The best vitamins and supplements for stress help support physical well-being and aid relaxation. Some of the best supplements for stress include melatonin, ashwagandha, L-theanine, and more.
Everyone has stressors in life, with factors related to job pressure, money, health, and relationships tending to be the most common.
Stress can be acute or chronic and can lead to fatigue, headaches, upset stomach, nervousness, and irritability or anger.
Exercising regularly, getting enough sleep, and eating a nutritious diet are some of the best ways to better equip your body to handle stress, but several vitamins and supplements can also help.
Here are the seven best vitamins and supplements that may help you manage stress.
Pricing guide
- $ = under $0.25 per serving
- $$ = $0.25 to $0.75 per serving
- $$$ = over $0.75 per serving
Here’s a quick look at how our top picks compare:
• concentration
• mood
• concentration
• fatigue
There’s a lot of noise when it comes to supplements for stress. To help you identify products that are worth purchasing, we first considered the types of ingredients included.
All the ingredients featured were selected using the following criteria:
- Research quality: We chose supplements that have been the focus of high quality scientific studies called randomized controlled trials. These are less biased than other types of studies and result in higher quality, more reliable data.
- Effectiveness: In addition, we chose only vitamins and supplements that these high quality studies have deemed effective. Other types of studies can be helpful, but the data they produce is not as reliable as data from randomized controlled trials.
In addition to ingredients, we considered the following factors when selecting products:
- Dose: We chose products that included the effective doses mentioned in research studies.
- Trustworthiness: We selected products from brands that are known for producing high quality supplements. We also prioritized products that are third-party tested.
Why you should trust us
Every brand and product on our list has been vetted to ensure that it aligns with Healthline’s brand integrity standards and approach to well-being. Each product in this article:
- adheres to allowable health claims and labeling requirements, per Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations
- is manufactured in facilities that adhere to current good manufacturing practices (CGMPs) established by the FDA
- is produced by a medically credible company that follows ethical, legal, and industry best standards
- is made by a company that provides objective measures of trust, such as having its supplements validated by third-party labs
Here are some factors to keep in mind when shopping for supplements to help with stress:
- Intended effect: Is stress affecting your sleep or your ability to focus? Look for a product formulated to address your specific issues. For example, melatonin may help improve sleep, whereas rhodiola and L-theanine are better options for focus and productivity.
- Price: Price is an important consideration. If you’ll be taking supplements for an extended period, it’s important to know how much you’ll be spending each month.
- Quality: Because the FDA doesn’t regulate supplements in the same way as medications, it’s important to select products from trusted brands. Ideally, look for products that are third-party tested to ensure purity and potency.
- Professional help: It’s a good idea to consult a healthcare professional before taking supplements. They can help you choose products and can order blood work or analyze your diet to see if you’re deficient in any essential nutrients that may affect stress levels.
- Drug interactions: Because some supplement ingredients can interact with medications, it’s important to check with a healthcare professional before taking any new supplements if you’re already taking prescription or over-the-counter medications.
You may have inadequate levels of B vitamins, vitamin D, or magnesium if you are feeling stressed. However, this is not the case for everyone.
The best way to know for sure is to ask a healthcare professional for a blood test or purchase a home micronutrient testing kit to check your blood levels of these nutrients.
Kava is a supplement made from the roots of the Piper methysticum plant. It has a long history of use for relieving stress and anxiety in traditional herbal medicine, and research suggests that it does offer some stress-relieving benefits (43).
However, researchers have also noted rare cases of liver damage arising from kava use.
Not enough information is available about these episodes to allow researchers to confidently create dosing or safety guidelines. For this reason, we recommend avoiding kava and choosing alternatives that have a better safety profile (43).
Several vitamins and other supplements, including Rhodiola rosea, melatonin, vitamin D, and ashwagandha, have been linked to reduced stress symptoms.
L-theanine, B-complex vitamins, and magnesium may also help increase your body’s resistance to life’s stressors.
Always consult a healthcare professional before trying a new supplement, especially if you’re taking other medications or if you’re pregnant or planning to become pregnant.
If stress continues to be a problem in your life, consider speaking with a medical professional or therapist about possible solutions.
