Lets face it, we live in a completely different world today than our relatives before us.  This is why we encounter so much chronic illness today that was practically unheard of before.  Our bodies are actually made to adapt to stress, the “fight or flight” mode by producing cortisol, to respond to these threats, but many years ago stress was not a part of our routine daily, let alone all day. Today is a different story.  We go to bed looking at screens with fake light, wake up to the same thing, we try to do too much in one day now and are constantly connected to the world through our devices.  Not to mention the stress of finances, work, commuting, family life, and the lack of the quality nutrition in our food today.  The consequence?  When we are under chronic stress, normal body functions get put on the back-burner so we can put all of our energy toward surviving. 

This is a BIG deal.  This state of constant high cortisol then effects our normal body functions such as: digestion, recovery/tissue repair, hair/skin/nail growth, liver detox, gallbladder function, proper immune system regulation, blood and oxygen circulation, the generation of neurotransmitters in the brain, and the list goes on.  When cortisol is high for too long, real body damage occurs and we experience nutrient depletion and compromised immune function.  We chew through vitamin D much more quickly, and we store extra belly fat!  

So what to do and what not to do…….

These are Five Ways to Stress Your Adrenals (taken from The Summit Coaches)

Mental & Emotional Stress

This is what we think of when we hear the word “stress.” Any emotion such as grief, fear, anger, or anxiety could be considered stress. Whenever we’re in new situations, feel helpfulness, or feel like we can’t control the outcome can also contribute to this type of stress.

Blood Sugar Swings

I like to call this the blood sugar rollercoaster, when blood sugar soars high and dips low. Whenever we eat high-carb / high-glycemic load foods, our bodies release a large amount of insulin to react and clear out that blood sugar high… which then results in an enormous blood sugar low. Doing this over and over again can add tremendous strain on the adrenals.

Poor Sleep

When researcher cause adrenal dysregulation in animals to study them further, the go-to strategy is sleep deprivation. Sleep is the magical time when tissues are repaired, and important growth hormones are generated. Sleep apnea can also contribute to non-restorative sleep.

Overtraining & Too Much Exercise

Exercise can be a great thing, but under chronic stress, it can be a burden on the body and not a benefit. Cardio and endurance-focused exercise is most commonly associated with adrenal dysregulation (and intense exercise: even leaky gut!).

Harboring An Active Infection

If you’re like 95% of the population, you have Epstein-Barr, the mono virus. An activated virus adds to the stress on your adrenals while depleting other important nutrients. (Talk about a double-whammy: adrenal dysregulation and an active mono virus = extreme fatigue) Gut infections and critters like SIBO, yeast, or parasites also have the same effect.

Other lesser-known ways of stressing the adrenals also include: eating foods you’re intolerant or sensitive to, high toxic burden, and inflammation. All of these conditions require more cortisol to overcome.

STRATEGIES FOR ADRENAL HEALING

There are some easy things you can do to give your poor adrenals everything they need to recover.

Adrenal-Boosting Habits

Nutrition & Eating:

Eat breakfast within one hour of waking up.

Stick to low glycemic load foods to avoid drastic blood sugar swings.

Dampen the effect of high glycemic foods by adding a protein or fat when consuming them.

Never get to the point of ‘hangry’ – by then, it’s already too late!

While you’re healing your adrenals, avoid coffee and alcohol, which amp up your adrenals

Boost adrenals with vitamins and minerals. Adrenals love vitamin C, B-vitamins, magnesium, and zinc. If your adrenals are under stress, your need for these vitamins will be greater!

Try some adaptogens, like maca, ashwagandha, or cordyceps. These supplements can help adapt – modulate – adrenal function up or down, depending on your unique needs. While known as some of the lowest-risk supplements available, always check with your doctor before beginning.

Optimize Sleep:

Get to bed by 10pm and keep a consistent sleep schedule.

Practice good sleep hygiene: darken your windows, turn off all electronics, and keep the room cool. Avoid eating within 2 hours of going to bed.

Exercise:

Swap your exercise routine: reduce cardio to 1 day per week, and sub for gentle yoga or walking. Though counterintuitive, I’ve seen people lose weight by making this one change! (Why does this happen? Think thyroid – adrenal stress = thyroid strain, since these two glands are BFFs.)

Be honest with yourself. You might have been able to pound it out 6 months ago, but meet yourself where you’re at. Re-calibrate your successes. Today, maybe a 30-minute hike might be too strenuous… and that’s ok.

Other Strategies

Take a sick day: lay on the couch all day, watch movies, and do only the things you want to do (yes, it might take some advance planning). If you’re earning all of those vacation days…. why aren’t you using them? You’re not being lazy, you’re giving yourself the recovery you absolutely need. We’re not robots!

Detox. Toxins really put a big hit on your adrenals, which becomes a vicious cycle that could make you more toxic. Reduce your toxic load, and then use the mind-body connection to give your adrenals a break and turn back on normal body functions, like detox.

Eliminate, outsource, or automate as many tasks as you can!

Leverage the Mind to Direct the Body: Mind-Body Connection

Be aware:

What are some of the things or events that trigger feelings of stress or anxiety for you? Notice those. Determine what you can do about it, even if it’s just a matter of stepping back and shifting your mindset or attitude around it. Extra credit: Write about it – journal. There’s something incredibly therapeutic about writing it down with pen and paper!

Rewrite your script.

Mindset is a huge factor in your stress levels, and there is strong evidence of a connection between beliefs & mindset, plus physical effects on the body. What negative beliefs do you have about yourself? What do you need to let go of? (Grief? Toxic people? Unfulfilled in your work? Relationships?) What things can you control? What would happen if you just let things happen?

Breathe.

A scientifically proven way to switch off the stress response, fight-or-flight mode, is to breathe. Inhale for 4 counts, hold for 4, and exhale for 8. Close your eyes and repeat for up to 10 minutes. Shortcut for us Type A’s who hate slowing down: go to a yoga class, where you’ll be a captive audience!

Body scan.

First, close your eyes. Take one deep cleansing breath. Picture yourself at your happy place. Then, as you continue breathing normally, imagine light slowly washing over you from head to toe. As the light hits each part of your body, see if you can relax those muscles. Reach your toes, take one more deep breath, open your eyes…. and go on your day.

So those are a few tips to make a shift in your life to make sure you are not constantly living in a heightened state of stress and high cortisol.  It may sound like a lot of work, but in reality, the modern day world has turned the lives we live into a lot of work and stress that humans did not encounter before.  We are paying the price for this today with our health.   I encourage you to at least make few changes.  

IT IS YOUR LIFE AND YOUR WORTH IT!

XO

Anne