by 
Do Adrenal Fatigue Supplements Help?
There are many supplements adrenal fatigue treatments make use of to balance your stressed out and overworked adrenals.
The first one, and a very important supplement for your adrenals is Vitamin C, because the more cortisol is made, the more your body uses up Vitamin C and it cannot be manufactured by your body.
This important vitamin needs to come from your food, and the adrenal glands use up large quantities of Vitamin C during stress.
Although you can get Vitamin C from food sources, the quantities needed by your adrenals under stress are way more than can be supplied by food alone, which is why supplementing with extra Vitamin C is critical for recovery from adrenal fatigue syndrome.
Pantothenic Acid or Vitamin B5 is another important vitamin needed in high quantities by your adrenals when they are under stress. Additionally, several botanicals have proven adaptogenic qualities helpful in regulating how stress affects your adrenals and subsequently how you feel. Thorne Research Stress Balance (Formerly Phytisone) includes all these ingredients and more.
Thorne Research Stress Balance (Formerly Phytisone) – What Does It Do?
A synergistic combination of adaptogenic herbs assist in regulating your stress hormones and cortisol production. In turn this helps alleviate adrenal fatigue and HPA axis dysfunction. Studies show adaptogens can enhance resistance to stress.
6 Powerful Botanicals Used In Thorne Research Stress Balance (Formerly Phytisone)
1. Ashwaganda
Originally found in India and North Africa this adaptogenic herb works on the entire endocrine and nervous system and is well known in natural health circles for its nourishing and tonic qualities. The main effect of using Ashwagandha is to help your system adapt to stressful situations.
Also known as winter cherry and Indian ginseng, Ashwagandha’s botanical name is withania somnifera. The high concentration of withanolides contained in the herb are thought to provide the health benefits of this herb. A study shows withanolides use in fighting tumor growth and inflammation.
2. Astragalus
Commonly used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), astragalus is known for its ability to boost immune health and to mediate the effects of stress and fatigue. A study shows the herb’s ability in regulating the body’s immune response.
3. Panax Ginseng
Also known as Asian ginseng and sometimes called Korean ginseng, it is considered an adaptogenic herb.
4. Eleuthero
Also called Siberian Ginseng, the main benefits of this herb is to increase resistance to stress. It is also used to counteract mental fatigue and help improve energy and stamina levels.
5. Ginger Root
Used as an adaptogen for the adrenals, ginger root helps regulate cortisol levels and increase energy. It also stimulates digestive enzymes.
6. Licorice Root
Possibly the most well known herb for adrenal fatigue, licorice is grown in Asia and Europe. This herb is known for its ability to increase energy and endurance. Licorice is known to naturally bolster cortisone when levels are low due to adrenal fatigue.
Thorne Research Stress Balance (Formerly Phytisone) also contains Vitamin C, and Pantothenic Acid as well as some other nutrients. The full ingredients contained in 2 capsules are:
Vitamin C 250 mg.
Thiamin 24 mg.
Vitamin B6 6.8 mg.
Pantothenic Acid 100 mg.
Zinc 2 mg.
Ashwagandha extract 150 mg.
Astragalus extract 14 mg.
Asian Ginseng extract 75 mg.
Eleuthero extract 75 mg.
Ginger extract 50 mg.
Licorice 25 mg.
Thorne Research products are made with the purest possible ingredients. They are manufactured without gluten or other major allergens such as peanuts, tree nuts or eggs. In addition, Thorne Phytisone does not contain dairy, soy, yeast, shellfish, or fish.
Pro’s Of Thorne Research Stress Balance (Formerly Phytisone)
- Many naturopaths and nutritionists are happy to recommend Thorne Research products due to the high quality ingredients used in their products.
- Several nutrient vitamins and a synergistic blend of herbs are contained in one capsule, so you don’t need to take a bunch of different supplements for adrenal fatigue support.
- The herbs used are known adaptogens, some of which have been studied for their efficacy.
- The price is reasonable for a quality supplement.
Cons Of Thorne Research Stress Balance (Formerly Phytisone)
- Each container has 60 capsules which at the recommended dosage will last for only one month.
- The amount of Vitamin C contained in the recommended daily dosage will probably be too little if you are suffering from adrenal fatigue syndrome. Often much larger doses of Vitamin C will be recommended by your treating naturopath.
Get Thorne Research Stress Balance (Formerly Phytisone) from Amazon now
Besides taking a good quality adrenal fatigue supplement to provide support, there are other things you can do to recover. Read on for further information to find out what is causing your adrenal fatigue and tips on other lifestyle changes to include in your treatment and ensure you make a full recovery.
What’s Causing Your Adrenal Fatigue?
When your adrenal glands are working well you can handle everything life throws your way pretty easily. The ups and downs of daily life are no big deal. Your adrenals play an important part in regulating cortisol, known as the stress hormone, within your body.
As long as your adrenals are in tip top condition everything runs smoothly. However, unrelenting stress can cause your adrenal glands to become burned out from the continual overwork of producing cortisol.
This happens when your body calls on your adrenals when under stress, to meet ongoing emergencies. A study shows when they reach this stage of burnout, your poor adrenal glands struggle to produce cortisol in a balanced way.
This imbalance results in your overworked adrenals producing too much, or sometimes not enough cortisol. And this cortisol dysregulation leads over time to your adrenals becoming completely exhausted and unable to produce enough cortisol for your system’s normal needs.
At this stage symptoms start to make an appearance and you need some help to support your adrenals and nurse them back to health.
Our ancestors knew a different, more immediate form of stress to that which we experience in our hectic modern lives. For example, being chased by a large predator or facing a threat from a hostile tribe, their adrenals would go into overdrive quickly pumping out cortisol and adrenaline to give them sufficient energy to deal with the imminent threat.
Nowadays though, the fast paced lives we live present us with smaller but still stressful situations in our daily lives, and the stress doesn’t let up.
Burning the midnight oil to complete work or study assignments, dealing with a horrible boss day in and day out, staying in a job you hate because you need to pay the bills, feeling like you are constantly working against the clock. Even too much partying or over exercising are all things your adrenals sense as stress.
Other forms of stress your adrenals react to include:
- Poor diet – too much junk and food.
- Low grade infection of some type e.g., an underlying root canal infection.
- Food allergies and sensitivities.
- Emotional trauma.
- Being in a toxic relationship.
- Sensitivities to environmental chemicals e.g., mold and other chemicals that surround us.
As you can see by these examples, stress can be have both physical and emotional causes.
Common Adrenal Fatigue Symptoms
- Feeling Like You Are Coming Down With A Cold Or Virus
- Having An Energy Slump Every Day During Mid Afternoon
- Being Fully Wide Awake Around 3am Every Morning And Can’t Fall Back To Sleep
- Feeling Strangely Wired But Tired At The Same Time
- Having To Hit The Snooze Button Several Times – Taking Ages To Fully Wake Up In The Morning
- Gaining Weight Around Your Middle Where You Didn’t Have It Before – A Muffin Top Appears.
- Losing Your Hair
- You Constantly Feel Anxious For No Reason
- Can No Longer Exercise As Often Or As Hard As You Normally Do
- Brain Fog – Concentration And Memory Issues
- You feel Lightheaded On Standing Up From A Lying Position
How Do You Treat Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome?
Adrenal fatigue is caused by stress, therefore in order to treat adrenal fatigue syndrome you need to identify where the stress in your life is coming from and take steps to eliminate it or at least manage it. Stress management is a skill that you can learn with a bit of practice.
Try practicing deep breathing, listen to some guided meditations, there are a few good free apps that have some relaxing guided meditations of differing lengths that you can add to your daily routine.
Practising some gentle restorative yoga or taking a slow walk outdoors by the ocean or a park is another great way to relax and slough off the cares of the day.
Once you work out what is causing your stress, and take steps to reduce it a review of your diet is also a good idea if you want to successfully help your adrenal fatigue. If your diet is high in processed sugar, unhealthy fats and processed food it will be more difficult to recover as you will not be providing your body with the nutrients it needs for recovery.
It is preferable to eat a protein, some nutrient dense carbohydrate and healthy fat for each meal and snack. This will help keep your blood sugar stable and avoid a surge of cortisol being released.
Food Items To Include:
- Free Range Eggs and Poultry
- Wild caught fish.
- Green leafy vegetables
- Healthy fats including coconut oil, olive oil and avocados
- Unpasteurized dairy, yoghurt and kefir etc.
- Low sugar fruits like berries in moderation
- Raw sprouted nuts and seeds
- Lean grass fed meats
- Unrefined sea salt
Foods Items To Avoid:
- All junk, fast food and processed food
- Alcohol
- Products made from highly processed white flour
- Foods that include sugar and artificial sweeteners
- Foods fried in refined oils
- Artificial sweeteners.
- Caffeine including fizzy soft drinks, coffee and tea
Not only is what you eat important but the way you eat while suffering from adrenal fatigue syndrome is important too.
Keeping your blood sugar regulated by eating smaller meals and snacks regularly throughout the day is helpful. Eating three main meals and a couple of snacks during the day lets your adrenals know that you are not in starvation mode and they don’t need to keep pumping out cortisol.
It’s also important to stay adequately hydrated by drinking sufficient plain filtered water. Do your health and the environment a favor by choosing to carry your water in a healthy water bottle rather than a plastic one.
Putting It All Together
Making some of the lifestyle changes to reduce stress levels and taking a quality adrenal fatigue supplement like Thorne Research Stress Balance (Formerly Phytisone) will soon have you feeling your normal energetic self again.
Please feel free to leave a comment below.
Thank you. I’ve been enjoying your posts and appreciate that you are a real person with a real mind and a real heart that wants to help people. Different from a lot of the articles. Good tips all around. Only thing I’d add is we don’t have to be afraid of animal fats that our ancestors did so well on. But definitely glad to see you steering people away from the poly unsaturated seed oils which are doing so much damage. Thank you again, whoever you are!
This supplement sounds wonderful but I’m allergic to licorice.