http://www.care2.com/greenliving/5-herbs-that-reduce-stress-and-anxiety.html
5 Herbs that Reduce Stress and Anxiety
Here are five herbs that have to be proven effective at reducing stress and anxiety:
1. Licorice Root contains a natural hormone alternative to cortisone, which can help the body handle stressful situations, and can help to normalize blood sugar levels as well as your adrenal glands, providing you with the energy necessary to deal with the stressful situation at hand. Some claim licorice stimulates cranial and cerebrospinal fluid, thereby calming the mind.
As a soothing tonic, drink it warm as in a tea.
2. Passion flower is considered a mild sedative and can help promote sleep. Passion flower also treats anxiety, insomnia, depression and nervousness.
The parts of the passion flower plant that grow above the ground can be dried and steeped for tea. Otherwise, passion flower is available as a tincture, capsule and even as a juice.
3. Kava Kava, an herb from the South Pacific, is a powerful muscle relaxer and analgesic. Kava Kava is also effective at treating depression and anxiety associated with menopause.
Kava Kava is very easily found as a capsule in the supplement section of any grocery store.
4. St. John’s Wort has been used medicinally since Hippocrates time. Even during the Renaissance and Victorian periods it was used for the treatment of mental disorders. Though it presents itself as an unassuming, flowering perennial, St. John’s Wort was shown to be more effective than Prozac, according to a recent study, in treating major depressive disorders.
St. John’s Wort is most often taken as a capsule or tablet. It is often combined with valerian root when insomnia or restlessness are accompanying symptoms.
5. Lavender is the workhorse of herbs. It is effective at reducing irritability and anxiety, promoting relaxation, a sense of calm and sleep. It is also a powerful anti-bacterial agent, and can work to balance hormones and stimulate the immune system. All of that from one little herb.
While lavender can be consumed in a tea, it may work best as an essential oil that is breathed in by way of a diffuser or, in the case of stress and sleeplessness, an eye pillow. To make your own eye pillow, take a thin piece of fabric (a soft cotton from an old t-shirt or silk from an old head scarf would work well) and cut two rectangles about 8-9 inches long by 3-4 inches wide. If the fabric has a wrong and right (printed) side, lay it flat so that the two right sides are in and touching. Using a sewing machine or a simple needle and thread, sew around the perimeter, leaving an inch or two inch gap on one edge. Be sure to use small, neat stitches. Push the fabric thru the opening to turn the rectangle right side out. By way of the opening, fill the pillow with a mixture of flax seed, lavender and hops. The flax seed is for weight while the lavender will help calm your body and the hops will help with sleep. Using a needle and thread sew the pillow the rest of the way shut.
Or course, a good yoga or meditation session may work better than anything else. Take some time to watch spring blooming outside your window and meditate on all that you have to be thankful for. Maybe you won’t need the stress herbs after all.
More from Megan, selected from Positively Green (4 articles available)
Robyn
Melissa
Deepak
Eric
Dave
Dr. Brent
Isha
Susan
Delia
Michelle
Wendy
Megan
Hilary
Ann
Judi
Ronnie
Kelly
Lily
Terri
Betsy
Cait
Andrew
Jana
Annie B.
Veronica
10 comments
add your comment »i took kava kava once for only a short period of time for slight depression: i got so paranoid, i couldn't even leave the house! good thing i realized it was the kava kava and stopped taking it immediately. it is very powerful stuff!
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
i took kava kava once for only a short period of time for slight depression: i got so paranoid, i couldn't even leave the house! good thing i realized it was the kava kava and stopped taking it immediately. it is very powerful stuff!
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
Kava Kava, as well as St. John's Wort should not be taken with any SSRI's (selective seratonin reuptake inhibitors). Care should also be taken when using 5htp.
Every body is different and can react negatively or positively to any herb; just like some people will be OK with allopathic medicines and some will have reactions. Herbs are simply drugs in their natural form (not processed in a lab). We all need to educate ourselves about our own bodies and if you cannot or do not want to then see a holistic practitioner; preferably one that practices naturopathic as well as allopathic medicine. There is a need for both.
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
DO NOT TAKE ST JOHN'S WORT & ANTI DEPRESSANTS, their effects combine. St John's wort does not act as anything other than an antidepressant. PLEASE HEED THIS WARNING, do not substitute St John's wort for ANY prescribed drug
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
By the way, Hans Selye had some regrets before he died about introducing "stress" into our vocabulary. There's stress that makes you grow, e.g. the infant would not learn to walk over to his parent's arms if it weren't for the stress of separation. Stress in and of itself is not so much the evil, it's whether you can cope with it, and hopefully grow strong, flexible, and capable, or whether it wears you down. Eustress or dysstress, if you will, if you insist on labeling the stress in those two circumstances/conditions/susceptibilities. Sometimes it's a fine distinction, hard to figure out, e.g. athletes training for a big event sometimes overstress the joints they're trying to strengthen.
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
Kava kava is so hepatotoxic there have been attempts to make it illegal.
Licorice helps prevent the breakdown of cortisol. We all need that hormone, e.g. its diurnal biorhythm is quite high (waking up, blood sugar is low, get out of the cave into the scary world to get food), it's fairly reduced by noon (sun high in sky, it's getting hot), quite reduced by early evening (sun getting low in sky, time to wind down the day's activity), and quite low before bed (to help one get to sleep, when serotonin and melatonin rise). However, in excess it has such a slew of problems that some authors/speakers call it "the death hormone". It and insulin are the only two hormones that tend to increase, as we move towards elder years...until their respective glands "burn out"/fatigue, which I've seen even in the young, from too much demand. I've seen patients take licorice and their blood pressure went from "high but barely OK" to dangerous, ditto heart rate. It just depends on your health. In the wisdom of ancient Asian Medicines, it's combined with other herbs.
I've rarely seen people take passion flower and feel groggy afterwards, but can happen.
My preferences are a) find out what metabolic (hormone etc) skews there and address those (e.g. phosphorylated serine helps some with excess cortisol but tends to make PTSD and the like worse) and b) Asian Medicine formulas.
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
Kava Kava has been linked to liver disease and should be taken with caution, if indeed one can obtain it. It is intoxicating and should not be used with alcohol. It is very effective and I miss it but I am afraid of the consequences. I have read one should not take it with St. Johns Wort. Celestial Seasonings used to put out a tea with Kava but no longer does. Probably because of the bad publicity.
I swear by St. Johns Wort. I take it especially in the winter or on rainy days. It improves my mood. Unfortunately for me, I have heard it does cause weight gain.
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
I recently broke my arm and used kava as a sedative before I went to bed, It made me sleep souindly so that I would not turn while sleeping on my broken arm, I'd say I used it for about a week. I recently had my blood work evealuated and the Dr. asked me if I took recreational drugs....I was so shocked! I responded sarcastically feeling insulted because I would never take such a thing. Then I asked why the comment was made...The kava evidently elevated my liver enzymes...whihc is not good, So I really wouldnot recommend anyone taking it especially if they have liver issues.
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
I have used kava kava and ir definitely worrks. You have to be careful how much you take, or it can really knock you out.The other herbs listed have not been very effective for me.
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
great article. thank you megan. :::::smile:::::
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
Facebook account: