.
That’s not all the evidence there is, too. A 2013 review of anti-anxiety herbal medicines also supported the view that the gotu kola has an acute anti-anxiety effect!
Rhodiola rosea is a flowering herb that grows in cold, high-altitude regions of Asia and Europe. As an adaptogen, rhodiola rosea can help you better handle stressful situations.
Several studies have shown the herb’s positive effects on symptoms on stress, such as fatigue, exhaustion, and anxiety. Rhodiola has also been shown to improve signs of burnout.
Ashwagandha–Sanskrit for ‘smell of the horse’–is a small shrub with yellow flowers that’s native to India and North Africa. Now, why should you care about ashwagandha?
Good question. You should care because research shows that the herb can help reduce cortisol levels.
Just so you know, cortisol is a stress hormone that’s released in response to, well, stress. When cortisol levels become chronically elevated, this can lead to serious health problems, like high blood sugar levels!
The lemon balm is a lemon-scented herb from the same family as mint.
Other than smelling good, research also shows that the herb has positive effects on relieving stress, anxiety, and other mood disorders.
More specifically, in a 2004 study, participants who took lemon balm self-reported an increased sense of calmness. The herb’s positive effect on mood was also further supported in a 2014 study.
Participants who took lemon balm reported uplifting effects on various aspects of mood, including reduced levels of anxiety!
Ginkgo biloba is a tree native to China that’s been grown for thousands of years for traditional medicinal purposes. Research indicates that supplementing with ginkgo may reduce symptoms of anxiety.
And this is thought to be due to its’ antioxidant content.
In a 2007 study, individuals suffering from generalized anxiety reported a 45% greater reduction in symptoms of anxiety when they were treated with the highest dose of ginkgo, compared to the placebo group.
Eleuthero is an Asian herb that’s been used for thousands of years as a healing remedy in folk medicine.
It acts as an adaptogen–a class of herbs that boost your body’s resistance to stress.
As a testament to this, a 2009 research review published in Current Clinical Pharmacology shows that the herb can improve mental performance in individuals with mild, stress-induced fatigue.
L-theanine might sound alien and unfamiliar to you, but you’ve most likely consumed it unknowingly–perhaps just this morning! That’s because it’s an amino acid found most commonly in tea leaves.
Research consistently shows that L-theanine promotes relaxation without drowsiness.
More specifically, five randomized controlled trials–with a total of 104 participants–found that it helped reduce stress and anxiety in people who were experiencing stressful situations.
As B vitamins are water-soluble, your body does not store them–and this makes it crucial that you’re getting in enough through your diet every single day.
Especially if you want to perform at your best!
That’s because research shows that B-complex vitamins can improve general mental stress, stress levels, and mental fatigue.
Vitamin D plays a vital role in mood regulation, and that includes stress and anxiety levels.
Several studies suggest that having a vitamin D deficiency could be linked to anxiety disorders; a 2017 study found that vitamin D supplements improved both depression and anxiety in women with type 2 diabetes, for example.
You must be feeling overwhelmed: does this mean that you should take just one, a few, or all of these natural herbs and vitamins?
And in what concentrations? How does this work? Hang on, hang on, before you stress yourself out (ironically), why not check out Pure Bliss?
We’ve blended the perfect amounts of each herb and vitamin to give you the best results you’re looking for (with a hint of BioPerine®, to boost your body’s absorption of all the chill), so you don’t need to do the hard work yourself.
Easy. Pure bliss.