I believe in the power of tonic herbs.  They can be the “medicine” we let be our food.  It can be tempting to shop for medicinal herbs from a place of need and desperation.  We need a foundation beneath this.  I remind myself to give my body the raw materials that it needs for healing and then anything beyond that will be more effective.  So what are the most important nutrients in reducing or compensating for stress?

Vitamin C is depleted by stress and is so important to our bodies and our adrenal glands that it is critical to replenish.  The adrenals use more vitamin C than anywhere else in the body.  There is some debate as to how much C we need and I tend to err on the side of more because I have felt the difference.  A daily green juice is a great place to start for vitamin C and some more hard core sources include wild rose hips and wild greens which both contain much more than an orange per volume.

The second important nutrient for stress relief is vitamin B5.  When under stress we use up our hormone precursors to make cortisol.  This is called the Pregnenalone Steal can lead to imbalances in almost all other hormones because there will not be enough precursors left to create them.  B5 will help us to make more of the precursors out of the raw material, cholesterol (I know, shocker).

Tyrosine, our third most important nutrient is an amino acid.  It is a precursor for adrenaline.  If we are using this up in stress we can get more from spinach, mustard greens, spirulina, nori and other seaweeds or sesame. I feel a raw sushi with a sesame inspired dipping sauce coming on…

Phosphatidylserine is an important amino acid for stress relief and adrenal support.  Do you ever walk into the kitchen and not remember why you are there?  Do you read passages and realize you didn’t retain the information?  I want to be able to retain what I read and remember what I am walking around the house to get.  If multitasking has you feeling brain dead it may be because of stress.

Cortisol can actually damage the hippocampus in the brain, our memory centre. Phosphatidylserine can help to repair this damage. Sunflower lecithin is a good source of phosphatidyl choline but phosphatidyl serine may need to be supplemented to be found in the quantities shown to help brain recovery from stress.  Many of the supplements for phosphatidyl serine are derived from soy.

Our fifth nutrient this week for stressful situations is magnesium. Magnesium can help to improve memory and sleep which are two areas hugely impacted by stress.  Magnesium is important for fighting inflammation which can be triggered by stress as well.  Truthfully there are many important trace minerals for stress however because magnesium is so commonly low and so often overlooked I choose to focus on it.  Some great plant sources of magnesium are green juices made with swiss chard (or swiss chard on its own), sesame seeds, brazil nuts and avocados.

Most of the above nutrient requirements can be easily met by a diet that is very high in leafy greens while making sure to optimize digestion and absorption.  That is a good place to start.  If that is not enough supplementing is possible but almost anything benefits from a nutrient rich food plan.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this article, I have really enjoyed putting it together for you. Please talk with me in the comments.