Best Vitamins for Stress: 5 Daily Essentials and How to Get Them

Stress is something we all experience. Whether it’s overload from work, a bad breakup, or financial trouble, it seems to hit even the best of us when we least expect it. And while it’s easy to let stress take over your body, not managing it properly can lead to some major health consequences.

For most people, turning to things like junk food and alcohol are the primary coping mechanisms with stress—but they only further contribute to the problem and it becomes a nasty self-perpetuating cycle.

And not surprisingly, stress is a big contributing factor to the six leading causes of death in America: cancer, coronary heart disease, accidental injuries, respiratory disorders, cirrhosis of the liver, and suicide ¹.

Learning how to manage stress is more complicated than what meets the eye, but taking simple steps daily—like boosting your intake of vitamins and minerals—can go a long way in supporting your body to overcome it.

Right now, we’re walking you through the best vitamins to give your body a little extra resiliency when stress hits and where you can find them. Keep reading to find out!

The Top 5 Vitamins For Stress

Magnesium

The relationship between stress and magnesium is bidirectional—periods of intense stress can deplete magnesium stores and low levels of magnesium can increase the body’s susceptibility to stress ⁵.

That’s because magnesium plays an inhibitory role in the regulation and neurotransmission of the normal stress response.

Under normal circumstances, magnesium functions to inhibit glutamatergic transmission while promoting GABA activity (the anti-anxiety neurotransmitter), producing an inhibitory effect at the central level ⁶. But magnesium also plays a role in reducing the stress response controlled by catecholamines and glucocorticoids.

However, extended periods of high stress can deplete magnesium levels, leading to a compromised inhibitory response and eventual overactivation of the HPA axis.

There are a few ways in which magnesium supplements can help modulate several steps of the stress response:

• Cortisol: Magnesium indirectly inhibits the release of ACTH by modulating certain neurotransmission pathways, which ultimately decrease circulating levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) ⁷
• Neuroprotection: Exhibits positive effects on the expression of BNDF in the brain
• Oxidative stress: May suppress the production of free radicals and reduce oxidative stress levels

If you want to maintain a healthy nervous system and relieve stress and anxiety symptoms, magnesium is the ultimate anti-stress vitamin.

B vitamins

When it comes to vitamins for stress reduction, the B vitamins will always rank at the top for anti-stress nutrients. That’s because they play a major role in energy production pathways in the body and are some of the vitamins hardest hit during times of stress.

Although each B vitamin plays its own role in maintaining optimal performance, as a group they are essential for the proper function of your nervous system, cellular metabolism, red blood cell formation, and energy production.

Research has shown that high doses of the B vitamins can help to reduce stress symptoms, which may be due to their effect on lowering blood levels of the amino acid homocysteine ⁷. High homocysteine has been linked to stress and increased risks of heart disease, dementia, and certain types of cancer.

Through their role in one-carbon metabolism, the B vitamins also act as cofactors for the synthesis and regulation of dopaminergic and serotonergic neurotransmitters, both of which are important regulators of mood.

One study in particular following 60 participants experiencing work-related stress found that those taking a vitamin B complex for 90 days had fewer work-related stress symptoms like anger, fatigue, and depression compared to those who took the placebo ⁸.

Other scientific evidence shows similar results after 30 days of supplementation with a multivitamin containing the B vitamins ⁹.

Vitamin D

While vitamin D is typically thought to be a major supporter of bone health and immune function, it can also combat stress. Getting enough vitamin D is important for mitigating the effects of stress and supporting better overall resiliency.

Vitamin D plays a neuroprotective role in the brain through several mechanisms ¹⁰:

• Regulating neurotrophic signaling essential for neuronal development and health
• Modulating levels of inflammation by inhibiting the release of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-6 specifically)
• Regulating proteins that inhibit the production of reactive oxygen species (free radicals)
• Boosts the synthesis of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and glial-derived neurotrophic factor

But vitamin D also plays a major role in mood, and although the mechanisms aren’t well understood, there’s evidence showing that low vitamin D levels are linked to an increased risk of depression, anxiety disorders, and other mood disorders ¹¹.

Zinc

The relationship between zinc and stress is much like that of magnesium and stress—bidirectional.

It’s been proposed that zinc is an important mineral to support the stress response, as sufficient levels can help to stabilize serum cortisol levels over time¹²; proper zinc intake can also temporarily inhibit cortisol secretions, thereby reducing the extent of the stress response ¹³.

However, prolonged stress is known to deplete serum zinc concentrations, and a zinc deficiency can increase plasma cortisol and levels of proinflammatory mediators like interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-1, and nitric oxide ^{14, 15}.

Zinc is needed for more than 300 enzymatic reactions in the body ranging from DNA and protein synthesis to cell division and immune function. And because it plays an important role in the inflammatory response, keeping your levels up is key to keeping your stress down and lowering cortisol levels.

Iron

Although you may not associate iron with stress, keeping your iron levels within the normal range is important for mitigating stress and increasing energy levels.

Maintaining iron stores is important, especially for menstruating women, who can lose a lot of iron throughout the month. Low levels of iron can cause iron-deficiency anemia, which results in symptoms like fatigue, dizziness, and shortness of breath.

What’s more, studies show that iron deficiency can lead to some hefty consequences for brain health ¹⁶:

• Poor brain myelination and monoamine metabolism
• Altered glutamate and GABA homeostasis
• Impair memory/learning capacity and motor skills
• Increase emotional and psychological problems

There’s mounting evidence suggesting that energy metabolism and neurotransmitter homeostasis are involved in emotional behavior, and both functions are influenced by iron levels in the brain.

Other Simple Tips For Overcoming Stress

On top of taking your daily multivitamin, there are some other simple and effective ways to reduce the negative effects of stress on the body and achieve optimal health.

Get enough sleep

Sleep and stress have a nasty cycle with one another—lack of sleep increases stress and increased stress can make it difficult to fall asleep.

Stress and anxiety are two major factors underlying insomnia, and many people report that when stress levels increase, sleep quality and duration decrease¹⁷.

Stress is known to alter your sleep architecture, which is the way sleep is organized into distinct stages. Being overly stressed can create imbalances between the amount of REM and NREM sleep you get, and because both are essential to overall health and well-being, an imbalance creates a poorer quality of sleep ¹⁸.

Although falling asleep when you’re ultra-stressed can be challenging, work on implementing good sleep hygiene practices like removing bright lights, putting your devices away a few hours before bed, lowering your room temperature, and relaxation techniques. They're key to getting a good night's rest and reducing stress.

Eat well

As we’ve just talked about, being stressed can have a major impact on nutrient levels within your body and the body requires certain nutrients to mitigate stress.

A healthy diet is the foundation for health, which means eliminating processed and refined foods, sugar, alcohol, and unhealthy oils, and replacing them with nutrient-dense whole foods that supply the essential vitamins and minerals.

In addition to a clean diet, adding in a multivitamin can be advantageous for topping up nutrient stores that may not be fulfilled through diet. Performance Lab NutriGenesis Multi for Men and Multi for Women are your one-stop shop for all the essentials.

It supplies 100% DV of 17+ essential vitamins and minerals that support optimal full-body function. And because they’re complexed with cofactors and boosters that enhance absorption and bioactivity, you know you’re giving your body what it needs to fight stress head-on.

Be present

Mindfulness and meditation can go a long way to reducing the symptoms of stress and helping calm the body in the heat of the fire.

Whether it’s walking in nature, practicing deep meditation, or just breathing, being present is great to reduce stress and relieve anxiety by switching OFF the sympathetic branch of your nervous system (the fight-or-flight response) and switching ON the parasympathetic branch (your rest-and-digest response) ¹⁹.

Unplug daily

Unplugging from electronic devices may not seem like a big deal, but it can go a long way to reducing your stress levels. If work, personal relationships, or social media are contributing to your stress levels, putting away the phone, laptop, or tablet may be to your advantage.

A 2011 study found that detaching from work-related communication during non-work hours can help to improve employee recovery and overall health and feelings of well-being ²⁰.

If you’re not able to unplug for an extended period, set a device curfew whereby they go away after 6 or 7 pm. Something as small as putting your phone out of sight can have big effects and provide immediate relief to improve stress and reduce anxiety levels.

Final Thoughts

Excessive stress can negatively impact overall health and well-being, and while it may seem like the cycle of stress is never-ending, supplying your body with the essential vitamins and minerals can do a lot to lower stress levels and ease anxiety.