Four Excellent Things To Do Today for Your Weary Adrenal Glands
“Adrenal glands are known as the “fight or flight” glands. In a stressful situation, the adrenal glands will secrete a hormone (epinephrine) to prepare our bodies for action. In a resting state, the adrenal glands are responsible for maintaining adequate energy levels, blood sugar control, blood pressure control, muscle strength and much more via the secretion of other hormones, including aldosterone, cortisol, DHEA, estrogen, pregnenolone, progesterone, and testosterone.”
Dr. David Brownstein, “SALT”
In a recent blog, I started a conversation on adrenal fatigue, encouraging you to take a brief ‘stress inventory’ to understand why so many are struggling with symptoms and dysfunction. Here’s where you can catch up, it’s revealing and fascinating.
The adrenals are two small glands the size of walnuts that sit above of your kidneys. The 50+ different hormones they produce affect nearly every system and organ of the body. So our capacity to handle stress is greatly reduced when these glands become dysfunctional, even resulting low blood pressure at first and then elevated blood pressure if the extreme stress is sustained for an extended time. In these cases, the extreme pressure they are under to produce enough of the body’s primary anti-stress hormone, cortisol, may lead them to ‘dsyregulate.’
The symptoms below explain why this hits close to home for nearly everyone, and the four actions you can start today support healthy adrenal glands under all circumstances! With no labs or tests that diagnose Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome (AFS), many mainstream health care providers do not even recognize this condition. AFS sometimes shares symptoms with thyroid issues, depression, and chronic fatigue; and to complicate matters, it’s not uncommon to have multiple challenges of these sorts to the body at one time.
Symptoms of AFS include:
Fatigue
Insomnia
Weight gain
Brain fog or poor memory
Anxiety
Mild depression
Frequent colds and flu
Infections that last longer than usual
Pain in the upper back or neck
Low libido
PMS
Infertility
Hypoglycemia
Salt and sugar cravings
Inability to handle stress
Trembling
Dyspepsia
Lightheadedness
Heart palpitations
Hair loss
Dry thin skin
As you can see, these symptoms are nearly epidemic. Becoming aware that this is not ‘normal’, nor should just be endured, is what can bring hope and motivation for change.
If you have a few of these symptoms or more, protect your blood sugar by consciously eating something decent within two hours of waking, and about every two hours after.
Decent is not carbs, think protein and a veggie. The more your adrenals are compromised, the less they can tolerate blood sugar swings. Once you become aware of their relationship, you’ll begin to notice that how you feel and cope begins to unravel if you let your blood sugar drop more than a tiny bit. This is a real challenge to busy parents who tend to be on the run, trying intermittent fasting, or just too busy to eat regularly. Fasting has its healthy place, but it is not with struggling adrenals. They absolutely cannot tolerate the lack of stable blood sugar, and you’ll find that the recovery window for your mood and energy gets longer and longer if you ignore this. (Ask how I know!)
Adrenals require healthy unrefined salt to function well.
They regulate salt absorption; and an excess of refined salt leads to depleted minerals and ultimately adrenal exhaustion.
2. Contrary to every PSA ever, an ample amount of healty salt is VITAL to well-functioning adrenals.
REFINED salt is not only insufficient for fueling healthy adrenals, but it is actively damaging to adrenal function. And processed food is high in refined salt. Because of the lab analysis reflecting varied minerals, first choice is Celtic Salt (Eden’s is a good brand), second is Redman’s Real Salt; these are food as medicine healthy salts. We’ll discuss healthy sources of Iodine another time; foreshadowing, I’ll make the case for never Morton’s. Try 1-2 tsp/day Celtic Salt daily over and above ‘salting your food to taste.’ Some like to add 1/2 tsp to a quart of water and drink, you can start at 1/4 tsp if desired. If this is new to you, it’s going to feel like a lot of salt - keep going. More water too! Put a little saucer of Celtic salt out, and encourage the kids to nibble. They may eat a lot at first, MAKE NO FACES at them, and rejoice that they are going to have less glandular issues than you.
3. Energetic holds on the adrenals will feel great!
There are SOOOO many pictures of generations past with tired mothers with their hands on their hips - they were often intuitively supporting their tired adrenal glands! If you know the energetic system Jin Shin Jitsu, this is contact point SEL 23’s. These contact points are located at the middle of your back (above the kidneys remember), right about the level of your elbows. Put your hands on your hips, and put your fingers around on your adrenals. I’ve also done this with my thumbs behind, as you can see below. Try doing this in the tired pause moments - such as waiting for the kids at school, a child in the bathroom, or for someone to be ready to go.
4. De-stress often with rest and rhythm in your life.
Adrenals rebuild when they are NOT being stimulated, we must provide down time for our bodies to regroup. Our weaken adrenals are only made weaker by ‘soldering on’; Mothers, I am a mother talking to you! High anxiety may be helped by vigorous exercise at times, but if we are already weak, this becomes damaging instead of balancing. Whatever your season of life and parenting, find some moments and prioritize your well-being. I have it on personal authority that no matter how impossible it is to find 5 minutes to meditate, 10 minutes for yoga, or time to swim or nap, the dues on this depletion is much more lengthy, complicated, and expensive. And of course, as our little kids grow, there is space for us to reclaim more self-care. (It’s easy to get out of the habit of it, though, so fierce intention may be needed.)
Rhythm helps everyone’s nervous system settle. Even little rhythms, like baths for the kids after dinner, or Sunday brunch at home. This is just the tip of the iceberg of a vast and complex topic. Doing anything now is better than waiting for the time to do more; consider which of these ideas you are the most drawn to, and start there! I myself feel stronger, like a wilted plant that just got watered, every time I nibble the salt which encourages me to keep going. I wonder what improvement you’ll feel first?