5 Foods to Help Reduce Holiday Stress

Quick Scoop

• Make sure you’re giving your body the support it needs this holiday season.
• Foods like chestnuts, Ginseng, and avocado can provide you with essential nutrients.
• A multivitamin can help you bridge potential nutrient gaps in your holiday diet.

Holiday Stress Relief

The end of the year is an exciting time in more ways than one! While we look forward to the time with family and friends that often accompanies the holiday season, managing schedules, gifts, and vacations can put a lot of weight on your shoulders! What should be a fun, exciting time can feel imposing and stressful, even if all the effort is always worthwhile. One of the best ways to take care of yourself is to pick foods and drinks that provide you with the nutrients you need for the holiday season!

Green Tea

Try swapping out your coffee or black tea for green tea this holiday! Green tea is rich in the amino acid L-theanine, which may help to relax the mind.[1] L-theanine acts on alpha brain wave activity to help relax the mind and help you unwind. Green tea is available in holiday flavors like candy cane and peppermint, letting you sip your stress relief with a fun, tasty holiday flair!

Chestnuts

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire? It’s more likely than you think! More than just a holiday classic, chestnuts are a rich source of “Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid,” a name that’s even more of a mouthful than a bundle of chestnuts.[2] More commonly known by its acronym, GABA acts as a neurotransmitter to help calm the mind, supporting a relaxed mental state. If you’re looking for holiday stress support, it might be a good idea to go for the classics!

Nature Made® offers a way to supplement your body’s L-theanine and GABA intake beyond green tea and chestnuts; our Wellblends™ Stress Relief Gummies use a scientifically designed 2-in-1 blend of L-Theanine and GABA to provide same-day stress support in one hour or less!†

Pumpkin Seeds

Where exactly does the holiday season start? Is it Thanksgiving? Well, go into any American supermarket, and you’ll find that the holiday season can’t start early enough; candy canes and trees start going up the day after Halloween! We may not all agree with this decision, but there are some relaxation benefits to including a little fall flavor in your holiday diet! Keep the pumpkin seeds you’ve scooped for your Thanksgiving pumpkin pies or your Halloween jack-o-lanterns; don’t toss them! Roasted pumpkin seeds are a good dietary source of Magnesium, providing almost 40% of the daily recommended value per serving.[3]

Magnesium is an essential mineral that helps relax the body. That’s far from Magnesium’s only benefit, though, as it also supports nerve, heart, and bone health! Nature Made® Wellblends™ Calm & Relax Capsules blend Magnesium for muscle & body relaxation with clinically studied Ashwagandha to reduce stress! Long revered in Ayurvedic medicine as an herb supporting stress resilience, Ashwagandha is recognized today as a powerful plant adaptogen clinically studied to help reduce stress and feelings of occasional anxiousness.†

Avocados

The avocado is a perfect food for holiday gatherings. Avocado toast is an easy breakfast to prepare for the extended family crammed into your house, and guacamole is a crowd-pleasing dip for your holiday parties. Luckily, avocado is also a source of Pantothenic Acid, also known as Vitamin B5, with a whole avocado providing 40% of the recommended daily amount![4] Pantothenic Acid helps support cellular energy production and the body’s natural response to stress. So don’t feel guilty the next time you pay the avocado premium; know you’re getting some Vitamin B5 for your money!†

Are you looking for a way to work more Vitamin B5 into your daily diet? Nature Made® Wellblends™ Positive Mood & Energy Softgels provide 100% of the recommended daily value in a 3-in-1 blend designed with ingredients to help support a positive mood and cellular energy production in the midst of everyday stress.†

Ginseng

Often found in Chinese cuisine (a holiday tradition for many), Ginseng is a root traditionally used in herbal medicine to help increase energy and stress resistance. Ginseng is an adaptogen, a type of compound found in certain plants that helps the body better respond to and manage stressors over time.†

Often incorporated into soup or tea, you can supplement your Ginseng intake with Nature Made® Multi + Ginseng Capsules, which provide 200 mg of Ginseng along with 21 key nutrients like Vitamin D, Vitamin C, and Magnesium for daily nutritional support.†

Conclusion

The holiday season is filled with special family meals that can throw your regular diet off, especially when you have leftovers for weeks! A multivitamin can help to bridge possible nutrient gaps, giving you peace of mind to enjoy the holidays! While they can be equally stressful and exciting, knowing the right foods to pick so you can provide yourself with the support your body needs can help tip the balance away from stress!† 

† These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

References

1. Li MY, Liu HY, Wu DT, et al. L-Theanine: A Unique Functional Amino Acid in Tea (Camellia sinensis L.) With Multiple Health Benefits and Food Applications. Front Nutr. 2022;9:853846. Published 2022 Apr 4. doi:10.3389/fnut.2022.853846 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9014247/
2. Briguglio M, Dell'Osso B, Panzica G, et al. Dietary Neurotransmitters: A Narrative Review on Current Knowledge. Nutrients. 2018;10(5):591. Published 2018 May 10. doi:10.3390/nu10050591 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5986471/
3. Office of dietary supplements - magnesium. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. June 2, 2022. Accessed October 18, 2023. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/.
4. Office of dietary supplements – Pantothenic Acid. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. March 16, 2021. Accessed October 19, 2023. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/PantothenicAcid-HealthProfessional/.