Reduce Anxiety to Improve Health

Anxiety affects 6.8 million adults or 3.1% of the U.S. population.¹

It’s estimated that hundreds of millions of people worldwide experience anxiety.²

The situation has become so bad that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recently recommended that all adults under age 64 be screened for anxiety.³

Anxiety is a reaction to stress.⁴

Stress and anxiety don’t just make us feel miserable, persistent stress can have a drastic impact on an individual’s health.

One way the body responds to stressful situations is by producing the hormone cortisol, which allows the body to stay on high alert.⁵

Poor regulation of cortisol, however, is associated with disorders that decrease quality of life and increase mortality risks.

Fortunately, researchers have identified safe ways to modulate cortisol levels and anxiety.

When Excess Cortisol Makes You Sick

Stress is often caused by events—environmental, emotional, or physical. ⁶

One of the normal ways for the body to respond to stress and anxiety is by releasing the hormone cortisol from the adrenal glands.⁵

Cortisol is one of the main hormones responsible for keeping the stress response activated. This is why cortisol is thought of as a chronic stress hormone.⁷

In people with anxiety disorders, cortisol levels may be higher than in the rest of the population.

Chronic stress that results in improper cortisol balance can lead to a wide range of serious health problems.^8,9

In a study of hip-fracture patients, cortisol elevation was associated with low function of natural killer cells in the immune system. ¹⁰ Elevated cortisol has also been associated with susceptibility to infections.¹¹ Dysregulation of cortisol has also been associated with poor inflammatory response^12,13 and with increased rates of major cardiovascular,¹⁴ and metabolic diseases.¹² They even suffer from higher rates of overall mortality.^11,14

Plant-Based Solutions

People with anxiety disorders are routinely prescribed antidepressants or other medications. In 2020 alone, prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications jumped by 34%. ¹⁵ While medications may help, not all patients tolerate them, they don’t work for everyone, and some can even be addictive.¹⁶

Researchers have identified specific plant extracts that have been shown clinically to safely reduce elevated cortisol and feelings of anxiety and stress.

Lychee-Green Tea Blend

Lychee is a fruit commonly consumed throughout Eastern Asia,^17,18 as a fruit and for medicinal purposes.¹⁹

Lychee fruit is rich in polyphenols,²⁰ compounds recognized for their role in biological activities, most notably for the ability to reduce inflammation, fight oxidative stress and prevent cell damage. ^21-23

Most lychee products sold today contain long-chain polyphenols, which are not easily absorbed in the intestinal tract. When combined with green tea, the lychee-green tea blend was shown to provide a low molecular size extract that is far more bioavailable than ordinary lychee extract alone.

The polyphenol content measured in the blood after using this blend was three times higher than the amount after using lychee extract alone.²⁴

In one controlled study, this lychee-green tea blend significantly reduced cortisol levels compared to baseline. Healthy young men were assigned to take either 100 mg of the lychee-green tea blend or a placebo daily. After four weeks, those who received the extract blend had significant reductions in blood cortisol levels, as well as in the inflammatory cytokines IL-1beta and IL-6.²⁵

In a human trial, 100 mg of lychee-green tea blend was given twice daily to 10 healthy individuals, for 10 days, followed by exercise under low oxygen conditions, to induce stress. They found that the rate at which cortisol and the inflammatory markers increased was significantly slower among subjects given the extracts compared to placebo.²⁶

By reducing cortisol and inflammation, this blend may help prevent much of the damage stress and anxiety can do.

Magnolia and Phellodendron Bark

Two tree bark extracts have also been shown to reduce cortisol levels.

For centuries, the bark of the Magnolia officinalis tree (it grows in high altitudes in Eastern Asia) has been used to combat a variety of conditions, ²⁷ including anxiety, depression, and stress.^28,29

An extract from the bark of another tree, Phellodendron amurense, has been used in traditional Chinese medicine and has been shown to reduce biological markers of stress in animals.³⁰

To test whether a combination of Magnolia and Phellodendron extracts would reduce cortisol levels, researchers gave either 250 mg of a bark extract mixture or a placebo two times daily to people with moderate to high stress levels. After four weeks, only those taking the bark extracts had significantly lower cortisol levels and significant reductions in stress, anger, depression, and fatigue.³¹

In two other studies, researchers gave participants either a placebo or 250 mg of magnolia and phellodendron bark extracts three times daily.

• Overweight premenopausal women aged 20-50 who reported consistently high anxiety levels, reported significantly decreased anxiety symptoms after six weeks.³⁰
• In a similar group of women with above-average anxiety associated with eating, prevention of weight gain was observed after six weeks in the treatment group as compared to placebo recipients, who gained weight during the trial.³²

The anti-anxiety benefits of Magnolia bark extract extend beyond cortisol. In cell and animal studies, compounds found in Magnolia officinalis have been shown to interact with receptors in the brain in ways that would be expected to benefit mood and psychological well-being.³³

For example, serotonin—sometimes nicknamed the "happy hormone"—is key in regulating stress, depression, and mood. Magnolia may help to increase serotonin levels as seen in animal models and lab studies.^34,35

Combining these bark extracts with the lychee-green tea blend may maximize their cortisol-lowering effects, helping to reduce the harm done by anxiety and stress.

Summary

Chronic anxiety undermines physical, mental, and emotional health. The excessive cortisol secretion that accompanies unremitting stress can weaken immunity and increase risk of infections, chronic disease, and death.

Lychee-green tea blend is highly absorbable and has been shown in two clinical studies to lower the stress hormone cortisol.

Extracts of Magnolia officinalis and Phellodendron amurense bark have shown the ability to reduce cortisol levels and anxiety, helping to protect against the damage chronic stress can do.

A blend of these compounds offers one approach to reduce excess cortisol levels, which may counteract some of the harmful effects inflicted by chronic stress.

Material used with permission of Life Extension. All rights reserved.