The Adrenal Glands: Not just another spleen
In my high school biology class, we gave the adrenal glands as much attention as the spleen. That is to say, we gave them no attention. We memorized the roles of the liver, the route of urine through the kidneys, and the complete lifecycle of the human egg. But the adrenal glands? Those things didn’t even appear in the Extra Credit questions of an exam.
Many of you consider your adrenal glands as just another spleen: you know you have both organs, but they don’t get any special attention. Your daily choices either abuse or support these glands, however. If your adrenals take too much abuse, it leads to adrenal fatigue.
Adrenal fatigue is currently a chic diagnosis in the world of alternative medicine, although most doctors do not recognize this health issue. As someone who has struggled with adrenal fatigue, I can tell you that it is very real. Fortunately, with some straight-forward dietary and lifestyle changes, you will be on your path to adrenal fatigue recovery.
Symptoms of adrenal fatigue
Do many of these symptoms describe you? Then adopting an adrenal recovery diet and lifestyle is a key step in reaching your optimal health.
Low energy through the day and trouble getting out of bed
Low thyroid function (hypothyroid)
Inability to lose weight
Low or no libido
Low blood pressure
Dizzy when standing up (this was the key symptom for me to discover my adrenal fatigue!)
Cravings for salt and sugar
Anxiety, mental exhaustion, and/or depression
Reduced immunity (you get every cold that goes around)
What are the adrenal glands?
The adrenal glands, two little pea-sized glands, sit on top of the kidneys. The outer part of the adrenal gland, the adrenal cortex, secretes the corticosteroid hormones including cortisol that monitor the body’s metabolism, inflammation, and blood pressure.
The adrenal medulla, the inner part, secretes adrenaline and noradrenaline, hormones that respond to stressors. When the adrenal medulla fires, it increases the heart rate, boosts blood flow to the muscles, and creates a surge of glucose (blood sugar) in the bloodstream. This mechanism evolved so we could draw from a quick burst of energy in a fight-or-flight situation.
What is adrenal fatigue?
Adrenal fatigue results when dietary and lifestyle choices cause the adrenal glands to exhaust after firing over and over.
Our hunter-gatherer ancestors didn’t fatigue his adrenal glands because they only needed a burst of stress hormones during the occasional flight-or-fight situation. When we face chronic stress, however, it means that our adrenal glands fire constantly. This depletes the adrenal glands and compromises their ability to perform their tasks, like the controlled secretion of corticosteroid hormones. This leads to chronic fatigue, an impaired immune system, inflammation, and the other symptoms of adrenal fatigue.
There are numerous situations that frequently precede adrenal fatigue. Here are some common causes, according to expert Dr. James Wilson:
Sudden life change, such as a move or loss of a job
Severe emotional trauma
Single parenting
College life
Drug or alcohol abuse
All work, little play
Perfectionist mentality towards life or work
Another type of chronic stress that contributes to adrenal fatigue is blood sugar problems. When we eat imbalanced meals, high in carbs and low in fat, it causes first hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) and then hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). In response to the dangerous blood sugar crash, the adrenal glands kick in with stress hormones to mobilize glucose and raise blood sugar.
The problem is that the adrenals aren’t meant to be drawn on for daily blood sugar regulation. They are only supposed to fill that role very occasionally. When it happens on a regular basis, it drains the adrenals.
How do I confirm adrenal fatigue?
The symptoms of adrenal fatigue are non-specific, meaning they can relate to other health issues. So it’s difficult to diagnose adrenal fatigue with just symptoms.
I believe one key indicator of adrenal fatigue is lifestyle choices and health history. Are you currently exhausted, although you used to be a busy bee? Have you always taken on more than you can handle, but now you are unable to keep up? Do you rely on caffeine to get through the day?
While adopting an adrenal fatigue diet and lifestyle certainly won’t hurt if you don’t have adrenal fatigue, the way to confirm adrenal fatigue is a cortisol saliva test. All you have to do is spit in some vials, stick them in the freezer, and mail them to a lab. After processing, you’ll receive a chart that shows if your cortisol levels throughout the day are normal or wonky. (Wonky levels = adrenal fatigue). You can request this test from a naturopath or natural health practitioner.
Natural Adrenal Fatigue Recovery
Three important factors work together to address adrenal fatigue: diet, supplements, and lifestyle. Of all three, the most important – and challenging – is lifestyle. Diet and supplements certainly improve adrenal fatigue, but you must make the lifestyle changes.
The Adrenal Fatigue Recovery Diet
Start Primal. Immediately begin a Primal/Paleo diet. This eliminates grains, legumes, refined sugar and vegetable oils – all foods that stress the adrenals and increase inflammation. While it is possible, but difficult, to address adrenal fatigue on a vegetarian diet, it is impossible to reach optimal adrenal health on a vegan diet.
Do breakfast correctly. In Your Personal Paleo Code, expert Chris Kresser advocates a very high protein breakfast for adrenal fatigue. He suggests 40 grams of protein at breakfast, which promotes stable blood sugar through the day. I’m unable to consume 40 grams of protein at once, but I consume at least 25 grams each morning in the form of grassfed meat. Also, enjoy breakfast within 30 minutes of waking up to help balance cortisol levels. If this is not possible, at least eat a piece of fresh fruit with a spoonful of coconut oil.
Salt, salt and more salt. Adrenal fatigue depletes salt levels in the body because it reduces aldosterone, the salt-monitoring hormone. Since adequate sodium in the blood is essential for healthy blood pressure, we can experience dizziness when aldosterone levels drop. Most people with adrenal fatigue crave salt. Consume as much unrefined salt as you can tolerate. Liberally salt all your foods and add a pinch of salt to any tea or water you drink. Use only himalayan salt, celtic sea salt or Real Salt, not processed table salt.
Eat small meals frequently. Never, ever skip a meal with adrenal fatigue. This is NOT the time to practice intermittent fasting! Your body is unable to properly monitor salt and glucose levels in your blood, so you must provide those factors frequently. Eat something small every two hours. A bedtime snack should include salt, a source of saturated fat, and a healthy carbohydrate. Carbohydrates should come from fresh fruits, root veggies, and starchy fruits/veggies like plantains. Fruit juices, refined sugars and grains should be avoided because they wreck havoc on your blood sugar.
Mindfully consume fluids. Dietary dogma hounds us to drink 8-10 glasses of water per day. This stresses a healthy persons metabolism but chronically compromises the metabolism of someone with adrenal fatigue. Too much fluid reduces thyroid function, which works hand in hand with the adrenal glands. Additionally, too much water further dilutes to imbalanced sodium in your blood, exacerbating dizziness. Follow the simple tips in my post Hydrate for Metabolic Health.
Enjoy lots of good fats. Emphasize sources of healthy saturated fats from grassfed butter and ghee, coconut oil, pastured egg yolks, and grassfed meats. Monounsaturated fats from avocado and unadulterated olive oil can also be enjoyed. Strictly limit nuts and seeds, because the fatty acid profile and anti-nutrients impair thyroid function and digestion. Avoid all plant oils, including canola oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, grapeseed oil, and hemp oil. Do not do low fat… it will utterly undermine your adrenal fatigue recovery.
Say no to low carb. Expert Chris Kresser recommends a moderate carbohydrate diet for adrenal fatigue. He suggests aiming for about 20% of calories from carbohydrates. Favor fresh fruits and starchy vegetables for carb intake. A low carb diet exacerbates adrenal fatigue. During my short stint on a low carb diet (yes, I did try it before I knew better!) my adrenal fatigue symptoms drastically intensified.
No caffeine or alcohol. Zip. Nada. Ziltch. You want to get better, right? Some caffeine is fine for healthy people, but not while you are in a period of recovery.
Adrenal Fatigue Recovery Supplements
Adrenal glandular. Glandular treatment, the ingestion of small amounts of animal glands, is a traditional treatment practiced by ancient healers from across the globe. When it comes to glandulars, less is usually better and quality counts. I use one tablet of Biotics Cytozyme AD each morning.
Herbal adrenal support. After sifting through the hundred of herbal adrenal supplements on the market, I take Gaia Herbal Adrenal Health and highly recommend it. I follow the dose recommendation on the bottle.
Vitamin C. Experts widely recommend vitamin C for adrenal fatigue recovery. Ascorbic acid, the popular choice for vitamin C supplementation, is a synthetic compound usually made from GMO corn. It also kills the good bacteria in our digestive tract, so it is not a good option for the long term (read more). I use plant-sourced vitamin C, either these acerola powder or camu camu capsules.
Adrenal Balance™ Essential Oil. Vibrant Blue Oils are widely used by Nutritional Therapists (including me!) to support the health of our clients. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a nutritional therapist to use the powerful oils because I recently teamed up with Jodi, the founder of VBO, to tell you how to use them. The Adrenal Balance™ Oil provides comprehensive support for the adrenal glands. It is a therapeutic-grade essential oil blend and is pure enough to eat, but it is designed to be used only topically for optimum efficacy.
Pastured Beef, Chicken or Pork Liver – Gram for gram, pasture-raised liver is the most nutrient-dense food on the planet. It provides true vitamin A, an essential nutrient for adrenal fatigue recovery and hormone balance in general. (Vegetables do not provide the body with useable vitamin A). Eat sautéed liver a few times per week or consume liver pills daily, either homemade or Radiant Life Desiccated Liver Capsules (2-6 per day).
DHEA, Progesterone, and Pregnenolone - think twice. I am extremely cautious of using hormones or pre-hormones for therapy because they can do much more harm than good, especially in the long-term. Some experts say that DHEA and/or pregnenolone is necessary in cases of severe adrenal fatigue. I am not disagreeing with their experience, but I had severe adrenal fatigue and dedicated myself to healing through diet and lifestyle, without the need for expensive and potentially harmful supplements. If you do look into the option of DHEA, progesterone or pregnenolone, seek the guidance of the most experienced professional you can find.
Lifestyle Changes for Adrenal Fatigue Recovery
Sleep. Just sleep. More often than not, those who have adrenal fatigue have pushed sleep down low on their list of priorities. It’s time to move sleep to a number one priority. Be in bed, ready to sleep, by 10 pm each night for at least one month. It’s just one month, you can do it! After the month, depending on the severity of your adrenal fatigue, you may be able to have a more lenient bedtime but for best results, stick to a 10 bedtime.
Stop the exercise for a month. Avoid cardio and all other forms of strenuous exercise for 30 days. This is very important, because intense exercise wreaks havoc on exhausted adrenals by spiking cortisol. Short, slow walks (30 minutes) in nature are beneficial, however. Strength training may be incorporated slowly.
Practice Lunaception. Did you know that women can help balance their hormones by manipulating the light while sleeping? I recommend this simple technique, called Lunaception, to every woman, but especially those who struggle with hormone imbalances including adrenal fatigue. I explain Lunaception with step-by-step directions.
Make time for constructive rest. Allocate at least half an hour each day to simply rest. One of my favorite “constructive rest” practices is doing gentle stretching while listening to an audiobook. Visualization exercises and guided relaxation tapes aid recuperation.
My own adrenal fatigue recovery
My struggle with adrenal fatigue began during a year of intense emotional trauma followed by the development of an autoimmune disease. For years, before I discovered the healing power of food, doctors gave me huge doses of corticosteroids (Prednisone). This medication undoubtedly saved my life, but it utterly disrupted my already compromised adrenal function. At one point, my adrenal fatigue was so severe that I nearly fell over each time I stood up, due to the dizziness.
My focus on healing my adrenal fatigue began a year ago and it continues today. Although I’ve made a world of progress, I continually learn and experiment with gusto.
In this post, I’ve attempted to explain adrenal fatigue in plain English and give you a quick-start guide for adrenal fatigue recovery. I discussed what I wished I had known when I discovered this thing called adrenal fatigue.
I encourage you to seek information from other sources because, as long as it is, this single blog post will not provide you with all the answers to your unique health situation. For further reading, I recommend:
Your Personal Paleo Code by Chris Kresser
Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Syndrome by Dr. James L. Wilson
Eat for Heat by Matt Stone
Are you working on adrenal fatigue recovery? What are your symptoms?
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