“Most people have NO idea how good their body is designed to feel.”
The solution?
Easier said than done…particularly this day in age.
Adrenal fatigue and adrenal insufficiency are popular buzz words that get tossed around rather frequently in health circles today.
It’s a topic I’ve blogged on a handful of times before; yet, it’s an obscure topic that is still largely misunderstood, and easily overlooked when it comes to health, your daily ‘norm’ and how you feel.
What exactly is adrenal fatigue and adrenal insufficiency?
And moreover, how do you know if you have it?…And how do you cure it?
After all, we better know this if, statistics are correct.
According to statistics, 80% of U.S. adults will experience adrenal insufficiency at some point in their lives [ just due to the nature of the current society (and rat race) we live in].
From my own experience with adrenal fatigue, I know that there is not only a lack of knowledge amongst the common folk about adrenal fatigue, but also a lack of knowledge amongst health care professionals, as well as limited literature or online resources available.
Today, not only are we going to define what exactly ‘adrenal fatigue’ means, but also how to identify it and start the process of feeling better if you seem to present with many of the symptoms.
For starters, instead of giving anything more a label, we are going to use the term “tired” and “stressed” for adrenal fatigue—because, in essence, that is exactly what adrenal fatigue is—
Charlie Brown gets stressed out too
You are taxed and stressed, mentally and physically…so much so that you may not even initially recognize it until more signs and symptoms begin to emerge.
I speak with clients DAILY, who come to me and explain many of the symptoms they experience on a regular basis, wondering ‘what’s wrong with me?!’—without any awareness whatsoever that their adrenals could be to blame:
“I just don’t feel like myself”;
“I just don’t understand why I can’t XYZ (lose weight, gain weight, get my blood sugar under control, stop craving sweets, etc.)—
“I can’t get going without espresso.”
“My allergies are out of control.”
“I just can’t wake up in the mornings-I feel like I got hit by a truck.”
“I crash at 3 p.m. every day and need sweets to get me over the hump.”
“I am training consistently and eating ‘healthy’, but still not seeing the results I want to see.”
“I’ll sleep when I am dead—there’s no time for sleep. So much to do, so little time.”
“I’ve hit a plateau in my progress.”
“I don’t have the same energy I used to.”
“I’ve had more panic attacks and/or anxiety lately.”
“I can’t seem to catch my breath.”
In laymen’s terms: Adrenal fatigue is a state of chronic stress for you and your body.
The adrenals (which are the small size of walnuts) have a HUGE job. They produce many hormones that regulate our body’s functioning, including cortisol (a hormone activated when our stress levels rise, signaling our body to enter a fight or flight state).
High cortisol levels are intended to be short term, not remain elevated.
However, when we lead stressful lifestyles, our adrenals go into ‘overwork’ mode—and in order to try to keep things ‘under control’, they produce cortisol—and continue to produce cortisol—to the point that our bodies have no idea if we are running from a bear (at all times) or simply stressed out from things like work, traffic or exercise.
Common stressors that promote high cortisol may include:
- Lack of sleep
- Burning a candle at both ends
- Staring at screens for hours on end daily
- Overexercise
- Under-exercise/sedentary lifestyles
- Poor recovery between workouts
- Poor food quality (fast food, processed food, etc.)
- Eating foods your body does not digest well
- Restrictive eating (avoiding carbs/fats, low caloric intake)
- Long periods of dieting
- Emotionally disconnected (from oneself or others)/lonely
- Overwork
- Pushing yourself ‘all the time’ to do more and be more (ie. you are your own worst critic)
- Lack of leisure, hobbies and rest built into our days
- Transitions/life change
- Surgery/injury
- High caffeine and/or sugar intake
When our cortisol levels stay elevated, it leads to a whole host of problems or ‘body breakdown’, interfering with many functions in our body, such as immune function, digestion, sleep, and even the ability to produce other essential hormones such as estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and thyroid hormones. Chronically elevated cortisol levels may also lead to steadily high or low blood pressure, blood sugar dysfunction, excess abdominal fat, inflammation, low moods, and decreased sex drive.
While every BODY is different—and an individual’s bout with adrenal fatigue can look different from another, some typical symptoms may include:
That 3 pm crash
1.A feeling of tiredness for no reason
2.Difficulty getting up in the morning, even if you went to bed at a reasonable hour
3.A sense of feeling rundown or overwhelmed
4.Trouble bouncing back from stress or illness
5.Cravings for sweet snacks and/or other stimulants like caffeine or cigarettes
6.Feeling more awake, alert, and energetic after 6pm than you do during the day; or ‘Wired and tired’ at night
7.A sensation of shakiness or light-headedness if meals are missed or delayed
8.Irritability before eating if you have to wait for a meal
9.Cravings for salty foods
10.Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
11.Transient spells of dizziness, or dizziness when moving from sitting or lying to standing up
12.Asthma or frequent shortness of breath
13.Afternoon headaches
14.Blurred vision
15.Eating to relieve fatigue
16. Poor digestion; dysbiosis; leaky gut
17. Anxiety; panic attacks
18. Chest pain
19. Loss of appetite or insatiable appetite
20. Depressed mood
That’s a lot!
While these symptoms may seem broad and ‘common’ (“doesn’t everyone experience these at one time or another?”)…the unfortunate fact is that they ARE all too common, and have even become many people’s version of ‘their norm’—when, in actuality…they are NOT normal.
If you want to know for certain, there are a variety of clinical tests and evaluations Nutrition Therapy Practitioners and other clinicians, like myself, may conduct in order to help determine whether or not a person is experiencing adrenal insufficiency, and moreover, help you establish a good baseline recovery program for feeling better.
However, often times, the ‘diagnosis’ or state of adrenal fatigue is really no more than a result of too much stress, push and demand on yourself and your body.
Knowledge and awareness are power—being in check with yourself and how you truly feel.
Are you tired? Have you been stressing your body or pushing yourself for months, years?
Have you ever slowed down to just pause and reflect why you neeeeeeeeed caffeine or sugar to function? Why you are unable to get out of bed in the morning, or ’feel off’ many days? Why your digestion is whack? Why you never feel rested? Why your workouts suck recently?
It may very well surprise you when you start to question and reflect on your symptoms—and the emergence of those symptoms.
For example, when I went through a bout of adrenal fatigue during grad school, wherein I experienced chest pains, shortness of breath, numbness and tingling, and feeling ‘off’ from my usual energetic self…it was not until several doctor appointments later (the docs kept telling me ‘it’s nothing’ or ‘it’s all in your head’) that I realized all the stressors over my young life time, that finally said ‘ENOUGH!’ during that year:
-Stress of grad school and a tough residency rotation
-Lack of sleep (4-5 hours a night)
-Lack of carbs and enough fats
-Overwork (9-12 hour days)
-Failure to listen to my body for rest and proper workouts
-A history of disordered eating from which my body was still recovering
If you can suspect…my body was pissed, and in order to ‘protect me’ it was fighting with all its might to battle all these stressors.
If you are feeling less then you optimally could, there are several SIMPLE steps you can begin taking to start experiencing change.
For instance, my personal action plan to overcoming my bout with adrenal fatigue included:
- Getting more sleep. Plain and simple, 4-5 hours does not cut it anymore. I aim for 7-8 hours now.
- Boosting my all around health and body’s functions with a natural supplement plan I worked out closely with my holistic healthcare practitioner, including: A quality fish oil, Vitamin B, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, a multivitamin and a few specialty adrenal restoration supplements
- Continuing to eat a real-foods-based diet, while making sure to eat a solid balance of protein, carbs and fats in each primary meal.
- Eating consistently throughout the day
- Staying hydrated
- Incorporating 1-2 days of yoga in my training regime and cutting back on the intensity in my workouts for a few weeks during initial recovery
- Realizing it’s OK to take a REST when my body was telling me to REST
- Taking a “step back” and seeing less as more in my days; Practicing saying “no” more often and realizing I could not (and did not) have to conquer the world in a day.
Of all these, I am a firm believer in the ‘BASICS’ of self-care as the most effective for recovery from adrenal insufficiency, chronic stress and just plain ‘tiredness.’
Before you resort to taking supplements or every alternative treatment under the sun, first consider taking a good hard look at your:
-Nutrition
-Sleep/Rest
-And, Relationships
As simple as these sound, they are all too often over-complicated and/or neglected by many.
On the nutrition front, are you really eating how your body was designed to thrive? No, not ‘perfectly’, but for the most part including…
Healthy protein sources such as:
•Free-range poultry
•Beef/bison
•Fish (preferably cold water, wild)
•Eggs (preferably organic, pasture-raised)
•High quality protein powders (i.e. sugar free, GMO-free, artificial sweetener free, etc.)
Healthy fats like:
• Avocados
• Coconut
• Pasture-fed/free-range (and preferably raw) butter, cheese, ghee, yogurt and kefir
• Roasted or soaked/sprouted nuts and seeds (except for peanuts)
• Expeller-pressed or cold-pressed grapeseed, coconut, walnut, olive, and avocado oils
Diced butternut squash=yum!
And beneficial carbohydrate choices such as:
•Almost all kinds of vegetables, preferably local, organic and seasonal.
•Fruits, such as all kinds of berries (including ‘super-berries’ like goji, maqui, mulberry, acai and others), cherries, apples, grapefruit, papayas and pears. (Stick to fruits with a lower glycemic load if possible).
•Small amounts of tubers (yams, sweet potatoes and turnips), sprouted beans or legumes, and whole, sprouted grains such as quinoa, brown rice, amaranth, and wild rice.
Incorporate these consistently throughout your day, along with plenty of water (half your body weight in ounces) and an emphasis on improved rest habits (i.e. aim to get more rest than you are right now; make yourself go to bed 30 minutes earlier to start), as well as social connectedness (are you making time and room for the people most important to you in your life?)…and see what a difference these alone can make.
Commit to focusing solely on the foundations of good nutrition, sleep and quality time spent with people in your life for the next 28-days (hey it takes 28 days to change a habit right?), and you may very well find that no additional doctor appointments…or medications…or Google searching…or ‘trying to get to the bottom of your symptoms’… are needed.
It couldn’t hurt to at least try, right?
However, if you do need more guided, specific information or want to simply learn more, I highly suggest checking out this new, up-to-date E-Book “The Adrenal Fatigue Solution: How to Regain Your Vitality and Restore Your Energy Levels” by Fawne Hansen and Dr. Eric Wood. Hansen and Wood provide a play-by-play for overcoming adrenal fatigue, covering everything from:
- Problem solving to how you got there in the first place,
- Understanding your own anatomy,
- Testing for adrenal fatigue,
- Foods to eat and avoid,
- Restoring life balance,
- Exercise,
- Vitamins, minerals and glandulars,
- Finding a holistic healthcare practitioner
- And more
You can get it here.