Building Resilience After the Storm…First Step, Managing Stress

We have been through a lot lately, haven’t we?

Just thinking back, during the New Year, a roaring economy, jobs, jobs, jobs, it seemed world tensions were at their chillest point in many years, as Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert called it…The Golden Age.

And Whammm! … a virus cripples the world, shuts down the economy, sends people scurrying to distance themselves, isolate, schools are closed, and world travel is halted.

If you think this won’t have an impact after the storm, you might be mistaken.

Some tidbits of what history and the research data tells us:

• Social distancing results in some degree of social isolation, disengagement from social ties, connections and studies have reported negative psychological effects including post traumatic stress symptoms, confusion, and anger.
• Stressors included longer quarantine duration, fears of infection, frustration, boredom, inadequate supplies (toilet paper lol), financial loss and stigma.
• Separation from loved ones, loss of freedom, uncertainty over disease status.

Any of this sound familiar?

Managing and protecting oneself from stress has numerous elements, and one of the major areas is nutraceutical application.

As far as foundational elements for the adrenals, aka our stress glands, that help buffer us and adapt us to the stress response, I love Vitamin C, B Complex and Magnesium.

Where B Vitamins can be used to treat or prevent numerous disease states and disorders including; memory issues and dementia, heart disease, nervous system dysfunction, pain, stress, diabetes and more…today we are going to talk about the role they play in our energy levels, as well as how well we sleep…two critical areas of stress adaption and management.

B vitamins have a special quality where they can help wake you up in the morning, and help you get to sleep at night.

Often a reason for lack of energy is what is known as adrenal fatigue. Your adrenal glands manufacture several hormones, such as cortisol, that regulate how well your body can adapt and cope with stress.

Cortisol rises to wake you up in the morning, it is a critical element to the fight or flight response to get you out of dander.  As cortisol gets depleted due to chronic, mismanaged stress, other hormones such as progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone may become depleted as well, further hampering the energy and communication cycles of the body.

B vitamins are needed for the production of adrenal hormones, such as cortisol, as well as moderating stress activity, helping to remedy adrenal fatigue.

B vitamins act as coenzymes, to ensure the needed fuel of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are delivered for the energy dependent pathways supporting cellular energy production.

In addition to playing a key role in the body’s ability to create energy and support adrenal health, B vitamins support the synthesis of serotonin, which not only will help improve your mood, serotonin plays a critical role along with cortisol in helping us wake-up in the morning.

What about the role B vitamins play with sleep?

Considering the number of mediations, as well as natural supplements to help people sleep, I think many are missing the boat if they don’t speak about B vitamins and certain lifestyle strategies.

We must recognize that our normal circadian rhythms are based on the light to dark- day to night scenario. Our bodies are genetically programmed to begin to produce melatonin and stop producing cortisol as the sun goes down to ease us into the evening for a restful sleep. Artificial night time light, and excessive screen time on various devices impairs this action.

B vitamins are needed for the conversion of tryptophan to serotonin. In the evening, our body’s look to our serotonin pools, and convert the serotonin to melatonin to help induce a restful night time sleep- all dependent on the role of the B vitamins.

When recommending B Vitamins, I go with the highest in quality to ensure optimal bioactivity, thus recommend Thorne Research’s Stress B Complex, which utilizes the active, naturally occurring, universally metabolized form of B vitamins.

And what I love about Thorne, they also have your family pet in mind with Thorne B ComplexVet.

Check out Thornes Stress B Complex, amongst other high quality supplements at my online Dispensary at https://wellevate.me/robert-kress

Signing up is free, all supplements are 15 % Off and shipped right to your door.

Feel free to search around, message or email me with any questions, and if you are interested in the Stress B Complex, the code is T02963

Tune in tomorrow as I continue on the foundational supplement support with Vitamin C and Magnesium