Source: Australian Food News

Story By: Matt Paish

A clinical trial conducted at Swinburne University of Technology has found that increasing Vitamin B dietary intake could significantly reduce work-related stress.

The results of the three-month trial, where participants were given a course of either high dose Vitamin B supplements or a placebo, have been published this week in the Australian journal ‘Human Psychopharmacology’.

The study’s leader, Professor Con Stough from the Swinburne University of Technology, said at the beginning of the trial sixty participants were assessed against factors such as personality, work demands, mood, anxiety and strain, and then re-evaluated after 30 and 90 days.

At the end of the three-month period, those in the Vitamin B group reported much lower levels of work stress than they did at the beginning of the trial.

Professor Stough said, “The Vitamin B group participants said they experienced an almost 20 per cent improvement in stress levels. On the other hand, those in the placebo group showed no significant change.”

Vitamin B is found in whole unprocessed foods such as meat, beans and wholegrains.

Professor Stough said that the results of the study present a case for Vitamin B supplementation. He said, “Vitamin B is integral to the synthesis of neurotransmitters critical to psychological wellbeing, but the reality is that many people don’t get enough Vitamin B from their diet, so they are turning to vitamin supplementation.

“Occupational stress is increasing in Australian society and anything we can do to reduce it is a good thing. By lowering stress, we also lower the risk of health problems such as cardiovascular disease, depression and anxiety.”

To read the full story, follow this link: www.ausfoodnews.com.au/2011/11/15/australian-researchers-link-vitamin-b-to-less-work-related-stress.html