True adrenal fatigue is occurs when the adrenals aren’t able to produce stress hormones on demand like they should. This is very rare and is medically referred to as Addision’s disease. Some of the symptoms of Addison’s disease include:
Addison’s Disease Symptoms
- No energy at any time of the day.
- Decreased workout performance.
- Unintentional Weight-loss
- Excessive Thirst
- Weakness
The more typical adrenal issues are actually a regulation issue. This means that the adrenals are firing at the wrong time or not firing when they should. Common symptoms of functional adrenal issues are caused by dysregulation of the Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal Axis (HPA Axis). This axis drives the adrenals which takes its information from the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus. Some examples of HPA dysregulation include:
Adrenal / HPA Dysregulation Symptoms
- Low energy in the morning
- Energy crashes in the afternoon
- Inability to fall or stay asleep at night
- Heart palpitations
- Anxiety
- Low appetite in the morning
The purpose of the hypothalamus is to bring the body back to homeostasis.
It may sound simple, but the fix for a dysregulated HPA axis occurs by removing factors that stimulate the hypothalamus, thus bringing it back to homeostasis.
3 Primary Things that Stimulate the Hypothalamus
- Inflammation
- Drops in Blood Sugar
- Emotional Stress
Of the three factors above, the first two are far easier to control than the last. Many times after lowering the impact of the first two, the third can become more manageable.
The easiest fix for both inflammation and drops in blood sugar are to fundamentally clean up your diet. You have to do the basics well. Most people know what a clean diet is, they just chose not to do it. Some simple ways to improve your diet include:
- Eat single ingredient foods and not processed ones with 20 added items to the food labels.
- Cut Sugar
- Let your food regulate you’re blood sugar and not your adrenals. This means 3 meals – 5 hours apart with ~30g of protein and ~30g of fat with carbohydrates to your tolerance. If you’re wondering about your carbohydrate tolerance, then check out that article here.
Consider using an adaptogen like Ashwaganda or Tulsi while trying to balance these issues out.
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