Updated: Aug. 18th, 2024
- How well are your adrenal glands functioning?
- Adrenal gland dysfunction could be behind your moodiness, exhaustion, fuzzy thinking and more!
- Discover how balanced cortisol levels help regulate and protect your body.
- Try my simple actions for change
I’ve been in practice for decades, and have worked with thousands of amazing women who were proactive and insightful when it came to their health.
These women sought out a functional medicine approach because they wanted to know the root cause of their health problems – not just cover up the symptoms as many conventional practitioners will do.
Whether they were early in their journey or had exhausted their options in the conventional medicine world without finding any real answers or solutions, the choice to pursue functional medicine always involves some reflection.
Debby was great at asking herself the important questions to try to get to the bottom of her health issues. Have I changed anything in my diet? Could this be related to the new medication I’m taking? Should I check my nutrient or hormone levels? These were just a few of the essential questions she was asking herself (and me).
But one thing Debby didn’t know to ask herself was this: Do you know how well your adrenal glands are functioning?
Like most women, when I posed this question Debby’s answer was no. Conventional practitioners seldom mention adrenal health, and the term adrenal fatigue comes with a lot of confusion and misunderstanding. That’s partly because conventional medicine waits for a crisis to address a problem. But even a slight adrenal dysfunction can cause big problems!
Alarm bells won’t ring when you are experiencing adrenal fatigue. Although it impacts health in so many major ways, the signs and symptoms often come on gradually. Many people (and their health care practioners) don’t see that a wide range of symptoms and concerns are actually the result of adrenal dysfunction. But in my practice, I see it every day!
I focus on adrenal function a lot in my writing, and that’s because I’ve found adrenal health to be the true foundation for strength, vitality, energy, and well-being.
As I said, the term “adrenal fatigue” comes with some misconceptions. Many assume that exhaustion is the primary symptom – and while it certainly can be a major problem, that fatigue is just one part of the story.
But let’s back up a bit. First, I need to show you how significantly adrenal function impacts overall health.
What do the adrenal glands do for your body?
The adrenal glands are primarily responsible for activating your stress response. They are also the great balancer of more than 50 hormones in the body.
When the stress response (“fight, flight, or freeze”) kicks in, your adrenals shift energy away from restorative processes like digestion, and focus on pumping adrenaline and cortisol into your bloodstream.
When this happens, all of those other hormones, including androgens and their precursors such as testosterone and DHEA, estrogen, and progesterone suffer. This is why it’s particularly important to support your adrenal glands as you approach menopause, a time when your body relies even more heavily upon the regulation of hormones (and is, of course, undergoing a great deal of stress).
So what does adrenal fatigue do, besides making you tired? It can throw off your digestive system, your reproductive system, and your overall hormonal balance. Adrenal dysfunction can lead to autoimmune diseases, mood disorders, depression, weight gain, brain fog, and insulin resistance. And that’s just a few of the issues – there are too many to name them all in one article!
Remember, the adrenal glands are good guys. What they are trying to do is to protect you from that giant bear that’s running towards you. Or, wait… is it actually an email from your boss? The trouble is, your stress response doesn’t really know the difference. The adrenal glands are the key players in a team assembled to react to all stressors. And this is absolutely critical when there is a bear running towards you, or even when you are going into a regular, 21st century, high stress situation like a job interview.
Stressors, big and small, are a constant in our modern lives. Our environment is littered with chemicals, our diets often contain inflammatory foods, and we’re trying to balance dozens of responsibilities at the same time. Kids, parents, spouses, careers, errands, emails and social media notifications at all hours. Somewhere in there, we try to fit in a little bit of sleep. And insufficient sleep is, of course, another stressor.
So, to review: When our stress response is activated too frequently, many of our other functions including hormone production and restorative processes are sidelined. And, when the adrenal glands start to become burned out (hint: if you feel exhausted and burned out, your adrenal glands are right there with you), they actually stop being able to function properly at all. This is when you move from the early stages to the late stages of adrenal fatigue.
The role of cortisol
The hormone cortisol is a key player in many other regulatory processes across all your systems: protecting the body from stress by regulating blood pressure, normalizing blood sugar levels, helping to regulate the immune and inflammatory responses, and influencing mood, memory, and clarity of thought.
So, to put it simply, having balanced cortisol levels is critical! But when your adrenals aren’t working properly, your cortisol levels can be either too high or too low. This wreaks havoc on your entire system.
That might explain why, when your adrenal reserves are depleted, you can feel totally off balance, and your sleeping and eating habits might seem a little crazy, too! In Ayurvedic medicine, the adrenal glands are connected to the “root” chakra and contribute to being grounded, nourishment and physical health. With persistent stress, we become increasingly less grounded, which can increase stress even more. This constant demand for stress hormones means the adrenals become depleted and ultimately exhausted.
Simple Choices for Change
I’ve worked closely with women like Debby who are experiencing adrenal fatigue for decades, and shown them how much you can do to provide stronger grounding and support to the adrenal glands.
One of the most important things you can do for yourself is to make great choices around your nutrition.
Will your food choices make or break your adrenal health? Not exactly. Stress is the number-one major offender ( stress from your history, an illness or present day stress) when it comes to adrenal depletion. But there are many food choices that provide more stress than they do nourishment.
Good nutrition, well-timed meals and snacks, and sometimes a gluten-free diet can significantly relieve the strain on your adrenal glands. Focus on fresh, whole foods, especially anti-inflammatory foods.
Selecting high-quality foods, building a strong nutrient base, and paying attention to when and how you eat all make for more efficient and healthy adrenal function — and better health all around.
Of course, you also have to find other places where you can reduce stress. When it comes to restoring adrenal health, there are no quick fixes, and you definitely don’t want a band-aid solution.
The real key to repairing adrenal function is taking care of yourself! I know that it’s easier said than done, especially when people are counting on you at home and at work. But know that taking care of yourself will heal and benefit not only you but everyone you care about.
So, start learning how to say “no” when you need to! Focus on getting good quality sleep, and turn off your electronics earlier. Find a way to practice mindfulness, whether it’s through meditation, yoga, or walks in nature. It really is these “simple” things that will be healing when your adrenals are exhausted.
I shared this analogy with Debby, and it really seemed to resonate. Think about the tires on your car. If you buy high quality tires and routinely check their air pressure, balance and rotate them, and patch any holes, the foundation for how your car moves on the road will be safe, steady, and strong. You’ll get better gas mileage, the car will respond better when road conditions are slippery or uneven, and the car will last longer.
Just as neglecting your tires may not immediately compromise your safety or your car’s efficiency, your adrenals can take a lot of strain before you begin to see the effects on your body. But if you let your good habits slide too long, you will see the impact. Adrenal imbalance can lead to mood challenges, irritability, fuzzy thinking, disrupted sleep, and ultimately, utter exhaustion. But you don’t have to get to that point. And if you’re already there, you can repair your foundation!
The more you support adrenal function, the stronger your foundation becomes for overall health. This is why I’m so focused on the adrenals!
Adrenal function is so much more important than it’s been given credit for. It affects every aspect of good health – and it’s never too late to support and repair the way your adrenals are functioning.
Debby turned her health around just by learning more about supporting her adrenals; and you can too! For more information on the impacts of adrenal health, and what you can do to turn dysfunction around, check out my extensive adrenal section in my health library.
