15 Natural Remedies to Alleviate Stress During the Holidays

The holidays can be a fun time seeing friends and family. However, holiday stressors create a lot of stress, such as the preparation of buying gifts, wrapping, setting up the decorations, and cooking for your family.  This can turn a fun holiday into a very draining and stressful event.  Here are some ways to reduce holiday stress so you can feel relaxed and get through the holidays with a smile.

Relaxing supplements and Herbs To Help You Alleviate Stress During the Holidays.

Supplements don’t have to be taken in pill form. You can use a diffuser, teas, bath salts, lotions, and body scrubs.

Here Are Some of my favorites supplements and Herbs To Help You Alleviate Stress During the Holidays

1. Lavenders
2. Passionflower
3. Chamomile
4. Rosemary
5. Eucalyptus
6. Spearmint

Stress-Related Problems  and Solutions

Insomnia

• Magnesium: Magnesium, Sleep, and Mental Health. Magnesium is well known for its ability to relieve insomnia. One study found that it helps decrease cortisol, the “stress hormone” that can keep you up at night. It also helps muscles relax, gives you that calm “sleepy” feeling, and helps you unwind after a long day.
• Melatonin: Melatonin is meant to reset the body’s internal clock — for example, it’s appropriate to use the supplement to counter the effects of jet lag or help someone sleep if they have an unusual work schedule or suffer from a circadian rhythm disorder. It should not be used for general insomnia.
• Valerian root: Valerian root may increase the effects of other sleep aids, so it’s not recommended to combine valerian with other sleep aids. It should also not be combined with depressants, such as alcohol, benzodiazepines, and narcotics, since valerian can increase the sedative effect of depressants.

Headaches

• B6: Vitamin B6 is needed so the body can properly use serotonin and dopamine. These neurotransmitters are necessary for normal nerve cell communication. Researchers have found lower levels of serotonin in people with migraine headaches.
• Feverfew: Feverfew is used as a preventative (or prophylactic) treatment for a migraine. A number of people have reported that after taking feverfew their migraine attacks have gradually become less frequent and in a few cases have stopped altogether.

Pain

• Omega-3s: Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) as an anti-inflammatory: an alternative to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for discogenic pain.
• Curcumin: The turmeric plant grows in India and Indonesia and is related to the ginger family (it is a common ingredient in curries). Curcumin is a key chemical in turmeric. Claims: Reduces pain, inflammation, and stiffness related to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis.

Moods and Anxiety

• Theanine: In recent years, L-theanine has been extracted from Green tea and is now widely used to treat anxiety symptoms and depressed mood in China, Japan, and other Asian countries. The calming effects of L-theanine are believed to compensate for the stimulating effects of caffeine in Green tea.
• Taurine: This may alleviate the symptoms of depression and/or anxiety in some individuals. The amino acid taurine is a precursor to GABA, an inhibitory neurotransmitter. The amino acid theanine is an antagonist to glutamate, an excitatory neurotransmitter.

Fatigue

Rhodiola: Known throughout Europe, this tonic herb fights fatigue, decreases stress, and improves energy. Most patients start at 170 mg per day.

Ashwagandha: Ashwagandha proponents claim this herb can be used to alleviate many symptoms of stress, improve learning, reduce anxiety, stabilize brain-cell degeneration, lower cholesterol, and reduce inflammation. … Ashwagandha is often touted as a wonderful remedy for adrenal fatigue.

Here’s a Helpful Tip for Women

Hormones play a big role when it comes to experiencing the woes of stress.   Add some B vitamins and magnesium to your diet.  The combination of the two is said to prevent hormonal decline that is caused by stress.