Adrenal Glands

In my practice, I do hair analysis.  This is a great tool, which takes a comprehensive picture of your body.  I have done these since 2000.  The majority of the people I have tested have shown adrenal fatigue.  Always the first question is what do my adrenal glands do.  Let's take a look at our adrenals. 

The adrenal glands are small glands, which are located on the top of your kidneys.  Each one is about 3 inches wide and about ½ inch tall. These glands consist of three different regions.  Each of these regions produce different hormones.  All of these hormones are considered steroids.  When these hormones are not produced sufficiently, you have what is known as adrenal fatigue.  Some of the symptoms include:  excessive fatigue and exhaustion, craving for salty and sweet foods, sleep that doesn't refresh (you get sleep, but wake up tired), insomnia, unable to cope with stress, difficulty concentrating or brain fog, poor digestion, sensitivity to cold, allergies, low or high blood pressure, you may feel more energetic in the evening, low immune function, and slow recovery from illness or stress, muscle loss, belly fat, water retention, reduced sex drive, and being unable to remember things, and constipation.

The hormones that the adrenals produce help to balance your blood sugar, which controls your energy.  Each time your blood sugar drops, the adrenals will release hormones and cause the blood sugar to rise which increases energy.  They also release hormones when you are under stress. All of this puts a toll on the adrenals and they stop or slow down the production of sufficient hormones. 

Doctors won't test adrenals because they can only diagnose extreme dysfunction where the adrenals completely shut down, which is potentially fatal.  This is where a hair analysis comes in.  It will show exactly how the adrenals are working. 

If your adrenal glands are exhausted all the rules of weight loss are reversed.  Calorie restriction and exercise will make you fatter. Cortisol is a hormone secreted by the adrenals when you are under stress.  This hormone is not your friend.  It acts as a fat storing, muscle destroying, skin wrinkling and age-accelerating enemy.  Not only that but it causes you to retain fluid, making you feel even fatter. 

Your body needs water and the amount that you retain is determined by the balance of sodium and potassium. Water follows sodium and if there is too much sodium in the body you will retain fluid.  An imbalance between sodium and potassium determines whether there is the right amount of sodium.  If there is not enough potassium relative to sodium then you will retain water.  Cortisol will inhibit sodium loss, thereby causing fluid retention.  Cortisol will cause excretion of potassium, thereby increasing the sodium.  Cortisol is also an anti-diuretic.  You have always heard that the more you drink, the more you flush out your body, but not true with your cortisol levels.  The more you drink the more you retain.

Cortisol will also cause the loss of magnesium, which will cause cardiac arrhythmias.

The areas of your body that have the greatest amount of cortisol receptors are your midsection, face, and upper back - let me guess - this is where most of your fat is accumulating.

As your adrenal glands progress to burnout, you feel dead.  If you move around much you feel totally exhausted.  Your heart races and you are out of breath with just simple walking.  You may not be getting fatter at this point but you are losing muscle.   

What can I do, you might ask?  First of all, you can add several vitamins to your daily routine, but most important you need a test, such as a hair analysis to see what stage your body is in.  There are three stages of adrenal fatigue and each stage is treated differently.  Call me for your appointment today and we will take it from there. 

Stay Strong!