Keep Calm and Stay Zen

By Isabelle, Head Nutritionist

Spring is here with its blossoming trees, longer and lighter days and of course warmer weather!  The sun is out every morning upon rising, and truly helping us to bring up a smile and sense of positivity to our day.  This time of the year usually also brings improved wellbeing and heightened vitality and we know that this year, it isn’t as easy!

Embrace this time of ‘isolation’ by doing comforting things and bringing balance and calm into your lives. We are optimistic about the upcoming months and the current climate being stable very soon. All while more of us are achieving a state of happiness and calm, in our own individual ways.

In the meantime, do access our previous blog on how to best cope with feelings of overwhelm and make the most of this time with work, family and home.

Natural Remedies

Stress can affect our mental wellbeing but also our sleep, digestion, skin and overall health. Although eating a healthy balanced diet is best, natural remedies or supplements can help in certain circumstances.

Here are our top suggestions to help guide you.

Vitamin D3

Vitamin D as a supplement, is recommended by the Department of Health to be taken all year round! It is referred to as the ‘sunshine vitamin’ and is needed for healthy bones, joints, teeth, the immune system and also for mental wellbeing. Research has correlated deficiency in Vitamin D levels with symptoms of low mood and anxiety. Vitamin D has an important role to play in our overall health, and especially if you are staying at home or ‘self-isolating’ Vitamin D is a nutrient you would not want to miss out on. Remember that even if you do expose your skin to the sunshine, for the body to natural produce a required level of vitamin D in the UK especially in spring, is not enough to produce sufficient amounts needed.

Nature’s Answer Vitamin D-3 drops, provide an easily absorbed and highly potent form, in a base of olive oil. A serving of one drop provides 2000  IU (international units). 

Garden of Life also has wholefood certified organic vitamin D3 formula, in a base of omega-3 fatty acids to support absorption. Perfect for Vegans it is available in a spray form, at a dose of 25 micrograms (1000 IU) per serving.

Magnesium

Magnesium is an essential mineral, involved in about 300 enzymatic processes in the body.

Stress is well known to deplete us of nutrients and magnesium is one of those. Studies have shown that magnesium can help calm the nerves and is soothing for the mind. Magnesium has shown to act on many levels in the hormonal axis and in the regulation of the stress response (i.e. how your body deals with stress). In a more elaborate explanation, magnesium can aid the suppression of the hippocampus in stimulating the release of the stress hormones. Magnesium has shown that it can act at the blood brain barrier to help prevent the entrance of the stress hormone into the brain. Some would even refer to magnesium as the ‘original chill pill’.

Explore our range, Marine Based Magnesium capsules and Platinum Liquid Magnesium to see what best suits you.



Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Fatty acids are an essential part of everyone’s diet. They are obtained from oily fish such as mackerel, salmon, herring and sardines. Let’s face it; it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea to consume oily fish as per the guidelines despite all its goodness.

Several human studies suggest that increased intakes of omega-3 fatty acids could be beneficial for young, healthy people as well as the elderly by reducing anxiety symptoms and inflammation, a process that plays a role in many diseases.

Omega-3 fatty acids have also been studied, when their combination of EPA to DHA provides a serving of at least 1000mg per day (the equivalent of a whole tin of sardines). More research is still under way, but there has been great findings in how fatty acids, also support hormonal balance, heart and eye health as well as brain health.

Nature’s Answer Platinum Liquid Omega-3 fatty acids offer a potent and pure form of omega-3 fatty acids that have been molecularly distilled and nitrogen flushed. Offering a high quality product, with the required dose achieved in just one serving.

If a plant-based form is preferred, Natural Traditions Ahiflower Seed Oil offers a great alternative! Sustainably harvested, with the most efficient conversion rate of plant-based omega-3 SDA to EPA (as that found in fish).

Garden of Life Microbiome Formula Mood+

Besides consuming plenty of fibre in the form of wholegrains, nuts and seeds, fruits and vegetables or even fermented produce to help give your gut a boost of beneficial bacteria; probiotics or ‘Live bacteria’ can also help.

Microbiome Formula Mood+ has been expertly formulated by Dr. Perlmutter; a neurologist with expertise in the microbiome. Research has shown that having the right balance of bacteria correlated with a person’s quality of life and whether they experience symptoms of low mood and anxiety.

Did you know that 95% of serotonin also lives in our guts. Serotonin is the ‘happy hormone’ which sends chemical messages from cell to cell in our body and normal serotonin levels are associated with mood balance as you may have guessed by now!

Our guts are constantly communicating with our brain, and when there is an imbalance of bacteria or hormones, our gut will send signals to the brain. This manifests itself as low mood, anxiety and even depression.

So take care of your microbes to help you in staying happy and Zen! Mood + contains 16 billon live bacteria that includes two clinically studied strains for emotional wellbeing. A synergistic blend of botanicals (organic Ashwaghanda and wild Alaskan blueberries) have been added to help support low mood and anxiety. The formula is also made with certified organic prebiotics that are kind to the digestive system to provide optimum quality and support!

For more information about Ashwaghanda, read our previous blog.