Magnesium combined with three supplements shown to reduce stress
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Magnesium, B vitamins, green tea and rhodiola in combination appeared to significantly reduce subjective stress and mood responses to acute stress provocation, according to data presented at American Society for Nutrition’s 2020 meeting.
“Magnesium has long been proposed to offer therapeutic action with evidence of mood stabilizing effects, and its status is closely aligned with stress levels — stress depletes magnesium, which in turn increases stress reactivity,” Louise Dye, PhD, chair and professor of nutrition and behavior at University of Leeds in the U.K., told Healio Psychiatry. “We reviewed the literature on the effects of magnesium on stress and anxiety — a closely related subjective state — and the research to date was suggestive, but not conclusive, about the capacity of magnesium to reduce anxiety. We were also interested in vitamins, phytochemicals and botanicals that have been shown to have an effect on stress states, particularly B vitamins, rhodiola and green tea, which have all been associated with calming and stress reducing effects on a number of subjective and physiological markers.”
Although each of these four supplements have been shown to produce improved stress-related outcomes, their combined efficacy has not been evaluated. To address this research gap, Dye and colleagues conducted a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel group designed study of 100 adults with moderate stress. Participants received oral supplementation of either magnesium, B vitamins, green tea and rhodiola; magnesium, B vitamins and rhodiola; magnesium, B vitamins, green tea; or placebo. They were then exposed to the Trier Social Stress Test after supplementation. Researchers collected subjective stress according to the Stress and Arousal Checklist, mood according to the Profile of Mood States and salivary cortisol responses over 8 hours to determine the effects of supplementation on stress responsivity and recovery.
Results showed superiority of the combined treatment compared with placebo and the ingredients in isolation. Dye and colleagues reported that the combined treatment was associated with significantly attenuated subjective stress, as well as tension and total mood disturbance ratings, after acute stress exposure (all, P < .05). They observed these effects both during the peak stress response and recovery. However, the treatment did not affect salivary cortisol response.
“These findings suggest that the combination of magnesium, B vitamins, green tea and rhodiola, now available as a product called Teadiola, had some positive effects on the experience of stress,” Dye told Healio Psychiatry.