Reduce stress – with nutrition, meditation and vital substances to a balanced self

We all know stress – but what to do and how to reduce it?

We are all in the “end of year stress”. There are the last appointments that still need to be dealt with urgently, the planning for the holidays or the confusion of presents for the children. It’s not uncommon for us to sit on the couch in the evening or fall into bed completely exhausted: and that’s it for the day. What have we managed to do? Often not that much. But it feels like we’ve moved mountains.

Tiredness and exhaustion are the constant companions of many people in fall and winter. But we need performance and optimism if we want to make it through this time stable and unscathed. The basis for this? A functioning energy metabolism and a stable nervous system.

Our motto: vitality instead of fatigue – and that’s not as difficult as you might think. If you pay attention to one or two tips, you won’t even run the risk of the winter blues hitting you with its full broadside. We have listed a few things you can do to put an end to stress and tiredness.

Reduce stress with a balanced diet

If you eat a balanced diet, ideally a vegetarian diet, you ensure that your body is supplied with all the important micronutrients. This is important because otherwise the energy metabolism, the nervous and cardiovascular system and the muscles can hardly function properly. However, this is easier said than done, as it is difficult to maintain an optimal diet, especially when everyday life is hectic and you are sometimes under enormous time pressure. Food supplements can make all the difference in these phases and support the body by providing various vitamins and nutrients:

• Vitamin C, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, folic acid, niacin and magnesium, for example, help to reduce tiredness and fatigue.
• Cardiovascular functions are optimally supported by good omega-3 fatty acids.
• Selenium and zinc protect the cells from oxidative stress
• Calcium, iodine, manganese and copper are essential for normal energy metabolism.

As you can see: A balanced combination of the most important micronutrients is essential to ensure that the body has enough energy even under pressure and that we are not plagued by leaden fatigue.

Incidentally, the body needs far fewer micronutrients (such as the vitamins and minerals mentioned above) than macronutrients (fats, carbohydrates and proteins). Nevertheless, it is important to provide it with sufficient nutrients and to check the status of things from time to time with a blood count.

Reduce stress and relax

Sounds simple, but sometimes it really isn’t:
Because we all know stress. Few of us know that it comes in two varieties: short-term stress and the kind that determines our lives in the long term.
Short-term stress is usually even positive for the body. It occurs when there is positive excitement or anticipation. For example, an adrenaline rush after passing an exam. It motivates and can also boost self-esteem enormously. Conclusion: in many cases, short-term stress simply makes you happy.

So stress does not always equal bad.

However, the situation is different with long-term, stressful situations. It often has a massive impact on the mind and leaves those affected feeling burnt out, weakening the entire body. The hormone cortisol, which circulates in the body over the long term during stress, is to blame. It is actually only released in acute situations when the body is on alert and has to produce power on the spot. If you think back to the Stone Age: when the sabre-toothed tiger came around the corner, you had to run – no matter how exhausted you were. The cortisone released pushes the adrenaline level way up, releasing energy that is needed for a short-term performance peak and is certainly not harmful to health in this context.

However, if one stressful situation follows another without a break, this can be harmful to your health in the long term and have a massive negative impact on your body:

• Immune deficiency
• Poor sleep
• Lack of performance

As you can see: Constant stress really gets an unhealthy lifestyle going and sometimes has unexpected consequences. It is therefore important to ensure the necessary relaxation in everyday life. This can be meditation or simply a regular walk with your favorite people. In any case, time in which you only do things that are really good for you and that slow you down.

If you want to do something good for your health, you should make sure you eat a healthy, nutritious diet and moderate stress levels.

Support longevity by reducing stress through meditation

The interplay between mind and body has now also been clearly proven by science. Good stress management and regular meditation make a significant contribution to mental health.

Stress shortens our lives

Stress and mental health problems lead to a shorter life expectancy. This also applies to mild mental disorders that do not yet have disease value. It is known that stress has a negative effect on the cardiovascular system and leads to an increased release of stress hormones (cortisol). Stress also increases the concentration of inflammatory markers in the blood. Current studies show that there is an increased risk of death even with mild, subclinical symptoms.

Why good stress management is important

Stress management is a collective term for methods to reduce stress. Important steps in stress management are the analysis of stressors, the removal of taboos surrounding psychological stress and the preservation and promotion of one’s own mental resources. Stress management can be learned as part of psychotherapy or coaching. Exercise, a healthy diet and mindfulness exercises are suitable for self-help. These include, among others:

• Meditation
• Yoga
• autogenic training
• progressive muscle relaxation

The aim is to use these methods to move away from stress and get closer to your own resources again. When choosing a suitable strategy, it is important to bear in mind that we are all different individuals and therefore react differently to stress.

Reducing stress with meditation: moving away from spirituality

For a long time, mindfulness exercises such as meditation tended to be ridiculed and were reserved for those interested in spirituality and religion. However, mindfulness begins with not forgetting our physical and mental needs in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. We can improve our performance simply by perceiving and practising ordinary everyday things with all our senses. We are focused on the moment and are not so easily distracted. Mindfulness is not an innate character trait, it requires daily work on ourselves.

Meditation exercises reduce anxiety and stress symptoms, provide more energy and alertness, but also keep us mentally young and fit. Indirectly, they lower blood pressure and increase our resistance and self-healing powers.