HOW TO I SUPPLEMENTS

avert adrenal fatigueThe adrenal glands play a part in regulating mood and energy, and help usdeal with stress. Learn how to keep yours healthy

By Karta Purkh SinghKhalsa, DN-C, RH

Product Examples(from left to right)

MegaFood Adrenal Strength is a popularhealth food store product that fea-tures a range of adrenal-strengtheningnutrients, including pantothenic acidand herbs.

NOW Foods Tru-C BioComplex, one of thecompany's best-selling products,contains an Ayurvedic source ofvitamin C—amia berry—that isthought to be well absorbed andutilized by the body.

Gaia Herbs Adrenal Health helpssupport adrenal health with a mixof stress-relieving and balancingherbs, such as oats, holy basil,and rhodiola.

Your adrenalg l a n d s don't take upmuch space, but theysure pack a punch.About ihe size of a grape,each of your tv̂ 'o adrenalglands sits like a tinypyramid on top of a kidney[ad refers to over; renal refers tokidneys). These diminutive endocrineglands manufacture and secrete potenthormones that are essenlial to yourhealth and vitality.

These chemical messengers affect thefunctioning of every tissue, organ, andgland; they also have profoundconsequences for the way you think andfeel. Without these adrenals' hormones,you would die.

Your adrenals enable your body todeal with stress from many sources,including injury, threat, and disease—the well-known fight-or-flight response.They largely determine your moment-to-moment energy. It is also youradrenal glands' responsibility to keepyour body's reactions to stress inbalance so that they are not harmful.Anti-inflammatory hormones, includ-ing Cortisol, help to minimize allergicreactions, such as swelling and inflam-mation. At normal levels, cortisol alsohelps us by converting proteins intoenergy and releasing glycogen. But atthe sustained high levels brought about

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by unremitting stress,cortisol gradually tearsyour body down.

Wbile tbe poor adrenalsare chronically over-

worked and straining tomaintain high cortisol levels,

they also lose the capacity toproduce sufficient DHEiA, which is

a precursor hormone to estrogen,progesterone, and testosterone, all ofwhich exacerbate the problem.

Adrenal fatigue is a syndrome thatresults when the adrenal glandsfunction below the necessary level. Thissyndrome has been called manydifferent names throughout the pastcentury, such as non-Addison's hypoad-renia, subclinical hypoadrenia, neuras-thenia, adrenal neurasthenia, andadrenal apathy. Although proponentssay it affects millions of people aroundthe world, conventional medicine doesnot recognize it as a distinct sjndrome.

The effects can be profound, andinclude relentless fatigue, especiallyupon arising, sleep disorders, muscularweakness, dizziness, immune systemsuppression, slow healing, muscle andbone loss, moodiness, depression, skininflammation, low libido, weightchanges, low blood pressure, low bloodsugar, craving salty or sugary foods,concentration difficulty, unexplainedhair loss, allergies, masculine character-istics in women, and autoimmunedisorders.

Adrenal fatigue may factor into manyrelated conditions, including fibromyal-gia, hypothyroidism, chronic fatiguesyndrome, arthritis, and prematuremenopause. It might be more correct tothink of it as a part of a syndrome of"chronic endocrine dysregulation,"rather than pointing to the adrenalglands as if they function in a vacuum.

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SOS FOR ADRENAL FATIGUEREMEDY

.icorice

'antothenic acid

/itamin C

FORM TO USE

Capsules

Tablets

Capsules orpowder

DOSE

500 mg per day

200-2,000 mg per day

1-10gper(tay

COMMENTS ^

Oo not take it hypertensive.

use along with other B vitamins.

Use ascorbate form to reduce(li£estive discomiorL

You may look and act relativelynormal with adrenal fatigue, yet livewith a general sense of unwellness,tiredness or "gray" feelings. Peoplesuffering from adrenal fatigue oftenuse caffeine and other stimulants toget going in the morning and tosustain energy throughout the day.

In serious cases, you may havedifficulty getting out of bed for morethan i\ few hours per day As thedisorder progresses, changes occur innutrient metabolism, fluid andelectrolyte balance, heart andcardiovascular system, and sex drive.

Many factors can make you moreprone to adrenal fatigue. Poor diet,substance abuse, too little sleep andrest, too much stress, lack of exercise,surgery, or a chronic illness orrepeated infections, such as bronchi-tis or pneumonia, can all exhaustihese workhorse glands.

The Mayo Clinic describes adrenalfatigue as a label applied to acollection of these same nonspecificsymptoms and confirms that it isn'tan accepted medical diagnosis.According to them, the medical termadrenal insufficiency refers toinadequate production of one ormore of these hormones as a resultof an underlying disease, and thatadrenal insuffidenq^ can be diag-nosed by blood tests and specialstimulation tests that show inad-equate levels of adrenal hormones.

I Iolistically oriented doctorsrecognize thai there is indeed a formof adrenal insufficiency caused bychronic stress—the adrenal glandsare unable to keep pace with thedemands of perpetual fight-or-flightarousal. As a result, the glands can'tproduce quite enough ofthehormones needed to feel good.

To get a good handle on adrenalfatigue, there are several laboratorytests available, and it is good toperform a collection of them to get agood assessment. The Adrenal1 unction Test measures levels ofDI lEA and cortisot during fourperiods ofthe day to determine ifthere is a hormone imbalance,lonathan Wright, MD, oftheTahoma Clinic in Kent, Wash., saysthat the most accurate test of adrenalfunction is to determine theamounts of natural adrenal steroidsin lhe urine, collected over a 24*hourperiod, and compare these amountsto those found in a second 24-hoururine sample, taken after an injec-tion of ACni, a hormone thatstimulates the adrenal glands.

Healthful living is critical foradrenal health. To get started on thepath, remove Stressors such asrelationship or financial problems,get plenty of restftil sleep, avoidcaffeine, and resolve to exercise tocapacity several times per week.

Remedy 1:The Harmonizer. LicoriceLicorice root is a widely used anti-inflammatory and stamina-support-ing herb that is rich in saponins andflavonoid compounds. In fact, it isso useful and so well tolerated thai Itis the most often used herb inChinese formulas, where it is called"the universal harmonizer." Thestructure of the active ingredientresembles adrenaJ hormones.Licorice has a long history inAyurveda for improving eyesight,strength, sexual potency, and libido.Licorice inhibits an enzyme ihatnormally inactivates cortisol in thekidneys. The net effert is that cortisol

HOW TO I SUPPLEMENTS

stays in the blood longer andremains active. The dose is ahout500 mg per day. Avoid or takeunder a doctor's care if you havehigh hlood pressure.

Remedy 2: The Energizer.Pantothenic acidIhis vitamin, also known as B5, ispresent in all living cells and isimportant to metahoiism. Itfunctions as part of the moleculecoenzyme A, which is closelyinvolved in adrenal cortexfunction, so B5 has come to heknown as the antistress vitamin.Ihe adrenals store large amountsof the vitamin, which is necessaryfor the adrenal glands to producecortisol and other adrenalhormones. Large doses ofpantothenic acid have shownincreased ability to withstandstress, and several studies haveshown that pantothenic acid evensubstitutes for adrenal hormonesto a certain extent. Wright advises1 g of pantothenic acid twice a dayfor adrenal fatigue.

Remedy 3: The StressReliever. Vitamin CCompared to any other tissue, theadrenal glands store high amountsof vitamin C, and vitamin Cmobilization in the adrenal glandspeaks whenever stress shoots up.The vitamin is also required toproduce adrenal hormones inthe cortex.

Russian researchers looked atvitamin C to improve adrenalfunction in a surgical setting,where lung cancer patients wereable to better adapt to the stress ofsurgery, and had normalized levelsof cortisol when given vitamin Csupplements. Many vitamin Cproponents say the greatestbenefit comes from a boweltolerance dose—just short ofthedose that produces loose bowels,which is about 15 g per day formost people.

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