Adrenal Health – A Challenge in the Modern World

Stress — who doesn’t experience it nowadays? Actually, some stress is good for our health. Moderate amounts of stress — the kind of short-term buzz we get from a sudden burst of hormones — can help people perform tasks more efficiently and can improve memory. Good stress is the type of emotional challenge where a person feels in control and provides some sense of accomplishment. It can improve heart function and make the body resistant to infection, experts say. Far from being something we need to eliminate from our lives, good stress stimulates us — but too much can overwhelm and exhaust our bodies, leaving us sick, tired and unhappy.

 

For such a powerful feeling as stress, the physiological response happens in a tiny part of our bodies: the adrenal glands. Located just above our kidneys, these 3-inch-wide endocrine glands produce our panicky, “fight-or-flight” response to danger. We can thank our primitive ancestors, who had to be on high alert for predators; because of their survival needs, humans developed the adrenal response, or the release of adrenaline, cortisol and glycogen into the body. Together, these three chemicals increase our heart and respiratory rates and blood pressure. We tense our muscles, sharpen our senses, and slow our digestion so we are primed to either escape the danger, or fight back. When the threat is gone, our adrenaline levels quickly normalize, but cortisol stays in our bloodstream a little longer.

 

These days most of us find ourselves in a chronic state of stress. This forces our adrenal glands to sustain high levels of cortisol. Over time, continuously elevated cortisol levels begin to damage healthy tissue and adrenal fatigue sets in.

 

The symptoms of adrenal fatigue are:

 

 

Premature menopause, fibromyalgia, hypothyroidism, high blood pressure, 
chronic fatigue syndrome also are associated with adrenal fatigue.
The good news is, with proper support, adrenal fatigue can be reversed!

 

Adrenal glands and cortisol, the “killer” hormone.

Think of the walnut-shaped adrenal glands as the body’s hormone headquarters. Here, the hormones that circulate and fluctuate throughout our bodies are produced: the outer layer, or adrenal cortex, produces cortisol, the sex hormones—estrogen, testosterone and DHEA—while the inner portion produces adrenaline.
 
The primary job of the adrenal gland is to command all of your body’s resources into “fight or flight” mode when necessary, by increasing production of adrenaline and other hormones. If your adrenals are healthy, they will instantly increase your heart rate and blood pressure when called upon, as well as release energy for immediate use, slow your digestion and sharpen your senses.

 

But we should remember two things about this healthy stress response:

 

 

Unlike our ancestors, most of us live with chronic stress, so we churn out much 
more of the stress hormone, cortisol, than our bodies were designed to produce. We rely on it in times of stress because it helps to transform our hidden stores of energy, called glycogen, into glucose, an immediate source of energy that our bodies need to survive. Once the crisis has passed, our cortisol levels should drop. But in our fast-paced lives marked by chronic stress, cortisol gets pumped through our bodies on a more or less constant basis.

 

There are consequences to cortisol overload: Muscle and bone start to break down. The immune system’s healing powers become vulnerable. Digestion is disrupted, we lose our mental sharpness, cells don’t regenerate as they should and our metabolism no longer operates smoothly. Moreover, as your adrenal glands are under constant pressure to produce more and more cortisol, they no longer can produce the important hormone DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone), which the other hormones rely on. So, we respond to this interruption in DHEA production by feeling tired, experiencing bone and muscle loss, being more vulnerable to infections and losing sexual desire.
But there is hope! We can control how much cortisol our bodies produce by first controlling our responses—our actions, thoughts and emotions—to the stressful triggers in our lives. As we take responsibility for how we think and feel, and for the kinds of foods and supplements we choose to consume, our bodies respond by feeling more balanced, alert and upbeat.

 

Naturally restoring your healthy adrenal function.

Balancing your adrenal function is critical to overall health. If you experience any of the above symptoms of adrenal fatigue, we recommend that you have a complete physical exam to rule out serious illness or other factors.
We’ve found that women with mild to moderate symptoms of adrenal fatigue can experience great relief with these tips:

 

 

Most of our clients can expect to see dramatic turnaround within about four months, or even less for those with mild to moderate adrenal fatigue. If you’re feeling too sluggish to begin a wellness program, start with baby steps. The Women’s Empowerment Formula is a high-quality supplement and diet program that benefits all women, regardless of their energy levels—so even if you are severely fatigued, it’s a good way to add nutrients that will have you feeling positive results very quickly! Then, when you’re ready for a fuller effort, incorporate a few more changes and soon you will build the strength you need to stay with your program. You’ll love how you feel when that happens!

 

A word on DHEA supplementation…

While many health books and websites recommend supplementing with over-the-counter DHEA, we strongly discourage self-prescribing this powerful hormone.

 

Your health can be affected if you take the wrong dose of DHEA. Please talk with a trained healthcare provider before taking any hormones—even if they are over-the-counter.