Adrenal dysfunction (often referred to as “adrenal fatigue”) is quite common in today’s modern world especially amongst women.
It is characterized by cortisol levels that are either too high or too low and is commonly due to stress.
Every kind of stress can cause adrenal fatigue:
- Environmental Stress: chemicals, pollution, toxins
- Emotional Stress: worry, panic, anger, and grief
- Physical Stress: Injury
- Blood sugar balance
- Messed up microbiome
- Dietary and Nutrient Deficiencies
Adrenals are two pea-sized glands that sit on top of your kidneys that secrete hormones including cortisol that monitor metabolism, inflammation, and blood pressure.
It is essentially your fight or flight response as opposed to your rest and digest response. This fight/flight response can disrupt the body’s ability to maintain homeostasis (natural balance).
Common symptoms of adrenal dysfunction include:
- Low energy throughout the day
- Low thyroid function
- Depression
- Low libido
- Mental exhaustion
- Poor sleep
- Brain fog
- Mood swings
- PMS
- Sugar cravings
- Dependence on coffee
When symptoms are ignored for an extended period or go by unchecked, it can disrupt other systems in the body like the immune system, hormone system and thyroid. They may contribute to the onset of more serious diseases.
Working on the body as a whole is important. The adrenals, liver and gut all need to be working optimally in order to heal.
Adrenal Fatigue is part of a larger system called the HPA Axis: Hypothalamus, Pituitary and Adrenal axis.
The HPA axis works on a feedback mechanism. Stress, poor nutrition, toxins in our environment all affect this mechanism. Managing stress is one way to support this mechanism.
When symptoms are ignored for an extended period or go by unchecked, it can disrupt other systems in the body like the immune system, hormone system and thyroid. They may contribute to the onset of more serious diseases.
Working on the body as a whole is important. The adrenals, liver and gut all need to be working optimally in order to heal.
Let’s talk a little bit more about some of the key signs of adrenal fatigue and what you can do.
BLOOD SUGAR IMBALANCES
Blood sugar imbalances can be caused by inadequate food intake (surprisingly, a lot of clients undereat to fuel their body), restricting carbohydrate intake, not eating enough protein especially first thing in the morning, skipping meals and over exercising (too much cardio and not enough weight bearing exercise).
Some tips to help regulate blood sugar include:
- Eat a healthy protein, fat and some fibre at every meal, especially breakfast. Eg apple with some nut butter, coconut yoghurt with collagen and berries.
- Investigate your gut health. Gut bugs like candida can be very opportunistic as they cause you to crave sugar for their survival.
- Low stomach acid can also affect how you digest and absorb nutrients from food. In clinic we use a GI Map stool test and Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) to investigate mineral deficiencies and gut issues. You can set up a free 15min Discovery call if you are interested in doing either of these tests.
- Keep sugar to a minimum in your house. This is an obvious one!
CHECK YOUR MINERALS!
Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis is an amazing tool to determine:
- How are you utilizing nutrients – Are you severely depleted?
- The effects of stress on the body
- How your diet is fueling your body
- How well your thyroid and adrenals are functioning (both are involved in energy pathways).
Minerals are needed for millions of enzymes as co-factors. They are essentially your body’s spark plugs and keep your body running. We look at the whole picture with HTMA levels, ratios between minerals and each person’s individual symptoms.
When it comes to adrenal health, it is a very intricate dance between four main minerals (magnesium, sodium and potassium and to a lesser extent calcium). Treating the body as a whole, by looking at these nutrient deficiencies and toxicities, we can help address any adrenal issues.
TOXINS IN OUR ENVIRONMENT AND GUT HEALTH
Unfortunately in the modern world we live in, there are toxins everywhere. Toxins from the environment and the activity of an unhealthy gut can also affect our adrenal function.
When the gut becomes dysfunctional and there are food sensitivities, leaky gut, inflammation and parasites, then this is a source of stress on the adrenals.
Often, it is not just stress that we need to work on to directly “fix” your adrenal fatigue. Often we need to also focus on the gut!
SLEEP AND YOUR ADRENALS
Sleep loss can negatively affect your circadian rhythm. This is due to the pattern between cortisol and melatonin. Cortisol (which is stored in your adrenals) should be higher in the morning and decrease over the day and be at its lowest at night so that melatonin can be produced so you can enjoy a good night’s sleep.
Often throughout the night, there is a drop in cortisol and this wakes you up. This is then followed by a trip to the bathroom. Using strategies to support your adrenals, can often lead to a more peaceful restful nights sleep.
If you are interested in knowing about your adrenals and how they may be affecting your health, it might be a good idea to do some testing. Testing is key to finding out what is driving the symptoms mentioned above. Knowledge is power!
Get in touch today for a free 15min discovery call to see how I can help optimise your health.
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