Adrenal Fatigue: Causes and Cures

By Shannon on July 28, 2010

Previously in this series:

Once I started digging into the root cause of adrenal fatigue I couldn’t help but be reminded that our body works as a whole and as such can not simply be "spot healed". When we are talking about the adrenals we are talking about hormones. While we have different hormones that have different functions in the body, they are all weaved together and therefore must be looked at as interdependent.

All of my research has really given me a "lightbulb moment". What first made me question my adrenals was having a low thyroid. What made me test my thyroid was a low milk supply. When my thyroid was medicated and I still wasn’t making enough milk I knew that something else had to be going on. So when I ran into my lactation consultant at the health food store and she mentioned getting my progesterone levels tested if I have another baby it started to click.

Perhaps all of my hormones (and the glands that secrete them) need balancing, not just my thyroid. Which brings me back to the adrenal glands and what has caused them to be fatigued in the first place.

Lifestyle

Too much stress. {rant warning}…This seems to be one of the primary factors in adrenal fatigue. One of the problems is the hectic modern lifestyle. The lust for more (stuff, promotions, entertainment). The desire to "succeed". I’ve been indoctrinated with this "american dream" my whole life. You work as hard as you can to go to college, then to succeed in college, then to find the highest paying jobs so that you can live in the suburbs in a house big enough for four families. You "need" two cars and pay someone else to raise and educate your children so you very rarely see them. All so that they can go to college and start this whole hamster wheel all over again. We are always going, but never asking "what manner of persons ought ye to be?"

Not enough sleep. This is more a product of the lifestyle I just mentioned than anything. Amanda also made a good point in the comments about the high rate of adrenal fatigue among new moms and midwives. One thing that neither of them get is consistent, adequate sleep.

Environmental Toxins. There are many new man made foods, drugs and chemicals that can throw our hormones out of whack. Soy is one that we have been told is really good for us, even though it can cause estrogen dominance and is not very well suited for human consumption. Birth control pills and patches are another unnatural hormone we put into our bodies. Their is chlorine and fluoride in our water – both of which are toxic, and yet we are told that they are necessary. There are hormones added to conventionally raised meat and yes studies have shown that these hormones are then transferred to humans. All this to say their are many environmental reasons that our adrenals and overall hormonal balance have been thrown out of whack.

{photo credit}

Nutrition

Excessive carbohydrate intake. I seem to be on a ranting roll today so let’s just talk about the food pyramid. Thankfully it has been toned down a bit, but at one point they were recommending 6-11 servings of grains per day! Did you know that the pyramid was created by a mega-PR firm, Porter Novelli International. Their past clients include McDonald’s and the Snack Food Association. Hmmm… something tells me they aren’t really looking out for our health. Back to the adrenals…Carbohydrates produce excessive amounts of insulin, which the body reads as stress. This then forces the adrenal glands to release cortisol, even though there is no environmental stress to be seen. When this happens over and over again through out the days and weeks our adrenal glands become exhausted. (30 symptoms of adrenal fatigue)

Not enough cholesterol and saturated fat in the diet. Everyone says that saturated fat and cholesterol are bad for us, but did you know that dietary cholesterol is absolutely necessary for the production of hormones? And did you also know that studies have shown that infertility has been "cured" when women switch to full fat dairy instead of fat-free? Amazing, but common sense.

Caffeine. Too much caffeine can overstimulate us to the point where we are calling on our adrenals to deal with the stress of a caffeine buzz. I had a brief addiction to coffee last year and have since given it up, but it wasn’t until I quit drinking coffee and then have the occasional cup that I realized how poorly my body responds to it.

Zinc deficiency. Apparently the adrenal gland functioning is dependent on the levels of zinc in our body. There is something called a copper-zinc imbalance which you can read more about here. Zinc deficiency can be caused by many things, but it appears that improperly prepared grains and vegetarianism can be a problem. Consider using sprouted or soaked grains and eating clean, pastured meats.

Lack of Good Salt. Sodium levels are crucial to the functioning of the adrenal glands. But not all salts are created equal. After I had my last baby part of my recovery recommended by my osteopath was to drink salt water made from good sea salt. There are many other things, which I will probably cover next in my recovery plan. For now I will leave you with some really great articles that were part of the basis of my research.

Recommended Reading

Using the above information we can formulate a healing plan for our adrenals. Of course we should always seek out the advice of a health care professional and please do not construe my thoughts as medical advice.

Do you need to heal your adrenal glands?

{top photo credit}

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Adrenal Fatigue: Symptoms and Diagnosis

By Shannon on July 27, 2010

One of the reasons I wanted to write this series was simply for my own knowledge. Another reason was because you don’t hear a lot about this problem in the mainstream medical discussion. So when many of you said that you had been diagnosed or suspected that you had it I was quite surprised.

I’m not going to pretend like I know anything about this condition, except my personal experience and my own research. All of the findings in this series are simply my compilation of the research of many, much more qualified individuals.

Do You Have Adrenal Fatigue?

Adrenal fatigue can manifest itself in many different ways. I have read lists of up to 30 different symptoms, all of which could be seemingly caused by anything. When I found several lists of symptoms I noticed that, while I didn’t have them all, I did have some. Looking at them collectively I knew that it was time to look a bit more into adrenal fatigue.

Possible List of Symptoms:

  • Excessive fatigue or exhaustion
  • Not feeling rested after plenty of sleep
  • Insomnia
  • Inability to lose weight
  • Difficult to bounce back from injury, illness, stress or exercise
  • Cravings for salty and/or sweet things
  • Low blood pressure
  • Low libido
  • Excessive thirst and urination
  • Needing caffeine to get going in the morning
  • Excess hunger or, on the other extreme, lack of appetite
  • Irritability

Diagnosis

It appears as though the most reliable test is a saliva test. This test takes saliva samples at different times of the day in order to measure your stress hormone levels. It appears as though you can either have a doctor prescribe this test or order one online. (see recommended reading).

Recommended Reading

The following are articles and sites that I used extensively in researching the symptoms and diagnosis of adrenal fatigue:

Resources

You can visit my resources page for adrenal-healing foods & supplements such as grass-fed meats & butter, sprouted flours, cod liver oil, and probiotics.

In the next part of the series we’ll address the cause of adrenal fatigue.

Do you see some of your "mysterious" symptoms in the list above? How are you recovering your adrenal health?

{photo credit}

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Adrenal Fatigue: Introduction and Definitions

By Shannon on July 26, 2010

july-7-2009-403b

NOTE: Gardening and preserving is keeping me pretty busy these days. A few articles that bear repeating will fill in the gaps on the days when the to-do list is too long. This post was originally published in August 2009.

When our oldest son was a newborn I found out that I had an underactive thyroid. We suspected that it was the reason behind me not being able to make enough milk. I did a lot of research on hypothyroidism and found the same conclusions over and over again: you can not have a healthy thyroid if your adrenals are fatigued.

When I found all of this out I didn’t even know what an adrenal was, let alone why mine might be fatigued. Now I am researching adrenal fatigue and how to heal them. From what I have read this is a common problem due to the many detrimental factors of modern society. Because it is so common I thought I would start a series in order to share my research with y’all. I am hoping that it might help any of you who may be dealing with similar health issues.

This series will in no way cover everything regarding the adrenal glands. It is merely a collection of the information that I have gathered, which means a lot of factual information may be left out. Keep in mind that I am not a medical professional and in no way am I suggesting you take my word for it. I am merely sharing with you my own research and personal journey. Please seek out professional medical advice and feel free to add to the conversation with any knowledge that you might have of the adrenal glands and adrenal fatigue. So today let’s just cover what my first questions were.

What is an Adrenal?

The adrenal glands are two endocrine glands which are located on top of the kidneys. They are responsible for regulating the stress response by excreting the stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline. (source) The adrenal gland is broken up into two parts – the adrenal cortex (the outer part) and the adrenal medulla (the inner part). The adrenal cortex produces steroid hormones as well as aldosterone which is involved in regulating the amount of salt and water in your body. The adrenal medulla produces hormones known as catecholamines which include adrenaline and noradrenaline. These catecholamines play a role in our response to acute or sudden stress. (source)

What is Adrenal Fatigue?

Adrenal fatigue is when your adrenal glands have been overstimulated (by stress, dietary and environmental factors) and are no longer working at the level needed for optimal body functioning. This then produces a host of unpleasant symptoms, which I will cover in the second part of the series.

Coming Up in This Series

In the next week I hope to address the following topics in a bit more detail, but here is a glimpse at my findings:

  • Part 2: Symptoms and causes
  • Part 3: Dietary and lifestyle changes to recover adrenal health.

So I hope you join me this week in discovering all about adrenal fatigue.

Have you heard of or been diagnosed with adrenal fatigue?

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Fluffy Coconut Flour Pancakes

By Shannon on July 23, 2010

When it comes to an easy breakfast I love pancakes. As you can probably tell from my soaked buckwheat pancakes and soaked, flour-free oatmeal pancakes. They are just so simple to cook – mix, ladle, flip, eat. No wonder our pioneer foremothers served them frequently on their trek out west.

But for those of us who don’t eat grains or are restricting our carbohydrates the smell of pancakes can feel a bit isolating. I’ve tried probably a half dozen coconut flour pancake recipes over the past year and have the same complaint with all of them – they are thin and eggy.

So I tweaked, tested, and tweaked again and finally came up with a pancake that is fluffy, not overly eggy, and pretty darn tasty.

My husband said these taste like donuts as he slathered them in coconut oil and honey. That’s coming from someone who does eat grains, is skeptical of coconut flour, and knows his way around a pancake. So when he said that I knew my recipe testing was over.

Finally, a coconut flour pancake worth eating.

Fluffly Coconut Flour Pancakes

Recipe Notes: Both cow and coconut milk work well in this recipe. You can also add cinnamon or fruit as desired. Just keep the pancakes small and watch them so they don’t burn.

Ingredients

  • 4 eggs, room temperature
  • 1 cup milk (raw cow’s or coconut both work)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon honey or a pinch of stevia
  • 1/2 cup coconut flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • coconut oil or butter for frying

Directions

  1. Preheat griddle over medium-low heat. In a small bowl beat eggs until frothy, about two minutes. Mix in milk, vanilla, and honey or stevia.
  2. In a medium-sized bowl combine coconut flour, baking soda, and sea salt and whisk together. Stir wet mixture into dry until coconut flour is incorporated.
  3. Grease pan with butter or coconut oil. Ladle a few tablespoons of batter into pan for each pancake. Spread out slightly with the back of a spoon. The pancakes should be 2-3 inches in diameter and fairly thick. Cook for a few minutes on each side, until the tops dry out slightly and the bottoms start to brown. Flip and cook an additional 2-3 minutes.
  4. Serve hot with butter, coconut oil, honey, syrup, or fruit.

Posted in | 22 Responses

Live Responsibly, Live Sustainably: Homestead

By Shannon on July 22, 2010


{from our garden: lettuce, potatoes, beets, onions, cilantro}

NOTE: Gardening and preserving is keeping me pretty busy these days. A few articles that bear repeating will fill in the gaps on the days when the to-do list is too long. This post was originally published in April 2009.

Throw out the word homesteading in a crowd and you will get very different reactions. Some look at you like you’re crazy – picturing the pioneers crossing the prairie in search of land, only a covered wagon as your shelter. Others (myself included) perk up at the thought of a sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyle.

The good life. The simple life. Call it what you will. We are entering a time when sustainable and self-sufficient living may not be just another option – suitable for some and not others. Soon it will be the only option, lived out of necessity, not just desire.

Going green is quite chic these days. Buy organic, reuse grocery bags, change your light bulbs, cook from scratch, don’t buy plastic water bottles. All good ideas – but they don’t address a deeper need for change. These are all answers to the question "What if you changed your habits?" Difficult habits to break, indeed, but perhaps we should pose a different question: "What if you changed your life?"


{comfrey flowers in the garden}

In order to change the way we live, we must first change the way we think. The truth is that the life we have been living is not sustainable. The way that we grow our food, transport ourselves and all of the goods that we rely on to survive can not be sustained.

Our way of life almost entirely depends on finite resources that will soon be so depleted as to cause world wars.

That is unless we do something about it. What if the American dream involved massive gardens, chickens in the backyard, clotheslines and piles of compost? What if we replaced our expensive homes with modest ones, (saved for, not mortgaged), surrounded by a little bit of acreage? What if we tore up our pretty lawns and turned them into sweet June strawberries and juicy August tomatoes? What if we traded our eggs for our neighbor’s milk, bypassing battery farms and rBGH? What if we could share our bounty with those in need, instead of placing jars of hydrogenated peanut butter into the food bank? 


{summer snack: sugar snaps dipped in butter}

Through homesteading we have an opportunity to do all of the above plus learn truly useful skills that go untaught in universities. We can know exactly where our food comes from because our sweet little toddler’s hands are the ones picking the cucumbers. By not supporting them we can vote against big-agribusiness, plastic corporations, pharmaceutical companies, and a government that is heavily lobbied by all of the above.

We can set aside the old American dream of working for 35 years and then retiring, consuming mass quantities of unsustainable goods along the way. We can teach our children that the every day processes of sustaining life through food, water, cleanliness and shelter are to be learned from, not dreaded. We can empower one another to rely on God and each other, not big businesses that simply see us as dollar signs. We can stop destroying our resources and start showing our children how to steward them.

It is called homesteading and I believe it is the only responsible way to live.

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