Uses for Vitamin IV therapy: Bacterial and Viral Illnesses Removal of Heavy Metals Mega Vitamin C PlusAnswer yes or no to the following: You spend every morning in a "fog" and just can't seem to wake up without excess caffeine. You have trouble falling or staying asleep at night. You feel unusually cranky, emotional, or frustrated. You're lethargic most of the day. When you get sick it takes a long time to recover. Did you answer yes to any of these? These are the most common symptoms of adrenal fatigue, a controversial subject practically ignored by the medical community, but a very real condition that requires your attention... especially if your answers were mostly yes. As we get busier, eat more crap, rest less, and live in constant states of stress, it's no surprise that this condition is so common. But if you can optimize your adrenal glands and fix this condition (or prevent it), you'll have one less roadblock to deal with in your quest for physical perfection.
Adrenal fatigue is a collection of symptoms that occur when your level of stress – be it physical, emotional, mental, or a combination – overwhelms your body's ability to compensate for that stress . The adrenal glands are two endocrine glands that sit on top of the kidneys. When you encounter stress, the adrenals produce adrenaline (epinephrine), noradrenaline (norepinephrine), and cortisol. This hormonal release is often called "fight or flight" and is designed to prepare you for immediate physical challenges. Your body is made to handle stress quite well when it's acute and short lived, as there are strong homeostatic mechanisms in place with our sympathetic (jack you up) nervous system, and parasympathetic (calm you down) nervous system. The whole system is beautifully designed and worked well for our ancestors, who typically faced intense but brief stressful situations like warding off a hungry predator. Now think of what stress is today: A strange number on your wife's caller ID, Junior coming home smelling like Keith Richards' tour bus, your boss warning you about irregularities in your expense report... the stress adds up.
It's chronic, low-grade stress that never quite goes away that leads to physical problems. Adrenal fatigue is often described in the medical community as hypoadrenia or low-functioning adrenals. This is largely a result of the adrenals being overworked by chronic stress so that they literally start to wear out. A worst-case scenario would lead to Addison's disease, a condition where the adrenals fail to produce sufficient cortisol. Asking your physician to check you out for adrenal fatigue can be frustrating. Your doctor will most likely use a test to look at your cortisol levels. There's a range they consider normal; let's say that's 20-60. If you are 19, you're low, so you have Addison's Disease (not enough cortisol). If you're 61, you're high, and have Cushing's Syndrome (too much cortisol). But if you're clearly low (around 21-25), although not quite into Addison's territory, most doctors will stop there and call you "normal." According to some progressive doctors, what you really have is adrenal fatigue, but because there's no formal recognition of it, there's no ICD code (International Classification of Disease).
To most doctors, no ICD code means that adrenal fatigue doesn't exist! The take-home message is, don't just assume your typical doc will be helpful if you think you suffer from adrenal fatigue. Here's a quick guideline to the most common tests: The good news is that part of the issue is easy to fix through diet and sleep. The bad news is that there are lifestyle changes that you may have to take on, and that can be easier said than done. When you eat is of utmost importance for those suffering from adrenal fatigue. Going long periods without eating is a mistake because it results in a perpetual cycle of adrenal stress. The adrenal hormone cortisol helps keep your blood sugar at adequate levels to meet energy demands. If you have adrenal fatigue, your adrenals aren't making enough cortisol, making it harder to maintain normal blood sugar levels. Most people with adrenal fatigue have hypoglycemia as well. What's especially important is to not skip breakfast.
Between 6 and 8 AM, cortisol levels usually rise, peaking around 8 AM for most. This can kill your morning appetite, but you must eat by 10 AM at the latest and begin to restore glycogen supply. Have an early lunch, a snack at 2 or 3 PM, a healthy dinner, and then another snack later. There are many popular styles of eating in the bodybuilding world, but frequent, small, nourishing meals are the best if you have adrenal fatigue. What you should eat is quite simple. You want meals to be balanced with fats, carbs, and proteins. These foods are all converted into energy at different rates, and will supply a steady supply of energy for a longer time. Eating all three of these at each meal lessens the strain on your adrenals. Forget the low-carb or low-fat approaches to eating. For the guy or gal with adrenal fatigue, balance is the key. Protein Eat grass-fed beef, whole eggs, poultry, or high-quality protein shakes such as Metabolic Drive® at every meal. I'm not a believer in soy protein because of the anti-nutrients in it, and vegetarians do seem to have a harder time recovering from adrenal fatigue.
Fats Your adrenal glands love essential fatty acids. Make sure you're getting adequate omega-3s by way of EPA and DHA from products like Flameout™ or from food sources such as wild Alaskan salmon. (I don't care for flax seed oil because your body has a tough time converting the alpha linolenic acid to the usable form of DHA.) Cook in saturated fats like coconut oil, butter, and cocoa butter to avoid eating rancid oil, and include monounsaturated fats like those found in olive oil. The value of placing these fats in each meal is not only for the nutritional benefit, but to slow down the digestion of the meal. Note: Don't forget about salt! Overworked adrenals have a hard time producing adequate amounts of aldosterone, and as aldosterone levels fall, sodium is removed from the blood and excreted through the urine. Be sure to add Celtic sea salt to foods or even a few pinches to 2-3 glasses of water daily. Drinks with low sodium and high potassium are not the answer – this is the exact opposite of what someone with low cortisol and sodium depletion needs.
What Not to Eat Alcohol, coffee, and sugar Certain fruits in the morning The first thing that comes to mind when solving the riddle of adrenal fatigue is to sleep more and get more rest in general. Those are great things to change, but you need to go deeper. Life-suckers are the people in your life that give you a sense of uneasiness, anger, or frustration when you're around them. They're constantly negative, always complaining, and never see the bright side of things. You have to make it a point to limit these interactions as best you can (if it's not a spouse or family member). I'm not suggesting to run away from your problems, as they're usually opportunities for growth, but if someone has been dragging you down for months, maybe even years, you may want to take a little "break" from that relationship. I've adopted some rules here that have definitely lowered my day-to-day levels of stress: Don't even talk to the "life-suckers" for a while. If it's someone you have to talk to, set and stick to a time limit with them.