Fix Your Fatigue!! Are you a young Mom feeling too tired to enjoy your beautiful family?! You may have 1 , 2 , 3 or more little ones under 5 yrs and you drag yourself out of bed each morning and only wish you had a babysitter during the day so you could just take a nap, you get yourself through the busy day with coffee and fall exhausted into bed and really don’t achieve much of a restful sleep, you often feel teary through the day and don’t even know why and you’ve even gone to your GP for some help and advice only to be recommended antidepressants to help you get through this difficult time. If this is you? I can totally relate because it was me when my kids were little and I fixed it (naturally) and so can you - the cause can be any one of many things, but this is one of the top reasons - you may have adrenal fatigue. I am working with a lot with people with fatigue at the moment and it is important for us to understand that our adrenal glands have a huge impact on the way we feel. What’s the best way to keep your body functioning at it’s best? Eat healthy foods full of the essential nutrients your body needs. Food is, after all, the best medicine we have! A diet filled with whole, organic foods can help support your body and prevent any number of illnesses. Some foods are especially helpful in healing overtaxed adrenal glands. Others are best avoided to keep those adrenals healthy in the first place! When I had 3 small children I was extremely fatigued and diagnosed with depression. It was hard to only want to sleep all day with 3 very active children. I later found it was linked with stress and burnt out adrenals and numerous other things such as Leaky Gut and food allergies. What Are My Adrenal Glands and How Do They Impact My Health? Your adrenal glands sit on top of your kidneys. These triangular shaped glands are small, but have large responsibilities. They produce essential hormones that impact many of your body’s functions, including metabolism and regulating the stress response. When the hormones produced by your adrenal glands are out of balance, your health can suffer. Low levels can cause chronic fatigue, weight loss, muscle weakness, lack of appetite and abdominal pain, irritability, joint pain, irregular periods, and low blood pressure. When levels are too high, symptoms include obesity in the upper body, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and excess hair growth in women. What exactly is Adrenal Fatigue? Adrenal fatigue is a term used to describe what happens when your adrenals can’t keep hormones balanced. The good news is that there are plenty of things you can do to heal your adrenal glands if they aren’t functioning as they should. The first step is paying attention to what you are eating! In a future post I will discuss my 4 top foods that are particularly good for supporting your adrenals. For now, I’ll share 5 food/drinks best to avoid – especially when you need to heal. 1. Added Sugar - When you’re eating a lot of added sugars, it’s tough to keep your blood sugar regulated. The constant spikes and drops put a lot of stress on the adrenals as they work to keep hormones regulated. Sugars are also inflammatory, and the “bad” bacteria in your gut uses sugar as fuel to multiply. It can be difficult to avoid added sugars since they seem to be in everything – and are called by so many different names. Read labels closely, and know what you are looking for. 2. White Flour - Products made with refined flour offer little in the way of actual nutrition. They also break down quickly into sugars, and then you end up with the same issues that eating sugar creates. And so many white flour products contain added sugars as well, so you’re getting a double whammy! If you can’t give up breads or baked goods, whole wheat and other whole grain choices are best. 3. Processed Foods - Heavily processed foods are usually high in refined carbs and added sugars – and we just talked about what those do to your adrenals. Add to that the fact that half of the ingredients on processed food labels are impossible to pronounce, and there’s a lot of good reasons to stick to the fresh whole foods on the outside edges of the grocery store! 4. Caffeine - It’s so hard to hear that you should skip the coffee if you’re feeling exhausted. So many people have depended on coffee to keep them going for far too long! The problem with too much coffee is that it can increase your cortisol production. Since the adrenals are responsible for making cortisol, this makes them work even more – the exact opposite of what you want when you’re trying to heal! If the thought of eliminating coffee altogether is too hard, stick to just one (small) cup in the morning. Then switch to herbal tea or water. There are a lot of great natural energy boosters – try exercise, inhaling peppermint oil, or eating chia seeds. And don’t forget to stay well hydrated! 5. Alcohol - First no coffee, now I’m telling you to skip the wine too? I know it may seem extreme, but the goal here is to help you heal. I’m not saying you should never have a drink again, but when you’re dealing with severe symptoms, it’s important to eliminate anything that could be stressing your adrenal glands. Often people use alcohol to relax. The problem is that you may very well be impacting your cortisol levels, leading to more inflammation, poor sleep, and a weakened immune system. Also, when you drink alcohol, you’re pulling your liver off the job of getting rid of excess hormones (like adrenaline) circulating in your system to work on metabolising the alcohol. And then there’s the blood sugar spikes, since there’s a lot of sugar in alcohol – especially when you mix it with soda. Even in the best of circumstances, it’s hard to give your body all the nutrients it needs in the food you eat alone. Industrial farming practices have diminished the nutrients present in the food you get from most supermarkets. If you’re battling hormonal imbalances and nutrient deficiencies, you might need a little help. I recommend that everyone take a high-quality multivitamin and EPA/DHA support. I can recommend some wonderful supplements for this. For severe symptoms, you may need a supplement to help balance cortisol levels. Food can both taste great and help you heal if you know what vitamins and minerals your body might need. The foods we consume can impact energy levels, sleep, your stress response, and inflammation. When you change your diet, you can change the way you feel. If you’ve been eating poorly for a long time, it will take time to notice the changes. But once you know which foods to avoid, and which you should be eating plenty of, you’re on the right path. I think you’ll find that you will feel so good, you won’t want to eat any other way! As I am working to improve several exhausted clients at the moment, I developed an exclusive “Fix Your Fatigue” program which will certainly put you on the path of better health. If you would like to learn more, feel free to comment below or directly message me or 0438 112 050. I have designed this program to teach people what I did to improve my health for the long-term. Please reach out to me - I would love to help you and therefore your family! Stayed tuned for Amazing Foods That Boost Adrenal Health! Yours in health, Maria X
