I suspect many people that suffer with adrenal gland exhaustion or adrenal burnout, don’t even know they have it. For the most part, most people don’t really feel their adrenal glands or whether or not they’re working correctly.
If you do have adrenal gland exhaustion, you probably feel the symptoms rather than any pain or discomfort in the glands themselves.
Here’s what you might look out for if you think you have adrenal issues…
- Fatigue, even after adequate sleep
- Irritability and mild depression
- Difficulty getting up in the morning
- Cravings for salty or carbohydrate-rich foods
- Sensitivity to bright light and poor night vision
- Low blood pressure and dizziness upon standing
- Heart palpitations and weight gain, especially in the belly region
- Night sweats and fluid retention
- Muscle weakness and slowed healing
- Mental fog, poor concentration, and reduced productivity
- Decreased sex drive and reduced ability to handle stress
- Alternating diarrhea and constipation
- Feeling worse after skipping meals
- Chronic back trouble
- Chronic tiredness and less enjoyment in life
Adrenal Gland Functions
I had never even heard of the adrenal glands before I was interested in natural health. When I learned that you should focus on correcting adrenal function before thyroid function I was pretty surprised. I always heard that your thyroid gland is the source of hormonal imbalances. But it turns out your adrenal glands play a much bigger and foundational role in hormone health than your thyroid.
They play a critical role in managing stress and your overall health. Stress is everything. Oxidation (electron loss) results from stress and that causes most all diseases in the human body. The adrenal glands also produce key hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones are produced in response to stress (think running away from a lion). They do this by increasing heart rate, blood pressure and energy (ATP) levels in your mitochondria.
They also regulate other biological functions that you’re probably not aware of like blood sugar, metabolism, immune response and even fluid retention (water regulation) in your body. Dealing with edema? Most likely the cause is adrenal exhaustion. Have diabetes? Think about your adrenals. Same goes with always getting sick or lack of energy. It all goes back to those little glands sitting on top of your kidneys that most people (like me) never heard of.
In short, your adrenal glands are like an engine in your body that helps you to adapt to life’s stressors.
What Harms Adrenal Health?
The main thing that leads to adrenal gland exhaustion is lack of nutrition and chronic stress, no matter what form it comes in. There is no doubt that today’s modern lifestyle is incredibly stressful. You could say humans were never meant to live with the stressors we face today. Work, family, relationships, social media, diet, light, money and debt are just a few that come to mind. That’s not even mentioning mainstream media and the fear they try to inject into you.
When you’re exposed to this chronic stress your adrenal glands overproduce cortisol which leads to adrenal exhaustion.
Poor dietary habits, always lead to cravings for unhealthy foods high in carbohydrates and salt, create a negative feedback loop that further stresses your adrenal glands. Stress leads to cravings, which further stress your adrenal glands. That’s the negative loop we’re talking about.
The other aspect is our SAD diet. Nutritional deficiencies, particularly a lack of essential nutrients like magnesium and bioavailable copper (our soils have been deficient in copper since the 1930s), can also impair your adrenal function over time.
For those that are reading that don’t understand just how important copper is to your body, I highly suggest you listen to the show we did below.
The other thing to consider is that excessive cortisol production can result in weakened immunity, poor sleep, and weight gain, all of which place further strain on the adrenal glands. It’s a viscious cycle that self perpetuates.
Sustained physical or emotional stress can push the adrenal glands into an “exhaustion phase,” where they are unable to produce enough cortisol to maintain your physical health. Addressing these factors through stress management (I personally like breath work and meditation), a balanced diet, and proper nutrition is essential for protecting adrenal health.
That’s not easy to do in our modern society but it’s oh so critical for your longevity and health span.
My Adrenal Gland Exhaustion Treatment Plan
My holistic treatment plan for adrenal gland exhaustion focuses mostly on addressing the root causes of stress and supporting your body’s natural healing processes. Remember, if a fish is sick, do you change its diet or clean the water its swimming in?
The water for the fish is akin to your lifestyle, environment, habit and even how you think.
It all must change.
The first step is to adopt lifestyle changes that minimize your stressors. This includes prioritizing rest, this could be taking a long holiday in a peaceful environment if possible, and ensuring adequate sleep. If you can’t take a vacation, figure out how to get more quiet time in your day. Relaxation disciplines like yoga, tai chi, meditation, prayer, and acupuncture can also help reduce stress and promote adrenal recovery.
Why do these work?
They work because you’re breathing through your nose into your diaphragm and centering yourself. You’re focused on the moment, not your lack of having enough money to pay your bills.
Listen to our show below all about how important nasal breathing is.
Regular exercise is also very helpful, but the key in my experience is to not overdo it, as excessive physical activity can further strain the adrenal glands. For example, I’ve known quite a few marathon runners that have adrenal gland exhaustion and it makes sense. These people are type A personalities, are extremely driven and put a massive stress load on their organs by running so much.
Do what you can to find time to relax, laugh, and disconnect from fear based news or social media. This can significantly reduce stress levels. Many people I work with see great changes in their health just by avoiding these sources of what I call trauma based mind control.
The other aspect of healing from adrenal exhaustion is making the necessary dietary adjustments that support adrenal health. A healthy, low-glycemic diet with lots of protein, cooked vegetables, and healthy fats (saturated fat, not PUFAs) is essential. Starting the day with a protein based meal, like organic meat, eggs, or nuts, helps stabilize cortisol levels.
An often overlooked consideration of supporting adrenal function is to be on a regular schedule (for every aspect of your life). Eat your meals at the same time each day. Go to bed at the same time (even if it’s the weekend). Wakeup at the same time. Drink the same amount of water each day. Your adrenal glands control hormones and activate enzymes and these things like to occur on a routine cycle.
It throws your circadian timing off when you eat dinner at 10pm one night and go to bed at 3am while the next night you eat dinner at 5pm and try to go to bed at 8pm. That’s a major stress to your circadian biology. I like to avoid eating after sunset (no matter what time that happens where I live) and go to bed every night by 10:30pm. That helps me feel better and sleep much better also.
Your adrenal glands like routine.
Avoiding long gaps between your meals and consuming whole, unprocessed foods (organic, raw, whole, ripe, in season and local if possible) with minimal sugar or chemicals can further support your adrenal health.
And finally….
Supplements like magnesium, vitamins B5, B6, C, and D (I only recommend getting Vitamin D from light, preferably sunlight if possible), as well as adaptogens like ashwagandha and Panax ginseng, can help balance adrenal hormones and improve resilience to stress. In some pretty extreme cases, I’ve personally seen adrenal glandular extracts or DHEA supplementation be recommended for people. If you can work under a natural doctor’s supervision to restore hormonal balance to support your adrenal repair.
Conclusion
As you can see finding a holistic adrenal gland exhaustion treatment is not as easy as taking a pill. As with most areas of your health, you have to actually put in the work. I know a lot of people who continue to slam their head against the wall but take a Tylenol to get rid of their headache. It’s always better to get to the root cause.
If you have any of the adrenal gland exhaustion symptoms I mentioned above, I would really work on creating a routine that you stick to daily and doing what you can to lower your overall stress!
Questions
- Do you have any of the adrenal gland symptoms mentioned above?
- If so, what you have you tried?
- Did it work? If not, why not?
Comment below!
