Healthy and Free - Adrenal Health

Happy June! It's been a couple of days since I last posted - I was reading and researching about adrenal and thyroid health. Have you ever been to the Dr and they want to run tests on your thyroid as the possible cause for your weight gain? I know I have - EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. It's frustrating when it ALWAYS comes back as my thyroid is "fine" or within "normal range." Here is what I found out while researching/reading about this:

Stress - whether good or bad - can throw these 2 glands out of wack. There are 2 types of stress: acute and chronic.

Acute stress: more of you day-to-day, short term stress - like being caught in traffic, cook dinner in a time crunch, getting to work on time, etc. This type of stress comes and go and fairly simple to manage.

Chronic stress: this is the kind that you want to avoid. This is where a person never sees a way out of a miserable situation. This is extremely draining and potentially even fatal. After a long period of time, the body thinks that it is being threatened and the response is it begins to shut down your major organs, including your nervous and immune system.

Symptoms of adrenal fatigue include:

• Daily cycles of energy bursts and fatigue
• Cravings for foods high in sugar/fat
• An increase in PMS and symptoms of menopause
• Mild depression
• Lack of energy
• Decreased ability to handle stress
• Muscular weakness
• Inflamed allergies
• Lightheadedness
• Decreased sex drive
• Frequent sighing
• Inability to handle food that are high in potassium w/o combining them with fats and proteins

Solution:

• REST
• Laugh
• Excerise
• Minimize stress
• Eliminate negative people
• Eat regular meals (breakfast, lunch - so important to remember to eat these 2)
• Chew your food - chew slowly - will help your body work harder to break down the food
• Have FUN every day!
• Eat smart - stick to whole, unrefined carbs - eat clean
• Eat YOUR VEGGIES! - Eating 5-6 servings of veggies a day
• Use your salt shaker - Pink Himalayan salt and Celtic sea salt - not the kind you would normally use
• Vitamins C, B complex, E
• Calcium and Magnesium
• Licorice root - this is a root that promotes a healthy digestive system and cholesterol levels