Wellness Wednesday: Welcome Spring!

This sentiment is exciting for many, but living in Maine, we know all too well the change of pace coming towards us as the season heats up and so do our workloads. Many of us are taking stock of the year ahead of us, planning, and trying not to get overwhelmed. In the coming weeks, we will be exploring how to best support our liver health, defend against pollen, and more, but for many of us, supporting the nervous system comes first. Take stock of your mental wellness as we transition towards the active part of the year, and take steps to support yourself.

You may already have a favorite herbal option, like Maine Medicinals Relax and Restore or a calming tea blend, but we brought in some new convenient options on sale this week that may make their home in your car’s cupholder this busy spring season.

New Products from CV Sciences - Peace and Clarity

The Peace blend has a 4 pronged approach to promote calm and relaxation, with 100mg of L-Theanine leading the way for fast acting stress and tension, combined with 50mg each of Lemon Balm, Holy Basil, and St. John’s Wort extracts who each work differently to improve our tolerance to stressors and promote calm both in the moment and over time.L-Theanine is an amino acid found naturally in green tea, isolated for its qualities that relax the body and reduce stress. L-Theanine is easily absorbed into the body and is shown to be effective within 30 minutes. This dose contains 100mg, but effective doses vary, with some studies done showing effectiveness of 50mg, up to 900mg. You can experiment with L-Theanine dosage with an isolated supplement such as Natural Factors Suntheanine.

Holy Basil, Tulsi, has been revered for millennia for its deep association with divinity, beautiful aroma and flavor, calming and balancing qualities on the body and mind. Tulsi is gently warming, gently stimulating, and relaxant. These actions improve blood flow throughout the body, while relaxing tension in the tissues, which improves stress levels, respiration, and digestion – systems which require both relaxation and gentle stimulation.

Lemon Balm and Tulsi both share the aromatic quality that settles uneasy digestion or nausea, perfect when stress is disrupting the whole body. Lemon Balm is well known for its calming effect on the body and mind, especially when there is restlessness, frustration, overwhelm, or other rising feelings of heat in the mind and emotions that are well suited to lemon balm, which is cooling in the body as well. This calming herb has attracted many scientific studies, uncovering GABAergic qualities that help us to calm overstimulation and overwhelm.

Lemon Balm also has relaxant qualities that release tension in the body. Both Lemon Balm and Tulsi are perfect choices for people whose stress may be impacting their blood pressure, as these herbs relax the tissues surrounding blood vessels, making them a perfect choice in a holistic plan for reducing blood pressure.

This lower to moderate dose of St. John’s Wort helps to uplift mood and energy level, with the side effect of promoting liver health. St. John’s Wort is the more stimulating herb of the group, improving blood flow through the body, rich in compounds such as rutin which improve circulation, and compounds such as hyperforin and hypercin which have been thoroughly studied for their profound effect on improving mood. Its bitter flavonoids such as quercetin reduce inflammation in the liver and stimulate bile flow. This herb is known to many as an herbal sunshine, bringing light to stagnancy and shifting the depressed tissue state. While often associated with winter time, this herb is perfect for the shift out of stagnancy we must do in spring.

St. John’s Wort may not be suitable for everyone. Because of the action of St. John’s Wort on the liver’s cytochrome p450 enzymes, St. John’s Wort is unsuitable for many people on medications that are processed through the liver. If you are on pharmaceutical medications, ask your doctor before taking products containing St. John’s Wort, as the herb could make your medication clear from your liver too quickly.

If you are not on these medications, St. John’s Wort is an excellent way to promote clearance of stagnancy in the liver, something many of us like to focus on in spring.

To try Holy Basil, Lemon Balm, or St. John’s Wort on their own first, check out Avena Botanical’s glycerites and tinctures.

For more information on ingredients in the Clarity blend, speak with a Wellness aisle staff member or visit the links below.

Interested in trying L-Theanine on its own? We brought in a small size of Natural Factor’s SunTheanine tablets that allow people to see how well this option works for them. While many might not normally choose a chewable, amino acids such as L-Theanine are best absorbed into the mucosa of the mouth, so the chewable format is actually for best achieving a fast acting calm that utilizes the full dose. Each tablet is 100mg, allowing for flexibility of dose.

Another amino acid, one found not in tea but in our own bodies, GABA, is an amino acid transmitter that helps to calm and focus inward, soothing the nervous system due to its action on the brain that helps us to not notice external stimuli as intensely. Our brains naturally produce less GABA as we age, but levels are also lower after childbirth. Longer periods of stress, anxiety, hypervigilance, etc. are also signs of lower GABA. During stressful periods when we cannot turn off our external stimulation long enough to sleep or relax, supplementation with GABA can be an option to promote stress relief and sleep. Each tablet is 100mg so dosage is flexible.

GABA supplementation pairs well with a diet that promotes GABA in the brain, rich in B-vitamins, magnesium, zinc, and bitter flavonoids. Herbs such as lemon balm are also known to promote secretion of GABA.

For more information: