Tip for December 2008:
Adrenal Health
In today’s world we are constantly swamped with stress. We know it well. We need to tend to so many things in our lives today. What we may not be as aware of is the effect that stress has on our bodies. High levels of stress over time will deplete our energy and our health.
When faced with a stressful situation, we rely on our adrenal glands. They are the little glands that sit on top of your kidneys near the spine, just underneath the last rib extending down about an inch. The purpose of your adrenal glands is to help your body cope with stress and survive. They are known as the glands of stress. It is their job to enable your body to deal with stress from every possible source, ranging from injury and disease to work and relationship problems. Your resiliency, endurance and your life all depend on their proper functioning.
For the most part, our stress response evolved from short-term events — crises that came and went. If we had to run from a predator, for example, our healthy adrenal glands responded by releasing adrenaline, which makes us more alert and focused, and cortisol, which converts protein to energy and releases our stored sugar, glycogen, so our bodies have the fuel needed to respond quickly. In concert, the adrenal response rapidly increases our heart and respiratory rates and blood pressure while releasing energy, tensing our muscles, sharpening our senses, and slowing our digestion so we are primed to escape or fight back, whichever is needed. When the threat is gone, the body returns to normal — quickly with respect to adrenaline levels, less quickly with respect to cortisol.
But in today’s society, stress makes it’s way into many parts of our lives. And when chronic stress repeatedly forces the adrenal glands to sustain high levels of cortisol, two things happen: first, the adrenals can’t attend to their broader role in hormonal regulation because the same resources they use to make hormones like estrogen are required to make cortisol, and second, cortisol starts to damage healthy tissues. Eventually, adrenal fatigue sets in, and many women experience symptoms such as weight gain, fatigue, insomnia, fuzzy thinking, depression, cravings and mood swings. Once the adrenals become depleted, it can lead to adrenal exhaustion and much more serious health concerns.
Adrenal fatigue is a common and growing problem in modern life. Sadly, it is largely unrecognized by the medical establishment. Adrenal fatigue has left millions of people suffering from an untreated problem that interferes with not only their ability to function, but also with their capacity to enjoy life.
Symptoms of adrenal fatigue:
Difficulty getting up in the morning, continuing fatigue not relieved by sleep, craving for salt or salty foods, lack of energy, increased effort to do every day tasks, decreased sex drive, decreased ability to handle stress, light headed when standing up quickly, mild depression, less enjoyment of life, increased PMS, cravings for carbohydrates and sugar, less focused thoughts, memory is less accurate, decreased tolerance and decreased productivity, immune function is poor, and an intolerance to cold.
What you can do to support your adrenal health:
Add salted vegetable juice plus water to your daily routine, and drink it several times a day. It will give you a good balance of water, salt and potassium. This is extremely helpful for the adrenals.Sprinkle your food with kelp powder. It also contains potassium and sodium in an easily assimilated form.
See the Beauty Through Balance October 2008 article, Blood Sugar and Your Health.
Sleep. Be in bed before 10:30 PM. When it’s possible, sleep until 8:30 or 9:00 AM. There is something magical about the restorative power of sleep between 7:00-9:00 in the morning.
Have a couple bites of a snack that contains protein, unrefined carbohydrate and high quality fat before going to bed to help you sleep through the early morning hours. If you have adrenal fatigue, your blood glucose levels may fall so low that hypoglycemic symptoms wake you during the hours of 1:00 and 3:00 AM. A good snack here would be whole grain crackers with almond butter.
Get tested. Beauty Through Balance offers a wonderful Adrenal Test that will indicate both your adrenal health and hormonal health with a simple saliva test that you can do at home.
Laugh! When you laugh, stress decreases and all mechanisms in the body relax. The adrenals are much freer to rebuild.
Exercise! Exercise decreases depression, expels volatile gases out of your body that can become harmful if they build up, and it improves cell function. Exercise also normalizes levels of cortisol, insulin, blood glucose, growth hormone and thyroid. Best of all, it makes you feel better!