How to Improve Adrenal Fatigue

25 Jan How to Improve Adrenal Fatigue

How To Treat Adrenal Fatigue and Improve Elasticity

Stress is just part of life. Chances are, in the past few months, you have been posed with a stressful situation that has increased your heart rate, molded your hands into fists, or caused you to bang your head against your keyboard at the office. During these stressful situations, your bodies adrenal glands, tiny glands located on the kidneys, start manufacturing adrenaline and cortisol, initiating whats commonly known as the fight or flight instinct, thus controlling how you react to the stressful situation you are in. When the stress is ongoing or repeated time and time again, you may begin to feel weak, fatigued, exhausted, or unable to think clearly. The difference between chronic stress and a small temporary stressful situation that you recover from quickly is your body’s level of elasticity, or ability to bounce back. Why is this important? If you are faced with ongoing stressful situations or important decisions in the workplace, you can learn to supplement your body in a way that improves your adrenal elasticity, helping you make better, faster reactions without suffering from the damaging effects of chronic stress.

Improving your elasticity is crucial to your success, as there are likely things beyond obvious stressful situations that are contributing your adrenal fatigue. For that reason, the first step to treating your adrenal fatigue is determining what what your adrenal stressors are.

Contributing factors include:

• Processed foods
• Sugar
• Weight Gain
• Insufficient Sleep
• Toxicity and Pollutants
• Caffeine
• Electronics
• Gut Bacteria Imbalance
• Inactivity

How To Treat Your Adrenal Fatigue

When you add up all of the contributing factors, what you are left with is your elasticity level. To further improve your elasticity, you need to start at the source and begin treating the causes of your adrenal fatigue. These are some of the recommended ways to manage the causes of your adrenal fatigue.

Processed Foods- Cut down on your amount of processed foods, and if you can’t commit to that, work on greatly reducing the amount of processed foods that you consume. A good rule of thumb is that if it comes in a package and you can’t grow the ingredients on the package, don’t eat it!

Sugar – When the low fat foods trend was raging in popularity, excess amounts of sugar was being pumped into foods in an attempt to make them taste better. So following in the wake is a population highly addicted to sugar and all things sweet. In fact, bad bacteria in our gut thrives on sugar, so we constantly crave it. The only way to break the craving? Cut out or greatly reduce your intake of refined sugar.

Weight Gain – This one is of course more difficult than a one step pointer. That said, eating wholesome foods, increasing your activity level, and working towards a general goal of health will make you feel better and will help you lose weight in the process.

Insufficient Sleep – Sleep is necessary to heal and rejuvenate your mind and body. Make it a priority.

Toxicity and Pollutants – Toxins are found in everything from our drinking water and food we eat to the cleaners we use and the air we breathe. Eat organic, drink filtered spring water, go for the nontoxic cleaning products and use a HEPA filter. Lastly, you are susceptible to heavy metal poisoning, especially if you have amalgam fillings in your teeth. You can replace these fillings to reduce the effects of metal poisoning.

Caffeine – Drinking coffee has it’s perks, but it gives your body a rush before crashing you. To reduce the impact on your adrenals, limit your caffeine intake.

Electronics – electronics are great, but using them frequently, especially before bed can lead to adrenal fatigue. Shut off the electronics, read books, practice music, art, or enjoy the sunshine instead.

Gut Bacteria Imbalance – A balance of good bacteria in your intestines is crucial to proper adrenal function. Too much bad bacteria can lead to sugar cravings, fat storage, fatigue and a multitude of other symptoms. Again, cut down on the sugar, but also take probiotics and supplement your gut with healthy foods.

Inactivity – Inactivity is one of the fastest ways to stay stuck in a rut of stress. Start increasing your activity level by setting goals, finding a workout partner or trainer to keep you accountable, or create a little friendly competition among friends or colleagues.

With just these few basic adjustments, you can improve your body’s elasticity and ability to bounce back from stressful situations, granting you with the ability to make better decisions and have better reactions to stress. Studies have shown that making these minor adjustments improve your adrenal health in as little as a few weeks, and once you’re there, you can stay there by continuing to make those healthy choices.

To give your adrenals an added boost, check out my recipe for the adrenal cocktail here.