STOP Adrenal Dysfunction

My friend Becca made a massive list of New Year’s resolutions last year. She felt motivated and ready to make all kinds of positive changes in her life, both personal and professional.

But when I checked in with her throughout the year, she was struggling to meet her goals. This is common and relatable. But something she said really stuck with me.

“Every day, I want to do those things,” she said. “I never forget about them, and I’m not lazy. I just feel too tired.”

This year, I helped Becca come up with a different kind of resolution: to beat adrenal fatigue, restore her healthy stress response and get her energy back. If you’ve been struggling with adrenal fatigue, or if you can relate in any way to Becca’s story, I want to help you, too.

Is your stress response faulty?

A lot of women aren’t sure whether they have adrenal fatigue. Not only is information online confusing and often contradictory but there’s no conclusive test for it.

Beyond that, your holistic practitioner might say you have adrenal fatigue, while your family doctor says it doesn’t exist. This and its variable and nonspecific symptoms can make it incredibly challenging to figure out the truth.

From my experience, most women deal with some degree of adrenal fatigue throughout their lives. Whether we call it adrenal dysfunction, HPA axis dysfunction or something else, collectively, our stress responses are suffering. But there is a way to heal your stress response and your overall health.

How to beat adrenal fatigue

The first step in beating adrenal fatigue is recognizing something is off. If you feel tired more often than you should, that’s one key indication. See below for some of the most common signs and symptoms of adrenals that have been in overdrive, leading to physiological burnout and an impaired stress response.

Here are some simple, holistic strategies to restore healthy adrenal function.

Set boundaries. A tough but important resolution is learning to say no. So many women know on some level that certain commitments or relationships are wearing them out, but they’re not sure how to pull back or walk away.

Reflect on the situations that are draining you and ask yourself what boundaries you can set to relieve this stress. You might decide to delegate certain tasks, take a break from a friendship or turn your phone off on Sundays. Finally, communicate those boundaries to the relevant people.

Eat anti-inflammatory foods. What you eat plays a huge role in how well your adrenals function. Opt for a variety of whole, anti-inflammatory foods—healthy fats, lean proteins, leafy greens and high-quality sea salt. Say no to pro-inflammatory choices like sugar, refined flour and processed foods.

Practice mindfulness. There are lots of ways to add more mindfulness to your life—beyond just meditation. For example, you could take a walk every morning without your phone or other distractions. Or sit and listen to a beautiful piece of music, with or without your eyes closed. There’s no right or wrong way to practice, so explore what makes you feel present and connected to yourself.

Heal your gut. Restoring your gut health is one of the best things you can do to improve adrenal function. Stress goes beyond the mental and emotional.

Things like leaky gut or an imbalanced gut microbiome also stress your body and can throw your hormones and adrenal function out of whack.

Add probiotic foods to your diet, like kefir, yogurt, miso, tempeh, kimchi and sauerkraut, to help balance your microbiome. You can also take a high-quality probiotic. And consider a stool test with a functional medicine practitioner to see if something is going on in your gut that you’re unaware of.

Signs of adrenal dysfunction

• Frequent or excessive fatigue
• Difficulty falling or staying asleep
• Feeling anxious or overwhelmed
• Brain fog or difficulty concentrating
• Irritability
• Frequent sugar cravings
• Overreliance on caffeine
• Waking up feeling unrested
• Afternoon “crashes”

For more information on this topic, click on the WDDTY link below.

Stay Healthy, Janice.

Love this article from the magazine What Doctors Don’t Tell You, hope you enjoy.