Addressing Adrenal Fatigue

A quick bio lesson:
You produce adrenaline (also called cortisol) in glands. Your perception of the world and how you experience stress and other day-day experiences will determine how much your glands secrete. You need sufficient amounts for focus, energy and to fight off infections when necessary. Your body will produce more or less depending on the situation it feels it is in. You can also produce more through certain supplements like caffeine. Your system can be overwhelmed by too much cortisol being produced for too long and not enough rest and recovery time in between. This can lead to the depression of other important bodily functions and hormonal imbalances.
You may have heard of type II diabetes where people have become “insulin resistant” this is because for so long they had to produce lots of insulin in response to a diet too high in sugary foods and now their pancreas can no longer keep up with the demands which leads to the resistance. Adrenal fatigue works in much the same way. Your body has to keep up with such a high and sustained production of adrenalin that the system simply goes out of whack as it gets depleted.

How does it feel?
Like you are not yourself. It feels hard to self-regulate emotions as you feel out of balance and out of control. A quality night’s sleep may feel harder to achieve and even when you do sleep you wake feeling groggy rather than refreshed. Energy levels are low throughout the day and remembering simple things is a challenge which in turn makes it harder for you to trust yourself and your own judgment. Often the fatigue you feel leads you to crave foods you don’t need.

Because your other hormones have gone out of balance things like your sex drive, ability to learn and retain information, your mood and cycles also go off kilter and become depressed.

How does it happen?
Your lifestyle has a huge affect on your hormonal balance. Let this knowledge empower you. You do not have to be victim to it or your genetics, you can take control and affect positive changes within yourself to achieve the healthiest you that you can be!
Smoking, drinking, drugs and highly processed foods are the obvious causes but things like:

…can all have a negative affect on your hormonal balance and so your overall well being. This all makes you susceptible to burnout, adrenal fatigue and other nefarious conditions that decrease your quality of life. You get one life. Do everything you can to achieve the best quality of it, you are so worth it.
See the below tips on managing your adrenal fatigue and restoring optimal hormonal balance.

what to avoid:

• caffeine, no coffee at all and limit teas that contain caffeine such as black and green tea.
• processed foods, alcohol and cigarets/vapes;  These stress the body out and make it harder for the adrenals to  repair themselves whilst cause other damage.
• stress. Easier said than done but this can mean learning to say no, scheduling time to talk with friends and family, taking walks in nature and dialing back your work load as best you can.