Overcoming Adrenal Fatigue

Supplements, Herbs, Diet And Lifestyle Changes For Adrenal Fatigue

Loss of Energy Means You Need a Change

Overcoming Adrenal Fatigue
Adrenal fatigue is a wake up call to see that some area of your life is out of balance. Try to see every discomfort as a friend, showing you that something needs to change in your life.

Recovery from adrenal fatigue is certainly possible. It may take several months to several years of improving your lifestyle.  This includes detoxing, diet, supplements and herbs. You must also attend to your emotional and spiritual health.

Our society glamorizes working to the point of exhaustion.  There is nothing glamorous about adrenal fatigue.  It doesn’t make you a hero to run your body and mind right into the ground.

Take time to breathe, take time to meditate and generally take some time to care for yourself.

Listen to the wisdom of your body. Be open to new ways of doing things and don’t be blinded by society’s expectations.

This may be the beginning of real living.

Overcoming Adrenal Fatigue with Whole Foods

You need to feed and nourish your body properly.  Avoid refined sugars, artificial sweeteners, refined carbohydrates and starches.  Stimulants such as caffeine or energy drinks will only make things worse in the long run.  It should go without saying, but fast-food and processed foods are harmful and will not be beneficial to your adrenals.

Eat as much fresh foods as possible and focus on eating organic.  Look up “The dirty dozen” list of the most highly sprayed fruits and vegetables and avoid buying non-organic in those cases.  Don’t overcook your vegetables, but lightly steam them instead.

Eat Foods High In Potassium

It is important to keep your potassium/sodium levels balanced.  When using salt, don’t use cheap table salt.  Select unrefined pink Himalayan salt as it contains many trace minerals.  Regular table salt is very unhealthy and should not be used in general.

Some foods that are high in potassium are dulse, kelp, sunflower seeds, almonds, raisins, parsley, brazil nuts and dates.

Balance Your Body’s pH

We have articles on how to balance your pH and products that will help balance your levels.

Overcoming Adrenal Fatigue by Detoxifying

As adrenal fatigue can be caused by toxic accumulation and overload, detoxing is a good idea.

Using Zeolite will get rid of heavy metals in your body.  Using Fulvic acid can also help with other substances that need to be detoxified.  You may want to consider a Candida cleanse as well.  Candida can also cause severe fatigue and due to high sugar diets and antibiotic use, most people have Candida overgrowth.

Clean up your environment.  Replace toxic chemical home and personal care products with more natural options.  There are non-toxic alternatives available for practically everything.  Anything with the word “fragrance” in the ingredients should be avoided.

Anything you breathe in, put on your skin, wash yourself or your clothes with will probably need to be replaced with a non-toxic option.  A good rule of thumb is to stay away from popular brand name products and look for smaller companies making non-toxic products without synthetic fragrances added.

Digestive Help

Using digestive enzymes or bitters can be very helpful.  Since the fight or flight response takes energy away from digestion, it is much harder to digest your food and absorb your nutrients.  Bitters are a great way to go as they stimulate the digestive process and work on toning and mild cleansing of your liver and gallbladder.  Some people do well combining bitters and enzymes.  Try a few things and see what works best for you.

Lifestyle Changes

First, slow down!  Start listening to your body.  Take time out to closer your eyes and take deep breaths several times during the day.

Work on letting go of resentment, blame, guilt, worries and fear.  These emotions can negatively impact your adrenals.  Consider taking a yoga class or meditating.

You need at least 9 hours of sleep.  There is no substitute for adequate rest.  Sleep is not a waste of time and it is vital to your healing.

Take a hot bath with lavender or neroli oil before bed.  You can even add some Epsom salts to the bath for some extra magnesium.  This can help calm frazzled nerves.

Exercise

Vigorous exercise is not helpful at all.  Forget about running, jogging, cross fit etc.  Gentle walking, light swimming and restorative  yoga are much better choices.  The old advice that if you exercise harder you will have more energy does not apply in times of adrenal fatigue.  A gentle walk out in the fresh air will do much more for you than a session at the gym when you have adrenal fatigue.

Chiropractic and Massage

Both chiropractic and massage therapy can be very helpful.  If you can find a massage therapist that does craniosacral work, that is very calming to the nervous system.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine can also be very helpful in recovery from adrenal fatigue.

Overcoming Adrenal Fatigue with Nutrients and Herbs

Remember more is not always better.  Trying to get better faster by just taking huge amounts of vitamins and herbs isn’t going to work.

Vitamin C is very important for the adrenals.  Aim to have at least 1000mg 2-3x daily.

B-Vitamins also need to be taken as well as vitamin D and magnesium.

Herbs that are good for the adrenals are Ashwagandha (except if you have hyperthyroidism), holy basil, rhodiola, kava kava (can be stimulating to some people), magnolia bark, licorice root (this one can be too stimulating for some people), borage flowers made into a tea with some burdock tincture added is very good at helping rebuild the adrenals.  Other helpful herbs that work with the nervous system are skullcap, milky oats, blue vervain and chamomile are very effective in calming the body and mind.