Stress is a regular part of life for most of us and our bodies are usually equipped to handle a decent amount of it. How much stress is too much? In this post, you will learn why adrenal health is important, how we can tell when our bodies are struggling to keep up with stress and strategies to recover and strengthen our body’s response to stress.

In a recent interview with Dhru Purohit and Izabella Wentz, they talk about adrenal health, thyroid function and autoimmune disease. Izabella is a pharmacist who combines her clinical expertise and personal experiences to help patients manage and overcome thyroid disease, adrenal dysfunction, and other digestion-related conditions. 

Let’s start with the basics, where are your adrenal glands and what do they do? They are two glands that sit on top of your kidneys that help us stay awake and present during the day and asleep and relaxed at night. They also produce stress hormones like cortisol, which help us survive. Cortisol is high in the morning and gets released throughout the day. Cortisol patterns should be aligned with your circadian rhythm.

When a stressful event in your life occurs, your adrenals kick into high gear to ensure that we survive. When chronic or traumatic stress persists, it wears down your adrenals. This can lead to autoimmune disease or cancer after a prolonged period. Many events precipitate stress:

• Chronic inflammation (food sensitivities, infections, toxin exposure)
• Psychological stress (divorce, death, etc)
• Sleep deprivation
• Blood sugar imbalances

When your adrenals and your brain are not communicating with each other cortisol is not released appropriately. This signals your body to go into overdrive (survival mode). Over time, this affects your body’s ability to function optimally and you may start noticing symptoms: 

• Sleep: Tired despite adequate sleep, trouble falling or staying asleep, difficulty getting up in the morning.
• Mental/Emotional: Feeling overwhelmed, increased effort required for everyday activities, brain fog (trouble finding words, feeling “cloudy”), easily startled, anxious.
• Physical: Intolerance to exercise, feeling worse after skipping meals, dependence on caffeine, longer healing time, low libido.

Fortunately, your adrenals are resilient. There is a lot you can do to support, restore, and maintain healthy adrenal function. Whether your goal is prevention, maintenance, or recovery, here are some strategies to help you. It is recommended that you work with a practitioner to create and implement that plan that aligns with your goals.

• When you feel run down, stop and rest. This may mean sleeping 12 hours a night for a few days and saying “no” to other priorities until your body feels rested. If you don’t have good health, those other priorities won’t exist.
• Avoid caffeine or taper your caffeine. Try tea or matcha instead of coffee or espresso.
• Be mindful of your nutrition. Even if you’re not hungry, try to get in a little bit of protein and fat every few hours. Identify which foods make your body feel good and which foods cause you to feel inflamed.
• Replenish your electrolytes and vitamins (B & C in the morning, magnesium at night).
• Other supplements that promote resilience during fatigue – carnitine and D-ribose for mitochondrial support and saccharomyces boulardii, a probiotic.
• Some people are more affected by stress, past traumas or their environment. There are a number of medical and alternative therapies that can facilitate deeper healing. 
• You can request specific labs or kits to test cortisol levels (adrenal saliva tests), food sensitivities, ACTH or DHEA.

What is your body telling you? Tell us here and we’ll share more information with you!