Adrenal Fatigue

When is tiredness more than just tiredness? When it goes on day after day for seemingly no reason and interferes with your everyday life. Sounds like depression, but for many it is something more than even that, it is adrenal fatigue.

What is adrenal fatigue? It is a syndrome characterized by a list of symptoms a mile long. Because it is such a long list many doctors don’t recognize it. It can be misdiagnosed as depression or stress, or thyroid problems, because the symptoms of these things overlap and contribute to the problem.

What to the adrenals do? Although the adrenal gland makes the stress hormone cortisol it makes other hormones that are critical to our everyday life. These include:

• Mineralcorticoids. These regulate the balance of salt to water within the body and help to maintain blood pressure.
• Glucocorticoids. These increase blood glucose levels by regulating the conversion of fats, proteins and carbohydrates into energy. They are also involved in regulating blood pressure, immune response and inflammation reactions.
• Gonadocorticois: These are the sex hormones.
• Epinephrine: This is the fight of flight hormone. It raises your heart rate and your blood sugar and rushes that blood to the muscles and the brain.
• Norepinephrine: Works with epinephrine.
• Plus many more

What causes adrenal fatigue? We all understand muscle fatigue. It is when you overwork or overstress a muscle. Even though the adrenal gland isn’t a muscle it can be overworked in much the same way.

What overworks the adrenal gland? The biggest cause is stress, but there are many types of stress that we don’t think about.

• Traffic Jams
• Poor sleep habits
• Feeling out of control
• Striving for good grades
• Work pressures
• Poor diet
• Poor relationships
• Losing a job
• Losing a loved one
• Losing a pet
• Worrying
• Not getting enough exercise
• Getting too much exercise
• Stimulants such as coffee and sugar
• Poor digestion
• Dieting
• Money problems
• Tax time
• Exciting television shows
• Nutritional deficiencies
• Over packed schedule

As you can see stressors can come from all directions. Unless we join a monastery and sit meditating all day there is no way to avoid dealing with stress. The key is to learn to handle stress well and to provide our bodies, and therefore our adrenals the nutrients they need. Part of providing good nutrition is to get rid of the poor nutrition choices. These include:

• Processed foods
• Alcohol
• Sugars (including excess natural sugars)
• Gluten

Instead you will want to include plenty of vegetables, especially fermented ones. These will provide enzymes, probiotics and fiber. Other foods to look for are those that are strong in B Vitamins, Calcium, Magnesium, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, and Omega 3’s. If you can’t get enough from your foods, or your digestion is off it is fine to reach for good quality supplements.

Herbs can also be extremely helpful in healing your body. The types you are looking for in order to heal your adrenals are called adaptogenic herbs, because they help your body adapt to stress. These include:

• Astragalus
• Ashwagandha
• Licorice
• Shisandra
• Holy Basal
• Ginseng
• Rhodiola
• Eleuthero
• Cordyceps

Along with these come some lifestyle changes that will be helpful. They include:

• Cutting back on your activities. Saying ‘no’ to things that aren’t critical.
• Spend time in meditation or prayer
• Get gentle activity every day.
• Stay hydrated
• Let go of stressors you can’t change. (Your attitude about being stuck in traffic)
• Pamper yourself. A warm bath with Epsom salts can be very relaxing.

If we take care of our bodies they will take care of us. If doing these things for a month or two doesn’t help make an appointment with your doctor. There may be an additional problem that is preventing your body from healing. For most situations even those can be healed by following this protocol, but it is always better to be safe rather than sorry.

Sources:
http://eatlocalgrown.com/article/12304-everything-you-need-to-know-about-adrenal-fatigue.html
http://www.mommypotamus.com/how-to-test-for-adrenal-fatigue-at-home/?mc_cid=7445b0f89d&mc_eid=8a271efa5b
http://www.naturalnews.com/046937_adrenal_fatigue_chronic_stress_natural_solutions.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/047452_adrenal_fatigue_thyroid_natural_remedies.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/047544_adrenal_fatigue_hormones_natural_remedies.html
http://www.motherearthliving.com/health-and-wellness/mind-and-body/fight-fatigue-zm0z14ndzhou.aspx?newsletter=1&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=HW%20eNews&utm_campaign=11.4.14%20HW#axzz3IJ0bPOMW
http://www.naturalnews.com/047691_stress_adrenal_fatigue_anxiety_remedies.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/047819_adrenals_hormone_balance_weight_loss.html
http://chriskresser.com/high-cortisol-and-brain-fog
http://www.naturalnews.com/048896_adrenal_fatigue_symptoms_natural_remedies.html
http://www.motherearthliving.com/health-and-wellness/adrenal-health-zmfz15mazhou.aspx?newsletter=1&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=HW%20eNews&utm_campaign=03.03.15%20HW
http://chriskresser.com/the-modern-lifestyle-a-recipe-for-adrenal-fatigue

Digestion Problems

Do you have digestion problems? It can range from the occasional burp or passing gas or upset stomach to something much worse. As Americans it seems we are often victims of stomach upsets. From the sale of antacids, Pepto Bismol, Gas-X and such it seems like everybody has some kind of problem.

There are good reasons that the average American has digestive issues. Our bodies are designed to take the living enzymes in our foods and combine them with those that the body makes. These are then used to digest the foods, starting in the mouth and working all the way through the colon. When we eat cooked and processed foods we are killing the enzymes before we eat them. This means the body has to work even harder at making enzymes. The ‘enzyme factories’ rely on the minerals in the foods for their raw materials, as well as the proteins and other nutrients from the foods. Many of our soils are mineral poor, so our food is mineral poor. All this leads to a lack of enzymes available to digest our foods. Fortunately you can supplement with enzymes. You can get them in blends that will help you digest anything or as individuals if one type of food bothers you more than others. People who have had their gallbladders removed typically find that Lipase eases their digestive issues caused by eating fats.

Another thing we as Americans typically lack are the good bacteria that belong in our bodies. Cooking the foods, growing them with pesticides, washing them with antibacterial soaps and irradiating them all contribute to killing the good bacteria that belong in and on our foods. These bacteria are meant to help us in the digestion process, especially in the colon. Lacking these can lead to colon damage and a problem called Leaky Gut Syndrome. The solution is to eat fermented foods and possibly supplement with probiotics. You will need to heal the colon once the damage has been done. There are multiple ways of doing this, but the GAPS diet is the best known.

If you are doing these things right, eating natural and raw foods, taking enzymes and taking probiotics and you still have the occasional upset there are many herbs that are very helpful in calming and healing the gut. They include sage, oregano, rosemary, lavender, peppermint, thyme, ginger and chamomile. Most of them can be taken as seasonings in our foods, teas or capsules. Ginger and peppermint are probably the best known.

Many people take antacids instead of herbs. True, that little roll is much more convenient to carry than a plant or a jar of pills, but what are the consequences of antacids? These work by blocking the stomach from making acid. The acid is in the stomach to activate the enzymes for digesting the food. Without enough acid there will be little or no digestion. Some of the nutrients we miss out on when we lack stomach acid are iron, B-12, folate and zinc.

Our whole body will be healthier, including our hair, skin, mind and energy levels when our digestion is working right.

Sources:

http://www.naturalnews.com/046014_herbal_tea_stomach_problems_digestion_aid.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/045943_GAPS_diet_bacterial_balance_immune_system.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/046371_digestive_herbs_peppermint_natural_medicine.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/046441_probiotics_humic_substances_digestive_health.html

http://www.freshbitesdaily.com/peppermint/?utm_content=buffera6a02&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

http://www.naturalnews.com/046497_colon_damage_cleansing_digestive_health.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/046494_Antacids_stomach_acid_indigestion.html