Adrenal Fatigue is often referred to as adrenal insufficiency. Our adrenals are two small glands situated one on top of each kidney. They produce hormones that help with many functions in the body, including the production of our stress hormones, particularly cortisol and adrenaline.
Our adrenals are affected by stress, whether that be emotional, mental or physical. Any type of stress is seen by the body as a type of threat. It causes a fight or flight response. Stress causes the adrenals to release the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline to deal with the threat.
With the fight or flight response, if you thing back to cave man days, if you were being chased by a tiger, you either had to run super fast to escape with your life or you would be eaten. Therefore the tiger caused a stress response in the body. When this goes on, blood is pumped quickly to the brain and muscles, particularly the extremities and the heart so that you can run fast and escape with your life. Today, a similar response occurs within our body to stress, thankfully without being chased by a tiger.
Now, our body can’t differentiate between whether the stress is from a tiger chasing us and our life is in danger, or if we are stressed because we have a project due at work, or have so many jobs we need to get done, or an exam, or relationship issues, or what is going on in the world around us. Whatever the stress is, our body releases the stress hormones in response, causing the rush of blood to the brain heart and muscles. Therefore, blood isn’t going to be moving to our digestive system because that isn’t necessary for our survival at that moment. So if you are stressed, your body isn’t going to digest food very well.
Some other stressors on our body could be excessive exercise, not sleeping enough, eating the wrong foods for our body, being too hot or too cold, even not drinking enough water. These all put a level of stress on our body.
Stress can be acute, meaning we are stressed for a short amount of time, deal with the stress and then calm the body back down again. Your body can cope with that. When we are continually stressed, meaning it goes on for weeks or even months, we refer to this as chronic stress. This causes the adrenal glands to become puffed and worn out from pumping out the continuous supply of stress hormones. This then affects your body in a number of other ways. You might notice things like low energy, brain fog, fatigue, insulin resistance, weight gain, lowered immune function, increased BP, poor sleep and irritability, to name a few. You might feel unrefreshed when you wake up in the morning. You need coffee to get you going in the morning. You look for an energy boost so you eat sweets or carbohydrates or drink coffee. Then around 2-3 o clock in the afternoon, you might find that your energy levels become really low again and you feel that you again need to reach for that energy boost to pick you up again. Things like chocolate, cake, biscuits, carbs, coffee.
Often then, you might find that your energy levels will peak again later in the evening, so you might find that you get a boost around 9pm, so then you stay up late at night, you might be a bit of a night owl.
What is meant to go on with our cortisol levels, is that cortisol starts out highest at the start of the day, then it should start to dip until around 6pm, which is when our hormone, melatonin, starts kicking in. This starts to prepare the body for sleep. If our cortisol levels don’t dip enough, this prevents the melatonin from rising enough, leading to inability to sleep, insomnia, feeling wired and tired. You don’t get enough sleep, this stresses the body, you wake up feeling unrefreshed after your sleep, and so the cycle continues.
To help with this, we need to address the stress. We need to find the cause of the stress and find ways to help the body calm and relax.
Deep breathing exercises are really effective at reducing cortisol levels. Breathe in deep into your diaphragm.
Buteyko breathing is a technique that has been designed to improve your functional breathing patterns. It involves breathing in and out through the nose, and can be taught by a qualified practitioner to children and adults, with many health benefits.
Square breathing is really beneficial. If we are stressed, our breathing gets faster and more shallow. Square breathing is where we breathe in slowly for the count of 4, hold our breath for the count of 4, breathe out slowly for the count of 4 and then pause for the count of 4. Repeat this for a few rounds.
Ensure you are getting enough good quality sleep. Go to bed at a similar time each night, get up at a similar time each day. Reduce screen time at least half an hour before bed. Ensure the bedroom is dark and a comfortable temperature.
Try to get some form of movement most days. Exercise to reenergise you. If you feel exhausted and flat after exercise, try something else while your body is healing.
I often recommend to my clients to do an Adrenal Reset, which is a yoga move. All you need to do is lie flat on your back on the floor with no pillows under you. Place your palms by your side, face up. Close your eyes, focusing on your breathing, slow, deep, relaxed. You can even do this outside on the lawn if it is a nice day. Start with even a few minutes, building up to around 20 minutes each time you do the move.
Keep your mindset positive. Surround yourself with encouraging, positive people.
Practice prayer or meditation. There are some great free apps available. Some that I have used include Insight Timer and Smiling Mind.
Try journalling, or write an affirmation that you really like and stick it somewhere that you will see it often. That might be on the fridge, on a cupboard door or on the bathroom mirror.
Practice gratitude. Be thankful for something every day.
Find activities that you enjoy doing, things that bring a smile to your face. Implement these into your day. This could be gardening, cooking, reading, craft, going for a walk, anything that you enjoy.
Run yourself a bath, add some Epsom salt to it to help with relaxation. Add in 1-3 cups of Epsom salt and relax for at least 20 minutes. If you don’t want a bath, do the same thing in a bucket of water with about 1 cup of Epsom salt in. You could even add a few drops of essential oil such as lavender to help your body to relax. Always check that essential oils are safe for you to use, as some shouldn’t be used when pregnant or with certain medical conditions.
Our body needs magnesium for many functions, and it is depleted by stress. So if we are stressed, we need to increase our magnesium levels to feed and nourish our adrenals.
You could have a Bowen Therapy session or a relaxing massage. These help to switch off the stress response in the body.
You could put on an oil diffuser with your favourite blend of essential oils. Again, ensure you check they are safe to use, especially in pregnancy or with certain medical issues.
Limit or avoid caffeine, alcohol, sugar, processed foods and oils such as vegetable oil or canola oil. Rather, swap to coconut oil, olive oil or ghee.
Increase green leafy vegetables in your diet. Eat foods in a range of different colours, and try to eat foods seasonally. This will ensure you get a wide range of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
Increase your healthy fat intake from foods such as salmon, avocado, nuts and seeds. These are great for improving brain and nervous system health.
Increase fermented foods in your eating. This includes things such as sauerkraut, kombucha, kefir, kimchi and yoghurt.
Increase your magnesium levels through foods such as green leafy vegetables, dark chocolate higher than 70%, cherries.
B vitamins can also be depleted by stress. Increase your levels of these with foods such as meat, fish, poultry, nuts, seeds, legumes, green leafy vegetables.
Ensure you are eating enough protein. Increase your vitamin C levels with citrus fruits, kiwifruit, strawberries and capsicums. Increase your vitamin D levels with foods like salmon, tuna and egg yolks. Increase your zinc levels with meats and seeds.
As a Naturopath, I would also use certain herbs to support and nourish the adrenals and to help with stress. You could also drink Tulsi or Chamomile tea to help with calming.
There is a lot that can be done to help with Adrenal Fatigue. Please reach out to me if you need further support or advice with yours.