PhD , R&D Director at NutraResearch
Anxiety, insomnia, and depression are situations that thousands of people face every day for years. At a pace of life that is often difficult to undertake, the effects of the pandemic have also been added in the last year. In Spain, as in some countries of the European Union, the consumption of anxiolytics and antidepressants continues to grow. So much so that, in 2020, the highest consumption of the last decade was reached.
The latest report from the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Addiction points out that this increase to record figures “can be explained by the need for individuals to face the anxiety they suffer in response to the pandemic and confinement.” However, anxiolytics, as it is known, can be addictive. That is why doctors recommend a very limited use and, in no case, prolonged in time. Even so, data shows that this recommendation is not followed, revealing that usually we end up using a drug that generates addiction. As a result, with every year that goes by, the use of antidepressants in the European Union and especially in Spain keeps growing, while the number of people diagnosed with anxiety and depression increases.
Beyond an aggressive medication with potential addictive effects, we find in formulation technology combined with medicinal plants and essential nutrients, effective and safe natural treatments that contemplate anxiety and insomnia disorders, addressing them in a more respectful way with our organism, to reestablish its complete balance.
This is how the NutraResearch group offers 100% natural formulations of highly effective and safe food supplements to which we apply advanced formulaion technology techniques to improve bioavailability, controlled release and targeted release to the specific body tissues. The combination of adaptogen plants such as Aswhagandra, Rhodiola, Eleutherococcus, together with neurotransmitter precursors, such as Tryptophan, GABA, Magnesium, become treatments against anxiety and stress effective and a great help for this situation that the pandemic has led us.
Phytotherapy is very effective in cases of body unbalance. Plants tend to regain normal body function without large aggressive pharmacological interactions, which leads to fewer side effects. It is undoubtedly a more holistic option, since it is the result of several mechanisms of action that act altogether. Thus, for example, Aswhagandha (Withania somnífera) acts with an anxiolytic effect, demonstrated in scientific studies, regulating serotonin, that modulates post-synaptic receptors (5-HT). On the other hand, it has an antistress action by interacting with dopamine receptors. The combination of these two mechanisms of action makes this plant also effective the fight of insomnia.
An effective natural treatment also for children and teenagers
Anxiety disorders in children and eenagers have also been on the rise in recent years. The Spanish Society of Teenager Medicine estimates that between 10% and 20% suffer from anxiety problems. In the context of the pandemic, there have been, altogether, several factors that can trigger or worsen anxiety-depressive symptoms. For example, the reduction of protective elements, such as going to school; and to a large extent the social isolation caused by confinement may have contributed to the onset of many disorders, as specialists point out. Providing treatments according to the body is essential in stages of development and growth. That is why appropriate formulation technologies are used in these cases.
NutraResearch group offers food supplement firms the best formulations, adapted in each case to the target audience, also providing the best form of dosage form, color and flavor so that the posology is pleasant. Its effectiveness is always endorsed by the combination of ingredients recognized by clinical studies, the best technology to increase efficiency of the formulation, achieving stable products that allow it to be marketed with all quality guarantees.
In all cases, in addition to take food supplements, exercise is a very effective element to combat anxiety and insomnia, since it is a great generator of endorphins, which help to restore the proper functioning of the body.