Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
- Why Adrenal Health is So Important
- Dependence on Sunglasses
- Hollow Cheeks
- Lines in the Fingertips
- Pale Lips
- Balding Lower Legs
- Unexplained Back or Knee Pain
- QUICKLY Get Relief From Adrenal Fatigue
- Get to bed no later than 10:30 pm
- Throw out the processed salt and replace with sea salt
- Eliminate coffee and refined sugar from your diet
- Reduce dependence on grains
You’d have to be living under a rock not to notice that adrenal fatigue and adrenal problems, in general, are at epidemic proportions in our modern culture.
Just notice how nearly every gas station sells energy drinks and shots and there is a coffee shop on practically every corner. The average American now consumes a whopping 180 lbs per year of refined sugars. These signs surely provide sufficient evidence.
By the way, the 180 lbs of sugar per year figure is a shocking 27% increase just since 2003 when sugar consumption was 142 lbs per person per year!
Caffeine and sugar consumed in excess amounts will sucker punch your adrenal glands faster than just about anything else, no doubt about it.
I’ve read a lot of articles about the adrenal glands and adrenal fatigue over the years. Most of them focus on the symptoms which include excessive fatigue, hair loss, sleep problems, difficulty getting going in the morning, etc. You know the drill.
What I haven’t seen as much written about is why it is so critical to keep these two walnut-sized glands at the top of your kidneys happy and healthy and how to spot the freight train of adrenal fatigue coming full speed down the tracks and about to smack your life upside the head.
Fact is, once you are losing your hair, can’t sleep at night or get off the couch during the day, adrenal fatigue has already sucked the “life” out of your life. At that point, mustering the strength and courage to reverse course can be quite daunting indeed.
Why Adrenal Health is So Important
A few years ago, I attended the Wise Traditions Conference hosted annually by the Weston A. Price Foundation. One of the most interesting lectures I attended during that information-packed weekend was given by Dr. Bruce Rind MD, a holistic endocrinologist whose talk focused on spotting and reversing thyroid and adrenal problems.
I learned from Dr. Rind that the health of the thyroid gland and the adrenal glands is inextricably linked. If one goes south, the other one probably will too and in very short order.
Adrenal problems can frequently masquerade as thyroid problems. As a result, if the adrenal glands are experiencing high levels of stress day in and day out from lack of sleep, too much sugar and caffeine in the diet and a rush rush lifestyle loaded with carbohydrate-heavy processed foods, thyroid gland problems will eventually manifest along with the adrenal problems. Panic attacks may occur as well.
Why is this such a big problem?
Because thyroid problems often end up going hand in hand with insulin resistance problems. The development of insulin resistance is a BIG problem as this has a direct effect on longevity.
Once insulin resistance and blood sugar problems enter the picture, the domino effect to Metabolic Syndrome takes place, a fancy name for a group of risk factors which includes heart disease, stroke, and Type 2 diabetes.
Now that we know why we need to keep the adrenal glands in ship shape and why ignoring this problem will only lead to more serious and imbalanced endocrine problems in the future, let’s explore the early signs of adrenal problems.
As you can see, a person’s overall hormonal balance is extremely intricate and one endocrine disorder frequently portends another then another. Hence, keeping one’s adrenal glands from becoming overly fatigued is extremely important as the seemingly insignificant signs of early adrenal dysfunction and insufficiency can rapidly start a person into a downward spiral to Metabolic Syndrome.
When does one cup of coffee in the morning or that afternoon pick me up candy bar suddenly indicate a major problem on the horizon?
Here are a few lesser-known signs of adrenal fatigue as described by Dr. Rind in his Wise Traditions lecture and as written in my notes:
Dependence on Sunglasses
Are you one of those people who can’t stand to be out in the bright, midday sun without your shades? Oversensitivity of the eyes to bright sunlight is a sign of adrenal problems from a chronic sodium-potassium imbalance which prevents the pupils from properly constricting in response to bright light.
The good news is that being out in the midday sun with no sunglasses is a way to strengthen the adrenals. When I do errands, I try to leave my sunglasses in the car and walk to and from the stores so that my eyes get a good dose of unobstructed sunlight.
I’ve noticed that my eyes have become significantly less sensitive to sunlight over the years as my diet has improved with the general banishment of refined sugars and carbohydrates in my home. While I still wear sunnies for safety reasons to reduce the glare while driving, I frequently find myself forgetting to put them on at all on very sunny days.
Hollow Cheeks
This young person shown in the picture to the left has some serious adrenal fatigue! My bet is that there is a lot of sugar and caffeine going on in that diet. Being young is no protection from the ravages of hormonal disruption. If you find your cheeks hollowing out, take a look at your diet pronto.
Skip the collagen injections and lose the sugar, caffeine, and refined carbohydrates instead!
Lines in the Fingertips
Turn your hand over and examine the skin of the fingertips. Do you see nice, plump fingertips or is the skin covered with vertical lines? If they are nice and plump, that is a good sign for your adrenals. Lots of vertical lines in your fingertips indicate adrenal stress.
My own fingertips used to be quite lined years ago, but getting off refined sugar plumped them out nicely within a few months.
Pale Lips
I have a friend who once told me that after about age 30, a woman’s lips disappear into the back of her head! This was a colorful way of saying that lipstick was mandatory after a certain age.
I don’t agree! Lips that have no color whatsoever is not always an age thing. It can also be a sign of weak adrenals. When refined grains and sugar are eliminated and any grains that are eaten are properly prepared with minimal to no caffeine in the diet, most women are delighted to see a youthful pink return to their lips once again!
One of the most striking things I noticed when I went on the GAPS Diet a few years back was how the color flooded into my face and lips. Clearly, my adrenals were on the mend!
Even now, I can tell within an hour or two if my adrenals have been stressed by the meal I just ate…my lips go pale almost immediately. Watch this yourself. You will be amazed at how quickly the amount of color in your lips will indicate how your adrenals are feeling at that moment.
Balding Lower Legs
Do you have bald patches on your lower arms and legs or sparser hair in those areas than you used to (particularly men)? This could be a sign of adrenal fatigue.
Boys entering puberty with sparser beards and leg/arm hair than their peers are frequently those with low adrenal function and an overall lower drive to achieve.
Unexplained Back or Knee Pain
Muscle weakness is a frequent sign of adrenal insufficiency. Unexplained back or knee pain with no accompanying structural defect may indicate weakness of the muscles supporting the pelvis and/or knees.
In the case of lower back pain, chronic adrenal stress leads to weakness in the muscles which support the pelvis causing the pelvis to subluxate in a posterior direction. In other words, the lower back pain has nothing to do with the lower back and everything to do with muscular instability in the pelvis.
QUICKLY Get Relief From Adrenal Fatigue
If you suspect that you have adrenal fatigue, it would be a good idea to get a holistic physician to do a thorough examination and consultation. Hormone problems are incredibly intractable conditions to reverse and professional advice is warranted in most cases.
In the meantime, you can quickly provide your adrenals relief if you do the following:
Get to bed no later than 10:30 pm
This piece of advice was given to me by an Ayurvedic MD over 15 years ago. It is still one of the best pieces of advice any doctor has ever given me. She explained how the hormone system cleanses between 11 pm and 1 am (generally speaking) and if you are not asleep during this time, the flushing process will not take place, essentially backing up the hormone system with toxins.
Throw out the processed salt and replace with sea salt
The adrenals need GOOD salt. Use sea salt to taste in your dishes at home and your adrenals will thank you!
It doesn’t matter the color either! Just make sure it’s not white.
Eliminate coffee and refined sugar from your diet
This is a simple piece of advice but easily ignored in our crazy modern lives. Continue with the daily caffeine/sugar fixes, and you WILL have serious hormonal issues down the road if you don’t already. Coffee has already been linked to blood sugar issues (sorry bulletproof coffee fans). Combine this with a sugar-filled diet and the Metabolic Syndrome freight train has left the station.
Is it really that hard to replace that cup of Joe with dandelion coffee or green tea and the white sugar/high fructose corn syrup with natural alternatives like raw honey? Do it today!
Reduce dependence on grains
The Western diet is overly heavy in grains and starches which tax the adrenals when consumed to excess. Focus the diet on clean meats, organic and biodynamic vegetables and fruits, seeds, nuts, eggs, and grass-fed dairy. You will very soon feel the energy that comes with a significantly reduced digestive burden and begin to regain more youthful vitality that comes with healthy adrenals!
References
Dr. Bruce Rind MD, Lecture at Wise Traditions Conference
CBS News: Coffee and Blood Sugar
More Information
Vitamin D Deficiency Signs Most People Miss
Rethinking Fatigue: What Your Adrenals are REALLY Telling You
Adrenal Exhaustion: A National Epidemic
I would just like to say something about not wearing sunglasses. I too live in Florida where the sun can be pretty brutal. I discovered several years ago that I have an optical nevus (mole) in my right eye. I had no way of knowing this since I can’t see into the back of my eye. The nevus is now on my optical nerve which means it now has the potential of turning into a melanoma. Since I don’t want my eye removed any time in the future it is imperative that as little sun as possible gets in my eyes. If you don’t get regular eye exams like some people with 20/20 vision do, you would never know you had this condition. I think you should wear sunglasses in the sun. Plus it helps you to not get wrinkles from squinting around your eyes. Just my humble opinion.
I know this is an old comment but I’m adding my two cents anyway: melanoma is known for showing up in places on the body that get no sun exposure. I’ve heard conflicting info about it over the years but a lot of info pointing in the direction of poor nutrition contributing to its incidence. It makes no sense that human beings would have evolved that sensitive to the sun (or “were created” if that’s what you believe)–we began our species existence close to the equator and we thrive in sunlight. If I were in a position to give medical advice I’d tell people with a family history of melanoma to watch their vitamin D status and get their skin and eyes checked regularly–but for most people I’d say get more sun, not less. If you’re not used to a lot of sun exposure then increase it gradually, not because of fear of skin cancer but because you’ll feel it if you overdose. I’ve had that experience a few times and it’s not terribly pleasant. 🙁
Sarah, I have suffered from Adrenal Fatigue for about years now – awhile back I was fairly successful taking pro-active measures in repairing my body, until I had a miscarriage, which overnight set me back. We did manage to get pregnant again w/in four months, but that didn't give my adrenals much time to rebuild.
Here I am four YEARS after that – my son is three, and I am now nursing another newborn who is seven weeks old. Translation: my body is SHOT. I am 41 years old, baby is still not sleeping at night, and it takes an act of God for me to get out of bed in the morning.
I was just reading about the GAPS diet – wondering if that might help someone w/ my symptoms? Eczema and constant fatigue plague me. I am addicted to sugar, even though I try to eat "healthy" sweets (raw honey, sucanat, etc.).
I was also an exercise fanatic before getting pregnant but just can't find the energy to make it back to the gym, and the sad state of this postpartum body is enough to depress anyone! I am 35 pounds heavier than I was last Christmas when we got pregnant.
Hi Lisa, multiple miscarriages, the birth of my daughter at 44, and huge amounts of stress; job loss, moving, etc completely burned out my adrenals. You should have a 4 panel saliva Cortisol level test done. These can be purchased at most Compounding pharmacies for about $100. (It is well worth it.) Also, have you had your DHEA levels checked? My adrenal fatigue is so bad that I have to take 30 mgs of bio-indentical cortisol in 4 divided doses a day. If you feel that bad you may need an MD’s help; check out the Stop the Thyroid Madness Website and their Adrenal Fatigue info. (No matter how much thyroid medication you take, it will NOT work if your Adrenals are not working.) I wlll be glad to provide you with more information if you need it. Take care, Joyce
Hi Joyce, Just curious – how are DHEA levels tied into adrenal fatigue? I’m wondering because when I had a hormone panel done last year it showed that my estrogen levels were low, but my DHEA levels were very high, which my naturopath said is a precursor to estrogen, and that my body just isn’t converting it into estrogen for some reason. I do have adrenal issues, so I was just curious how the two are related. I’m not going to the naturopath right now because we don’t have health insurance currently, so I don’t know how much progress I’ve made in the past year, but I sure don’t feel that great, and I’m still not pregnant, so obviously I’ve still got my work cut out for me!
Kelsey,
You might consider looking into Dr. Sara Gottfried’s new book and also looking her up on youtube for her pod casts. In her book, The Hormone Cure, she talks about balancing your hormones naturally, and gives specific supplements and doses. She also provides talking points on dealing with a practitioner and places you can order your own tests, without a doctor and are less costly. The biggest problem with adrenals is too much cortisol, and she tells you what to take to reduce it, thereby taking a load off of the adrenals.
adrenal fatigue is not caused by too much cortisol, it’s caused by adrenal glands’ inability to produce enough cortisol
You can have both high and low cortisol at the same time. Usually, when adrenal fatigue is present, your cortisol becomes high at night, when it should be low, so you can sleep.However, because it is high, a person is wired and can’t sleep. In the morning, when it should be high to get you out of bed, it is low and a person feels exhausted, not only because of the lack of sleep, but the lack of cortisol.
interesting…so did you ever cure your adrenal fatigue? If you recommend any supplements post it here
JJ
I am on my way to over coming my adrenal fatigue. While I like Dr. Gotfried’s protocol, I needed someone to work with. I also like Dr. Bob Marshall. He has fantastic products and they are quite reasonable. There are consultants who study under him and use his products. I am working with Radiant Light Nutrition. Their prices are very competitive, you do it over the internet and phone. They use a machine called a zygot. It is cutting edge and what I was told after getting the information from it was impressive. I was told what I had just eaten and that I had a slight infection in my lungs, and it was right on. She gave me various products and it has been about two weeks and I’m not longer fatigued. In fact, I have gone to 3 yoga classes this week, which is unheard of for me. Afterwards, I feel great, instead of tired or exhausted. Sleeping much, much better. I do recommend that you NOT go overboard with the supplements because it could be overwhelming. I don’t believe you can take just one supplement, though, you need several because there are other things impacting the adrenals.
Sorry for the late reply but I agree 100% if. you have adrenal fatigue no amount of Thyroid meds will help and is actually the very worse thing you could take. Taking only 50 mcgms. of Synthroid for 5 weeks sent me into Thyroid Storm with the most horrific depression and anxiety you could imagine. I also lost 45 lbs. in only 2 months. The worse part was the attitude of doctors whose response was pretty much (yawn) just temp side effects bla bla bla. They didn’t have a clue what was happening and didn’t care. If I would have listened to doctors I would be dead. I was told (by endo) about the thyroid storm months later and the low percentage who survive it untreated. Even the emergency room missed it and actually advised to continue the thyroid meds !
Hi Lisa, you may wish to consider a grain hiatus for a period of time. Not forever, just a few months. This rests the adrenals considerably and the weight will fall off. I went off grains for 5 months or so back in Feb and lost 8 lbs even though I am already slim and tried very hard not to lose a single pound. Even lots of homemade ice cream wouldn't keep the weight on! Grains and sugars (even natural ones) keep the weight on more than anything. I am back on grains now but I only eat small amounts a few times a week. You do need more veggies in there too but overall you are SO on the right track! If you drink coffee or tea, try to get off of it as caffeine really stresses the adrenals out. You may wish to consider a very strong probiotic like BioKult since your gut seems a bit out of whack from the constipation issues.
Hi, I LOVE your blog and videos! I am a 40 year old mom. I just started applying the principles of WAP and also struggle with stubborn fat (been trying to lose unsuccessfully for over a year the "normal" way), extreme fatigue, adrenal and thyroid issues, heartburn, and constipation… I know…TMI! Anyway, I don't eat processed (store-bought) grains anymore, but I do make my own bread out of organic sprouted spelt and wheat berries in my bread machine. I love it and it makes me feel much better. I would think this is much better to eat than any store-bought bread, right? I try to keep it to no more than three slices a day, or less. Other grains I sometimes eat is quinoa, steel cut oats (rarely), occassional NT pancakes, rice, and potatoes (all in small amounts). I'm drinking raw milk, eating organic local pasteured eggs, butter, bone broths and coconut products. I know I need to increase my vegetable load per day. I'm not eating grass-fed meats all the time, but I am eating beef, pork, chicken, and fish as well. I intend to start buying grass-fed beef soon. Any feedback? -Lisa
This is a very interesting and timely article! Although I have none of the symptoms, it is a great reminder of ways to take care of myself so I don't develop them!
Hi Linda, if you only drink coffee once in awhile because you truly enjoy it and it is a simple life pleasure, of course that is no big deal. Coffee for the majority of people though is a daily crutch to get going in the morning and sometimes to get through the day. And that habit is a warning sign of flagging adrenal health.
Just an added note, I have no problem functioning without coffee(I occasionally just don't ever get it made). I drink so little of it that it makes no difference. I've tried herbal teas, but they make me feel sick. I can drink cold green tea though.
Kristin, you are RIGHT ON, my friend! Adrenal fatigue is the first hole in the boat for many people that begins the sinking of the whole ship of health.
Through my almost obsessive need to learn about what ailes us I can honestly say, so many problems lead right back to the adrenals. All of my female clients have adrenal fatigue to some degree. Personally, since I quit my biotech job those little guys of mine are pretty happy! The good side of the story is this…we can do something about it! I know it's hard to give up caffeine and sugar, they feel temporarily good. Once you feel real health you won't want those stimulants. Believe me!
Thanks for the great blog today Sarah. I didn't know much about adrenal fatigue but this has really been eye-opening.