The Story Behind Adrenal Fatigue
The human body wasnt built for chronic stress, but rather immediate danger. Cortisol causes changes in our bodies to ensure our survival in the face of danger. Imagine a tiger jumping out from behind a bush. Cortisol increases the blood sugar in our bodies to ensure our muscles and brain have the fuel needed to run from the tiger.
Cortisol activates part of our immune system to produce inflammation in case the tiger bites our blood will clot well so we can keep running. It also suppresses another part of our immune system the part that helps us fight viruses and cancer the body isnt worried about cancer when we are facing a tiger! Additionally, blood flow to our intestines decreases because the body isnt concerned with digesting and absorbing food in that moment.
While these bodily changes are important for our survival, they exist for short, intermittent periods of time. If cortisol levels are too high or too low for a prolonged length of time, they cause detrimental changes in the body. Consistently increased blood sugar leads to weight gain and diabetes. Chronically increased inflammation leads to numerous medical problems including hypertension, asthma, allergies, arthritis, obesity, and muscle and joint pain. When our natural killer cells are constantly suppressed, we have an increased risk of viral infections, autoimmunity, and cancer. Low blood flow to the intestines over time causes constipation, diarrhea, or an irritable bowel.
Consume Adequate Salts And Trace Minerals:
Minerals are essential to the production and utilization of stress hormones. Using the highest quality pink salts on your foods throughout the day is a great strategy to boost mineral content. My favorite salt brands include the pink salts you can get with Himalayan Sea Salt and Redmonds Real Salt. Celtic sea salt is another great brand.
In addition to salts, consuming celery, cucumbers, fermented vegetables like pickles and sauerkraut and sea vegetables on a regular basis can improve mineral levels and stress hormone production and utilization.
Move Your Body Gently
When it comes to adrenal fatigue, its often helpful to stick to moderate exercise in place of strenuous activity. Sometimes its best to just take a breather, and give your body the rest it needs!
Try focusing on mild movements that get the blood and lymph nodes moving gently. This could range from walking, hiking, yoga, dancing, or simply stretching. Pay attention to how you feel and make sure not to overdo it when your muscles feel weak and tired.
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Adrenal Fatigue What Is It
Adrenal fatigue is a catch-all for a group of symptoms that all point back to an imbalance of hormones. Your doctor may believe that your body is just not able to produce the right quantity or quality of hormones. It could link to a more significant problem, so its always good to check with your doctor if you feel these symptoms.
It’s prevalent in todays society to find many people with some variation of adrenal fatigue. The amount of stress were under daily means we produce an excess amount of cortisol. Cortisol is the hormone that helps us deal with stress by increasing blood pressure, increasing blood flow to the body, retaining fat around our middle, and causing nervous energy.
In the distant past, when we were chased by saber-tooth tigers, cortisol was a beneficial hormone, as it helped us get away from those tigers. And in the process of running away, the exercise destroyed the cortisol. So, by the time we were safe, the cortisol was burned off.
Today, we don’t have saber tooth tigers. We have deadlines, traffic jams, and kids. They cause us a considerable amount of stress, but we have a difficult time releasing it. We cant yell at or attack our bosses. We have nothing to smash to pieces when we’re stuck in a traffic jam. And we certainly can’t hurt our own kids, emotionally or physically.
So, what can we do? Exercising is an excellent way to get rid of cortisol, but many people have difficulty finding time to do that exercise. So, what can we do?
Home Remedies For Adrenal Fatigue
The adrenal glands are endocrine glands that produce a variety of essential hormones, including adrenaline and the steroids aldosterone and cortisol. When there is inadequate production of one or more of these hormones, it can result in adrenal fatigue.
Along with feeling fatigued, other signs and symptoms of adrenal insufficiency are body aches, unexplained weight loss, low blood pressure, poor sleep, irritability, digestive problems, light-headedness, and skin discoloration.
Adrenal fatigue can be diagnosed by blood tests and special stimulation tests that can show inadequate levels of adrenal hormones.
Unfortunately, adrenal fatigue is not a condition that can be fixed overnight. If you are dealing with this condition, you need to have patience and commit to a strict regimen to restore the proper functioning of your adrenal glands.
There are simple home remedies and lifestyles changes that can help fight adrenal fatigue.
Here are the top 10 home remedies for adrenal fatigue.
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Eat For Blood Sugar Balance
Low blood sugar levels can be a cause of fatigue, yawning, sleepiness, and brain fog. Eating a diet that minimizes blood sugar swings can help.
To keep your blood sugar stable, aim to eat a diet low in processed carbohydrates like bread, pasta, crackers, and chips. Eat more whole foods, such as high-quality proteins, healthy fats, and complex, slow-burning carbs, like fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, and seeds.
The paleo diet is a low-carb diet that helps keep blood sugar steady [24
If you need help changing your diet, reach out to our clinic to learn more about meeting with our health coach.
Discover Food Sensitivities Or Allergies
Food allergies and sensitivities also play an important role in the development of adrenal fatigue. Most allergies produce inflammation and will release histamine. Cortisol is considered an anti-inflammatory. Most allergies will release histamine, and the more histamine that is released your adrenal glands have to work harder to produce cortisol. The more fatigued the adrenals become, the less cortisol they will produce, and the histamine will further inflame the tissues.
It is a good idea to eliminate allergic or sensitive foods to help reduce the effect on your adrenal glands. The most common allergens or sensitivities include wheat, gluten, dairy, corn, and soy. Effective food allergy or sensitivity tests include the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay blood test, meridian stress assessment, bio-meridian testing, bio-analysis and bio-energetic feedback testing, and a food elimination diet.
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Get A Good Medical Assessment
Understanding whats causing your fatigue is vitally important to forming the best treatment plan. For example, if your fatigue is due to gut dysbiosis, taking iron may not improve your fatigue.
Patients may feel their concerns about fatigue are disregarded by some medical practitioners. Other practitioners broadly label all fatigue as adrenal fatigue, an inaccurate diagnosis that does not help you restore your energy levels. The right health practitioner will take your fatigue seriously and can help you accurately assess your root causes. If you need help, consider applying to become a patient at our clinic.
Take Adrenal Fatigue Supplements
Feed your body with supplements that are healthy for your adrenals. Vitamins B, C and D and minerals such as magnesium and zinc are excellent for adrenal balance!
Adaptogenic herbs such as Ashwagandha, Rhodiola and Holy Basil have powerful adaptogens that reduce stress and promote hormone balance. Licorice is a spice and herb that can also be good to take as it stimulates DHEA production. Mighty Maca Plus is also an amazing supplement that you can take for adrenal fatigue! Maca is a powerful adrenal healer and hormone balancer. Be sure to get Dr. Anna Cabecas Mighty Maca Plus!
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Start Working On Your Adrenal Glands
Adrenal fatigue can be combated if you simply take better care of yourself. Your adrenal glands want you to stop making them work so hard with so little help. Eat right, avoid what sucks up your energy, and get moving more frequently. It wont be long before you see that energy boost you so desperately wish for every day.
On Valentines Day, it can feel like there is a lot of pressure to come up with just the right gift.
However, you dont need to spend a lot to make your love known. Homemade personal gifts are often the ones that communicate our love the best.
You cant go wrong by making the effort to show and recognize your love on Valentines Day, but you could go wrong by just ignoring the day entirely. Arent your loved one worth it?
Check out these 20 Valentines gift ideas to ease your stress over the holiday and make those you love feel amazing!
Stress Management Is The Best Adrenal Fatigue Treatment
No matter who you are, youre going to face major challenges in your life sooner or later. Learning to deal with stress and become more resilient is one of the most valuable skills you can develop. Its a core part of being Bulletproof, and its essential to keeping adrenal fatigue at bay.
This guide should help you, and if you want more tips, check out these other articles:
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Follow The Adrenal Fatigue Diet
An adrenal fatigue diet can help support a speedy recovery. It is very important to eat your first meal before 10 a.m.. It is a good idea to eat frequent small meals throughout the day. The best adrenal fatigue diet approach will include 30 to 40% whole grains, 30 to 40% vegetables , 10 to 20% animal foods, five to 10% fruits, and 10 to 15% nuts, seeds, and beans.
The best adrenal diet foods include avocado, coconut, olives, chicken and turkey, wild salmon, cruciferous vegetables, nuts , and seeds, like flaxseed, chia seeds, and pumpkin seeds.
Foods to avoid as part of the adrenal diet include sugar, artificial sweeteners, microwaved and processed foods, and hydrogenated oils like canola, soybean, and corn oil. Instead, it is a good idea to use good fats like ghee, coconut oil, or olive oil. It is also best to avoid caffeine, since it can interfere with a persons sleep cycle.
How Does Adrenal Fatigue Affect My Menopause Journey
Adrenal fatigue affects our menopause journey in so many ways!
First, we lose our backup supply of estrogen or progesterone. When the ovaries slow down, the adrenals produce DHEA. This mother hormone activates and converts itself to estrogen or progesterone. The adrenals also produce testosterone which may also convert into estrogen. As a result, we are able to relieve menopause symptoms.
Second, adrenal fatigue can make menopause symptoms worse. Cortisol ruins your balance big time! This stress hormone suppresses metabolism, digestion, brain function and more. Believe it or not, the body sees menopause as a stressor too, and this adds more burden to the adrenals.
Third, adrenal fatigue symptoms can mask menopause! The symptoms of these two conditions are similar in that it can be hard to set them apart. However, Im going to let you in on a little secret, adrenal fatigue symptoms rarely include hot flashes and night sweats!
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Reduce Caffeine And Sugar
Cutting down on caffeine and refined sugar will help your body reconnect with your natural energy cycles and reduce inflammatory responses in the body. While you dont need to avoid these substances completely, it may be a good idea to reduce your coffee intake to just one cup in the mornings, and aim for fruit instead of baked goods in the afternoon.
Caffeine and sugar are stimulants that increase your energy in the short-term, making it seem like a good fix when youve hit an afternoon slump. These substances cause blood glucose levels to soar, and when they come back down, it can create a cycle of addiction and cravings that rob you of rest and sustainable nutrients.
Natural Protocol For Adrenal Fatigue
Candida is the number one cause of poor health in our country and an overabundance of Candida will eventually cause adrenal fatigue . If youre experiencing adrenal fatigue, cut out stimulants completely. No more coffee. Read this article to learn how to clean the intestines. Most people with endocrine problems have an excess of Candida.
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Tips To Diagnose And Treat Adrenal Fatigue
As I mentioned, if ignored, adrenal fatigue can lead to even bigger problems, such as diabetes. To make sure you dont suffer these kinds of consequences, here are 11 simple guidelines Ive come up with for you to follow. Even if adrenal fatigue isnt your issue, these guidelines will still help improve your overall health, so theres no harm in trying them out:
1. See a Natural Health Practitioner: If you suspect you have adrenal fatigue, who can help? Visit a natural health doctor, a naturopathic doctor, or a holistic nutritionist. They have a deeper understanding about adrenal fatigue, can better diagnose your condition, and can guide you in the right direction toward improved health and effective treatments.
2. Be Aware of Salty Food Cravings: Do you find you crave salty snacks, such as potato chips? Do you maybe even devour the entire bag in one sitting? This can be a clear sign you suffer from adrenal fatigue, meaning its time to seek help and make the right moves to improve your health.
3. Eliminate Sources of EMF Frequencies: There is one major cause of adrenal fatigue that is often ignoredEMF frequencies. The most common EMF sources include computers, smartphones, Bluetooth devices, and Wi-Fi signals. To help heal your adrenals, start by unplugging or shutting down these devices when theyre not in use and keep them out of your bedroom when sleeping.
S To Heal The Symptoms Of Adrenal Fatigue Naturally
“Adrenal fatigue” describes a disruption of the adrenal glands’ ability to make cortisol in the right amounts at the right times. Chronic stress, an unhealthy diet, and general inflammation are all thought to contribute to it. Though adrenal fatigue is not recognized as a legitimate condition by the traditional medical community, I’ve seen the effects of unsteady cortisol levels play out time and time again with my patients. Here are the signs you might be dealing with them too.
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Natural Treatment For Adrenal Fatigue
While there are many herbs and healthy foods that can help you recover from adrenal fatigue, treatment really starts with removing the stressors that are causing it.
Adrenal fatigue comes from chronic stress. As long as the stress is unchanged, the best remedies will only do so much.
Things like strenuous exercise, working long hours, and constant emotional stress all contribute to adrenal fatigue.
However, there are many natural ways to recover, including using herbs.
Here are the best herbs for adrenal fatigue, plus other natural treatments to consider.
Healing Tips To Recover From Adrenal Fatigue Naturally
Tell me if this sounds familiar: youre constantly fatigued, feel like youre dragging, and even minor stressors leave you majorly overwhelmed. You depend on caffeinated beverages, sodas, and salty foods to get you through the day and maintain a stable mood or energy level. And at the end of the day, no matter how tired youve been, you find yourself with a second wind of energy around 11 pm that keeps you up at night. If this description fits, you may be part of 80% of the population who experience adrenal fatigue at some point in their life.
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Feeling Tired Is The New Normal
with our constant on-the-go schedules, its become part of the human experience. But if you are so fatigued that you wake up feeling tired, suffer from sleep problems, brain fog, generalized aches and pains, allergies, inflammation, and cravings, you may be suffering from adrenal fatigue, or more accurately, adrenal dysfunction, which is part of a larger problem called hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysfunction. Whatever you call it, stress is at the root of it.
In the most basic terms, HPA axis dysfunction is the result of prolonged chronic stress. The adrenals are two small glands located on top of the kidneys, and together with the hypothalamus and pituitary glands they form the HPA axis, which forms a large part of the endocrine system and is responsible for regulating digestion, mood, immune system function, metabolism, and energy levels. It is also responsible for the bodys stress response, a complex system that operates on feedback loops as stressors come and go. If the immediate threat, whether physical, mental, or emotional, never goes away, the delicate balance of this system and the hormones it produces is disrupted. Left uncorrected, health issues arise, including excessive cortisol and adrenaline release, elevated blood sugar, inflammation, breakdown of muscle, weakened bones, poor immune system function, inhibition of reproductive function, and more.
Purify The Mind And Body
Do you feel exhausted? Burned out? Do you often ask yourself, Why am I so tired all the time? Do you crave sugar and caffeine? Do you get frequent cold and upper respiratory symptoms? Gaining weight despite diet and exercise? Do you have muscle and joint pain? Do you feel irritable or anxious and less able to handle stress? You could be suffering from Adrenal Fatigue!
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