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What Causes Adrenal Fatigue?
Balanced and well functioning adrenal glands play a big part in overall good health. An important function of your adrenals is the creation and regulation of cortisol. When your adrenals are working as they should, you become more able to handle life’s ups and downs. Daily challenges you come up against are dealt with smoothly.
But, your adrenal glands can become burned out from too much unrelenting stress as you are constantly asking them to overwork producing cortisol. When this happens, a study shows your adrenals struggle to produce cortisol in its natural rhythm.
Subsequently they sometimes produce too much and sometimes not enough cortisol. The end result of this cortisol dysregulation is that over time your adrenals become burned out. When this happens symptoms appear and it’s clear you need some help with your adrenal fatigue.
In days gone by humans felt stressed when being chased by a tiger, such a scenario is a very obvious and clearly recognizable form of stress. However, nowadays our fast paced lives present us with many smaller but still stressful situations every day.
Always running to beat the clock, getting to work on time and dealing with busy traffic, burning the candle at both ends, too much partying, being on a calorie restrictive diet, or working long hours are all forms of stress your adrenals recognize.
Your adrenals also react to the following forms of stress:
- Poor diet – too much processed food.
- Sensitivities to certain foods in your diet.
- Insufficient sleep.
- Emotional trauma.
- Over exercising.
- Sensitivities to environmental toxins e.g., Mold.
Taking on too much work out of a sense of obligation will make you sick. As will constantly pushing yourself beyond your limits to attain professional goals and denying yourself sufficient down time to recuperate.
Adrenal Fatigue Symptoms Include:
- A General Feeling Of Tiredness – it feels as though you are fighting off a cold or virus.
- Taking A Long Time To Wake Up In The Morning – it seems you take longer than usual to come fully awake.
- Experiencing An Energy Slump In The Middle Of The Afternoon – you often reach for a chocolate bar or a salty snack to keep you going through the afternoon.
- Feelings Of Anxiety – you feel nervy in situations where you normally wouldn’t.
- Feeling Wired And Tired – you are exhausted but can’t seem to relax sufficiently to switch off.
- Waking Up Regularly Around 3 am – you wake regularly at this time and have difficulty falling asleep again.
- Weight Gain Around Your Mid Section – you develop a ‘muffin top’ that wasn’t there before.
- Brain Fog And Memory Issues – it is difficult to concentrate and focus on tasks.
- Hair Loss – your hair is thinning all over and you notice more of it in your hairbrush.
- Inability To Exercise At Your Usual Intensity – your usual workout tires you out.
- Lightheadedness On Standing Up From A Lying Position – feelings of lightheadedness are new for you.
Adrenal Fatigue Treatment
If you want to effectively treat adrenal fatigue, you have to identify where your stress is coming from and manage it. Luckily, stress management is a skill that can be learned with a bit of practice. You can try deep breathing, guided meditation or some gentle restorative yoga. A walk outdoors in fresh air and nature is another great stress buster that can help you easily shrug off feelings of tension and stress.
As well as working out what is causing your stress, it’s also important to review your diet if you want to successfully treat your adrenal fatigue. A diet high in sugar and fat from processed and fast foods will do you more harm than good. Rather, eat protein, nutrient dense carbohydrate and healthy fat at each meal and snack.
Foods on the ‘Avoid’ list:
- All fast food.
- Products made from processed white flour.
- Alcohol.
- Foods that include sugar.
- Artificial sweeteners.
- Caffeine including coffee, tea and soft drinks
- Fried foods
Foods on the ‘Include’ list:
- Lean grass fed meats
- Wild caught fish
- Free range eggs
- Raw nuts and seeds
- Green leafy vegetables
- Unpasteurized dairy
- Low sugar fruits in moderation
- Himalayan and sea salt
- Healthy fats e.g., coconut oil, olive oil, avocados
Eating small meals and snacks regularly throughout the day to help blood sugar regulation and support your adrenals is beneficial. When you eat regular, balanced meals and a couple of small healthy snacks, your energy and cortisol levels will remain balanced throughout the day. Remember to stay adequately hydrated with plain filtered water, and ditch the plastic by carrying your water in a healthy water bottle.
What About Adrenal Health Supplements- Do They Help?
There are a few supplements that are great for adrenal fatigue support. One of those is Vitamin C and it is very important because the more cortisol is made, the more your body uses Vitamin C.
This vitamin cannot be manufactured in your body and has to be supplied from your food, and the adrenal glands use huge amounts of Vitamin C when they are under stress.
The quantities needed are way more than you can get from food which is why supplementing with Vitamin C is crucial for adrenal fatigue syndrome.
Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid) is another important vitamin for adrenal health and again it is needed in high quantities when your adrenals are under stress.
Herbal Support – Why Choose Gaia Herbs Adrenal Health?
There are some very helpful herbs for adrenal fatigue, and these specific herbs are known as adaptogens. They help restore the body and bring it back into a balanced state.
Adaptogenic herbs help bring about a healthy response to chronic stress. They assist in regulating the stress hormones and cortisol production which in turn helps prevent adrenal fatigue and HPA axis dysfunction.
These powerful adaptogenic herbs do this by working to promote stress relief while providing support to your adrenal glands. If you want to aid in healing your adrenal fatigue, these herbs certainly help.
I’ve used Gaia Herbs Adrenal Health myself and found the product helped my adrenal fatigue in as little as a month. Of course, to provide all round support I also worked on reducing my stress and took a high quality, easily absorbable Vitamin C supplement too.
Gaia Herbs Adrenal Health Contains 4 Important Herbs Known To Support Adrenal Function
ASHWAGANDHA
Native to North Africa and India this supportive herb works on the endocrine and nervous system. Known for its tonic and nourishing qualities, Ashwagandha helps your body adapt to stressful situations.
Ashwagandha’s botanical name is withania somnifera and it’s also known by a few other names including winter cherry and Indian ginseng. The health benefits of this herb are thought to come from the high concentration of withanolides contained in the herb. A study shows this compound has been shown to fight tumor growth and inflammation.
RHODIOLA ROSEA
When your body produces too much cortisol it can deplete nutrient reserves, affect your memory, and have a negative effect on blood pressure, your blood sugar control and metabolism. Rhodiola has been proven to reduce the secretion of cortisol during stress.
An adrenal adaptogen, Rhodiola supports adrenal function and encourages a healthy response to stress. A study showed significant improvement in symptoms of stress, exhaustion and anxiety after only 3 days of using Rhodiola.
HOLY BASIL
Also known as Tulsi in Ayurvedic medicine, Holy Basil helps protect organs and tissues from the chemical assault of heavy metals, industrial pollutants and the physical stress from too much physical exertion. It works to reduce stress and calm the nervous system.
SCHISANDRA
Native to Russia and China, schisandra is commonly known as magnolia berry and has a stimulating effect on the nervous system. It is also known to be helpful in mental exhaustion. Research into Schisandra conclusively shows that it is a powerful anti anxiety and stress reducing herb helpful for treating fatigue.
Other IMPORTANT Reasons To Buy Gaia Adrenal Health
You want to buy a herbal formula that contains the most beneficial herbs, but you may have concerns about contamination of herbs during the growing and manufacturing process. You want to be sure that along with the beneficial effect of the herbs you’re not swallowing a bunch of pesticides, heavy metals and chemicals.
Gaia have their own farm in North Carolina, and also work with other farmers/suppliers to meet their needs where quality control and strict adherence to organic growing practices is upheld. So you can rest assured that the quality you get from Gaia is topnotch.
- QUALITY – Gaia work to use only plants and seeds from sources whose organic methods and plant quality can be verified. They practice strict certified organic cultivation of their herbs and monitor their certified organic farmers to ensure they do the same.
- SUSTAINABILITY – Gaia promote purchasing, growing, and harvesting practices while working with indigenous communities to achieve a more sustainable life.
- VEGAN – All vegan liquid phyto capsules
- TRACEABILITY – Gaia offers a ‘Meet Your Herbs’ program which offers tracability of the herbs from seeds to the shelf. You can track the story of each herb used in Adrenal Health by entering the I.D. number on your bottle.
- PURITY – Gaia uses plants that must meet and exceed their standards for purity. Crop harvesting is carried out when the herbs are at their peak bio activity to ensure the key constituents are preserved. Every batch of herbs is separated upon arrival at their processing facility where analysis is carried out to confirm identity and quality. Tests are conducted to ensure each batch is free from contaminants such as pesticides, heavy metals, chemicals, mold, and other microbes.
- ETHICS – Gaia follow ethical business practices while working with partners locally and worldwide.
PROS OF TAKING GAIA ADRENAL HEALTH
- Each capsule contains a proprietary blend of herbs known to help adrenal fatigue syndrome.
- Gaia uses strict quality control methods from seed selection to processing.
- The liquid capsules are vegan and very easy to swallow. Although in potent liquid form the capsules make it easy to carry for travelling.
- You can trace the story of the herbs in your bottle via the Gaia site.
CONS OF TAKING GAIA ADRENAL HEALTH
- Honestly I can’t think of any. The price is a little higher than some adrenal formulas, however, the quality is verifiable. Each bottle contains 60 liquid phyto capsules with a recommended dosage of 2 capsules x twice per day. At this rate of use, a bottle lasts only a couple of weeks. However, you might find as I did that you don’t need to take such a high dose.
Get 5% Discount On Gaia Herbs Adrenal Health At iHerb Now
Putting It All Together
As well as taking this great herbal supplement by Gaia Herbs, you need to identify where the stress in your life is coming from and make the necessary changes to heal from adrenal fatigue.
I’d love to know what you think of Gaia Adrenal Health. Please leave any comments below.
Thank you for this post, I suffered terribly with adrenal fatigue coupled with other medical conditions. I didn’t even realise it could be a possibility until I stumbled across a knowledgeable medical professional. I have made great progress with cutting out sugar and caffeine and beginning yoga and meditation just to name a few. I haven’t tried any kind of supplement though, do you think this would be helpful for someone that has already seen a lot of improvement? I would love to hear your thoughts on this 🙂
Thanks for leaving a comment, I’m glad you have made improvements through making changes to your diet and using yoga and meditation for stress control. I guess if you have already managed to improve a lot you might not need to take any supplements.
So much stuff that affects adrenalin, didn’t even know about!
And food that helps was good to know. Definitely gonna implant that in my life. Thank you!
Hi and thanks for stopping by. Glad you found the information in my post helpful.
Dear Ann
Thank you very much for your fantastic website. It is amazing that you show people where to start and what steps to make towards their healthy living and perfect body. I hope more people will know about your website and follow your guidance.
Kind regards,
Andrey
Thanks for leaving such a kind comment. I hope my website and the information it contains helps people suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome.
Hi, Ann.
Very interesting review, I must say. I am quite familiar with each component of this supplement and often used them in my life. But I didn’t think that they can be combined together to achieve a bettter effect. It may be very effective combination to fight adrenal fatigue. It definitely worth a try.
Thank you for your information
Alex
Thanks for your comment. It’s my understanding that when certain herbs are combined they have a synergistic quality that amplifies their action and usefulness.
Ann,
I found your information very helpful, as I do have a slump in the early afternoon most days. I think I will look into your supplement and try some of your food ideas. Getting a good nights sleep is a start, I think your recommendations will help.
Do you think getting more exercise would help also, I cannot wait until the weather gets better to get some outdoor time.
John
Thanks for leaving a comment. If you don’t have adrenal fatigue then yes getting exercise is a great way to energize your system. However, if you have adrenal fatigue you must be very careful about exercise. I mistakenly believed that the endorphins created and the immediate lift in energy I got via exercise was a good thing. However, I subsequently learned that exercise can deplete your adrenals further. It also depends how advanced your adrenal fatigue is. Any exercise needs to be restorative and VERY gentle while you have adrenal fatigue.
Hey,
Great article and thanks for sharing.
At the moment I don’t suffer with Adrenal Fatigue fortunately, however my diet definitely needs to improve if I am going to stay this way. Too much fast food and processed food. I really need to exercise more aswell.
Thank you so much for sharing and enlightening us to this issue.
All the best,
Tom
Hi Tom thanks for stopping by and glad you found the information useful. Great that you acknowledge your diet isn’t the best, that’s definitely the first step in making worthwhile change.
The best adrenal fatigue treatment is stress management. Some of your best biohacking tools are the Bulletproof Diet, sleep hacking, anti-stress supplements, meditation, and possibly changing your caffeine intake. This was is my take on things although the admin suggestion also checks out. Nice post the product will definitely help with adrenal fatigue
Hi Dammy thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. You are correct, as I mention in my post you must manage stress or you have no hope of healing from adrenal fatigue. Some of the stress busting techniques mentioned in my article can be useful to work into your daily routine. Identifying where your stress is coming from is a crucial first step. Adrenal Health Daily Support is helpful in supporting your adrenals while you work on removing stress from your life.
Thank you for this most useful read.
These tips work well not only for those with adrenal fatigue but also most of us who lead busy and stressed lives.
Maybe these tips should be given to all stressed people before they actually reach the stage of full-blown adrenal fatigue to help them gain more perspective on their lives. I am sure a lot of people have this already, but don’t know that they have it unfortunately.
Hi Michel, thanks for your comment and I agree, better to try to include some stress busting techniques into your life before you develop adrenal fatigue. Unfortunately many people are slow learners, myself included.
Really interesting article, yet again!
I’m surprised that you listed over exercising as a reason behind Adrenal Fatigue Symptoms. I exercise a little too regularly if I’m honest with you (at least 5 miles running every morning!) and I’m wondering if this could effect the way I’m handling stress throughout the day, and how my Adrenals are being effected?
Chris, thanks for leaving a comment. Of course everyone is different. Running 5 miles each morning might suit you just fine, only you can tell.
This is a very good synopsis of adrenal fatigue and ways to fight it! I am a bit familiar with some of the ingredients in Gaia Adrenal Health and I agree, it is a good product.In my opinion, people that are experiencing these symptoms must take a multi-pronged approach and not only take a good adaptogen herbal supplement, but also clean up the diet and exercise.
Hi Dave, correct lifestyle changes are definitely required in particular stress management for successful recovery from adrenal fatigue.
Hi Ann
I have just read your whole article with all necessary information about Adrenal Fatigue. Really this is an awesome article. Balanced and well functioning adrenal glands are very important for good health. By reading your article I have learned that adrenal fatigue remedies are necessary for healthy living and in your article you have mentioned a number of ways for this. Gaia Adrenal Health is also a helpful remedy. It will be very helpful for people with adrenal fatigue. I think if we follow your guide line we will live an adrenal fatigue free life. I will share this great article. Thanks for sharing this.
HI there and thanks for stopping by my site. I’m glad you took away some useful information from this article.
Thanks for this informative and educative post it made me realize that If someone is constantly stressed for a long time, you’re constantly producing cortisol, your adrenals become less sensitive to how much cortisol they make, and your stress response and daily cortisol rhythm become irregular which causes lack of sleep and poor diet. Great post!
Hi there and thanks for stopping by. So glad you found my post informative. Yes it seems it’s all about cortisol with adrenal fatigue. Controlling it’s production and producing enough at the right times.
This is actually my first time of hearing about Adrenal Fatigue. And I can bet a lot of us suffer from this and do not even know what it is called, instead we attribute our symptoms to something else. The good thing is that there is already help for people who suffer from adrenal fatigue with the Gaia Adrenal Fatigue Health. And after reading your review Ann, I just wished all supplements are careful produced the way the Gaia is. I like that is traceable, pure, vegan and they practically good ethics. This is the supplement that I would buy and also recommend to others.
Hi there, thanks for leaving a comment. I agree, I love the fact you can track the origin of the contents of the bottle you buy using the code. It is important to know where the herbs you take come from. For example, many herbs grown in China contain traces of heavy metals from the very polluted conditions they are grown in.
I have never thought much about adrenal fatigue as we are so busy with life that we just ignore some symptoms sometimes. There are some adrenal fatigue symptoms which seems familiar that I may need to look into. Maybe supplements to help and see if it does ease the symptoms. Thanks for your informative article, Ann!
Hi and thanks for leaving a comment. You are correct, our busy lives mean we sometimes ignore the signals our bodies send us until it is too late. And adrenal fatigue does kind of sneak up on you.
A very informative article on getting help for adrenal fatigue. Even when you do not suffer from the symptoms, it might be very helpful for people in relieving stress and living healthy. For me it means that I will have a serious look at this and see what it can mean for my life. I had never heard of adrenal fatigue before and I am now thinking that I have had the marks of this at one time or another, especially under stress situations. I am going to follow much of your advise and the Gaia method has my preference, as it looks to be quite natural.
Jerry thanks for leaving a comment and I’m glad the information is of use to you.
Great article, very informative and helpful especially to the youths. Adrenal fatigue is common among youths because they are the working class and modern technology has imparted on our stress level tremendously. Your article took me back to biology and I was able to understand the balancing of cortisol, knowing how important this is will determine how we manage our stress level. You were able to provide all the tips to manage our stress level, I will personally try the Gaia herb because the nature of my present job couple with kids has a great effect on me . Majority of us will be happy to learn about management of stress and how to go about it in a positive way by supplements you mentioned. I think your article is very important and needed by many who don’t even know the importance of as little as vitamin ‘C’. I will recommend your article to help others as well.
Thanks.
Thanks for your comments, I’m glad the information is useful to you.
This is very interesting information and a lot of new terms for me. i haven’t previously heard of 3 of the 4 ingredients you list in the Gaia Adrenal Health supplement, so I appreciate you taking the time to go over each one of them in detail. I thought I was familiar with basil, but if there is something different about “holy basil” I would like more information to understand this better to make sure I understand each ingredient as much as possible. Thanks so much!!
Thanks for leaving a comment. The basil (sweet basil) you are familiar with, is the mediterranean basil used in cooking and is different from holy basil. Both plants are members of the mint family and variations of the same plant type.
Holy basil or Tulsi has more pointed leaves than sweet basil and is commonly used in Thai cooking. It’s flavor is a little sharper and more licorice like. Holy basil has also been used for centuries in the orient as a medicinal herb and is considered a holy plant by Hindus.
Wow, this has been such an educative ride. I never knee about the adrenal fatigue before and I think I suffer from it from time to time. This fatigue seems to cover ever aspect of of health. I’m just so glad that there’s a supplement that works for it. So, will I get the Gaia adrenal supplement? Of course, it is made from herbs and they are trusted so why not. Thanks a lot for such magnificent post.
Great to hear you found information in this post useful.
Great article,the state of health of every man is important,because health is wealth,balanced and well functioning adrenal glands play a big part in overall good health,its very correct,my own point of view is that a lot of people fail to rest at the appropriate time and balance diet is not maintained, this now gives room for Adrenal Fatigue,all the symptoms you listed are all true and care must be taken to handle the situation,the product ; Gaia Adrenal Health I believe will do the work,seriously your write-up is wonderful addressing what many people were suffering from,thank you for sharing.
Thanks for your kind words, I’m happy to hear you found this article informative. Unfortunately, nowadays we all seem to live such stressful lives and as you say can become prey to illnesses such as adrenal fatigue syndrome.
I might highly consider in buying myself this product since I’m always feeling stressed and have anxiety issues, and sometimes I don’t feel energized like at all. What I like the most of this supplement is that all-natural and does not contain any health hazards such as chemicals such as pesticide or any kind pollutant agent. I really should try this out because honestly, it sounds like the best option for me.
Hi there thanks for your comment, I hope you get some help with your anxiety issues. This supplement is designed for use with adrenal fatigue. If you try it please stop by and let us know how you go.
Hi there,
It is a highly precise and informative blog about Adrenal Fatigue. I enjoyed reading this article.
The modern living, work environment, the diet, lack of exercise, overuse of caffeine have been touted as some of the causes.
I have a few queries if you please help me with or I have missed them during my review of this article:
1. Does Adrenal fatigue arise because of a weak immune system?
2. What is the difference between Adrenal Fatigue and Adrenal insufficiency?
3. Are there any ratings from 1-10 for these supplements one can use to make a guided decision?
Thank you for sharing a useful article which will help many.
Hi and thanks for your comments. I’ll attempt to answer your queries here:
1. Adrenal fatigue is primarily caused by stress which can come in many forms. Your adrenals can affect your immune system as cortisol the stress hormone plays a role in regulating the immune system. If cortisol levels become dysregulated going too high or too low this can lead to getting regular infections etc.
2. Adrenal insufficiency unlike adrenal fatigue is recognized by mainstream medical practitioners. It is an autoimmune condition. In this autoimmune condition your immune system incorrectly attacks the area of the adrenals responsible for producing the stress hormones aldosterone and cortisol.
3. I don’t quite understand what you mean by a ratings system.