Reduce Occasional Stress

We all face stressful situations that lead to feelings of tension and worry.

The body has a built-in mechanism to manage stress.

When stressors persist, however, an individual’s adaptive capacity is overwhelmed, and occasional stress can transition into chronic stress.¹

This increases the risk of cardiovascular, immune, and inflammatory disorders.^1-3

People sometimes turn to anti-anxiety drugs to cope, but these medications often cause sedation and can be addictive.⁴

GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) is an amino acid known for its role in inducing a calming effect on the brain.⁵

In human studies, fermentation-derived GABA significantly reduced stress indicators including salivary cortisol levels, promoted feelings of relaxation and calm without sedation, and improved quality of sleep.^6-10

The Danger of Stress

Recurring stress can have serious physical and psychological health effects, including eating and sleep disorders, mood disturbances, cognitive impairment, metabolic syndrome, and elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol.^1,2,11

Chronically elevated cortisol increases the risk of chronic disease and accelerates the aging process through decreased immunity, increased inflammation, and dysregulated metabolism.¹²

Anti-anxiety medications may relieve some feelings of stress. However, these drugs often cause drowsiness and can be habit-forming.⁴ In addition, they may do little to reduce the chronically elevated cortisol levels that stress can trigger, allowing cortisol-related damage to continue.

How GABA Helps

GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) is a chemical messenger produced by the brain and spinal cord. It is also found in some fruits, vegetables, and grains.¹³

It helps the body naturally manage stress, relieve anxiety, and improve sleep.^5,10,13

GABA does this by decreasing the responsiveness of nerve cells, maintaining the delicate balance between excitatory and inhibitory (calming) neurotransmission.⁵

When occasional stress raises the excitatory effects on nerve cells, increasing the risk of negative health effects, GABA can protect against this stress, rapidly decreasing anxiety and restoring feelings of relaxation.^5-9,14,15

The body’s ability to produce this amino acid declines with age, which can lower stress resilience and sleep quality.¹⁶ Taking oral GABA can counter this decline.

Novel Form of GABA

Scientists have developed a method of producing GABA through fermentation using Lactobacillus bacteria. This process increases the GABA content of food and has also been used to develop a dietary supplement.¹³

Researchers conducted a series of clinical trials to test the ability of this novel fermentation-derived GABA to support stress resilience and improve mood and sleep.^6-10

Protecting Against Stress

In the first study, 63 healthy, young adults took 100 mg of fermentation-derived GABA, then performed a series of arithmetic and "target detection" tasks. They did the same mental stress-inducing tasks during a placebo phase.⁶

Participants were assessed based on brain wave activity (EEG) and two self-assessment questionnaires before and after the stress-induced study. Compared to the placebo, fermented GABA had the following effects:⁶

Improved EEG (brain wave activity) after the task at 30 minutes post-stress, indicating a protective effect against stress.
Significantly attenuated the reduction in Profile of Mood States and Vigor-Activity Scores, suggesting an improvement in negative mood states caused by stress such as tension and anxiety.

In the second study, 12 healthy volunteers took 10 grams of a chocolate enriched with 28 mg of fermentation-derived GABA before doing stressful arithmetic tasks. They did the same tasks during a placebo phase.

Heart-rate variability (HRV) was measured using electrocardiogram (EKG) to indicate the level of "fight or flight" response.⁷

Between 6.5 and 9.5 minutes after the stressful tasks, compared to the placebo, the fermentation- derived GABA group experienced:⁷

Restoration of ‘fight or flight’ feelings—a faster recovery of baseline HRV levels compared to the placebo, and

Quicker recovery of relaxed feelings to baseline as compared to placebo, after being subjected to stressful arithmetic tasks.

What You Need To Know: Boost Stress Resilience

Occasional stress can reduce emotional well-being and increase the risk for many diseases.
Anti-anxiety medications used to reduce stress are often sedating and can be addictive.
The amino acid GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) is produced by the brain and spinal cord and has a calming effect.
Human studies show that, taken orally, a fermentation-derived GABA safely protected against acute stress, quickly promoted feelings of relaxation without drowsiness, and improved quality of sleep at night.

This suggests that GABA intake led to a rapid post-stress recovery, restoring the body to a normal, more relaxed physiological state.

In a third trial, nine adults who reported experiencing daily chronic fatigue were given either 25 mg or 50 mg of fermentation-derived GABA or a placebo before performing stress-inducing arithmetic tasks.

Participants were assessed using the Profile of Mood States (POMS), the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), salivary chromogranin A (a marker that increases in response to psychosomatic stress), and salivary cortisol. The group that received 50 mg of GABA showed:⁸

A lesser increase in salivary chromogranin A, indicating a protective effect against stress, and
An approximate 20% reduction in salivary cortisol, indicating a decrease in general stress levels.

In addition to protecting against stress, GABA also significantly reduced feelings of fatigue, as measured by the standard POMS and VAS questionnaires.⁸

In the fourth study, scientists enlisted eight healthy volunteers with a fear of heights. Before being instructed to walk across a pedestrian suspension bridge to create a stressful experience, subjects were given 100 mg of fermentation-derived GABA. They performed the same task after receiving a placebo.⁹

A saliva test measured immunoglobulin A (IgA) levels, which tend to be lower in individuals experiencing greater perceived stress.¹⁷Compared to the placebo, fermentation-derived GABA prevented the stress- induced drop in salivary IgA levels.⁹

These four clinical trials demonstrate that fermentation-derived GABA quickly produced a protective effect against acute stress.

Improved Sleep

Sleep often suffers during stressful times. In a human study, scientists enlisted 10 healthy adults identified as "poor sleepers."

Participants were randomly assigned to receive either 100 mg of fermentation-derived GABA or a placebo 30 minutes before bedtime for one week, followed by a one-week washout period before switching treatments. Those who initially received GABA then took the placebo and vice versa.

Compared to placebo, the fermented GABA:¹⁰

Reduced sleep latency (time needed to fall asleep) by 50%, from 10 minutes to 5 minutes (as measured by EEG),
Increased total non-REM sleep time (also measured by EEG), and
Significantly improved "awake/not-drowsy" feelings after sleeping (measured by a questionnaire).

This demonstrated that fermented GABA could improve sleep quality without causing drowsiness.

Summary

Occasional, recurring stress reduces quality of life and boosts the risk of chronic disease.

Unlike anti-anxiety drugs, which can cause drowsiness, the neurotransmitter GABA lowers stress and promotes relaxation without sedative effects.

In human trials, a fermentation-derived form of GABA safely inhibited stress, quickly restored feelings of alert relaxation, and improved quality of sleep at night.

+ References

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