It’s cause, It’s Effects And The Action Steps You Need To Take.
I have yet to find someone with Hashimoto’s disease that does not also suffer from adrenal fatigue. These conditions are usually two ends of the same stick. How this condition develop sand the action steps necessary to restore the health of your adrenal glands will be discussed in this article. I have found that a large part of improving thyroid function is absolutely dependent on improving adrenal gland function. Please be careful when it comes to taking any type of nutritional supplements that are marketed as adrenal support. I have seen more people come to my office after self treating that have really damaged their thyroid as a result.
The most common symptoms that are associated with adrenal fatigue, and that most people are familiar with are sleeping difficulties, constant state of exhaustion, Pain and difficulty with Focus and concentration. The thing that most people fail to realize is that stressed out adrenal glands can be the spark to autoimmune disease like Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. This is because chronic adrenal fatigue can compromise the immune system and weaken the intestinal barrier and over a prolonged period of time, this weakened system can make somebody very susceptible to leaky gut and an autoimmune thyroid disorder.
The silver lining here is that in most cases, adrenal fatigue can be reversed naturally by working with a doctor who specializes in this condition. The issue is that most people do not know how to accomplish this and either go on suffering or go to their local health food store and purchase some adrenal nutritional supplements like DHEA, or adrenal glandular crossing their fingers in hope that this will help. Some will consult with a medical or holistic doctor, but the fact remains that most doctors don’t know how to properly and effectively treat this common and growing problem. Truth be told: eating well and proper nutritional supplementation can help towards the cure, but doing this alone will not be enough. Below I have listed the three major causes of adrenal fatigue:
3 Primary Common Causes Of Adrenal Fatigue
Cause #1: Chronic stress. This is the most common and major cause of adrenal fatigue. I have said it in many previous articles: our bodies were never created to handle the amount of stress that we face on a daily basis. The adrenal glands were meant to deal with sudden acute stress situations; they cannot deal with chronic, prolonged, stress effectively. We live in a world where the majority of people have some type of chronic stress, job, relationship, finances, which over a period of months and years even, will wreck havoc on the adrenal glands, resulting in adrenal fatigue.
Cause #2: Poor eating habits. Allow me to be blunt, eating poorly will definitely affect the health of your adrenal glands and will eventually contribute greatly to adrenal fatigue. This is even truer for those that constantly eat crappy refined carbohydrates, which many people fit under this category. The reason why this affects the adrenal glands is because refined foods have both the nutrients and the fiber from the whole food source REMOVED. These foods not longer have the fiber component to slow down the absorption even though the manufacturers do replace some of the removed nutrients. Are you ready for this? This means that when you eat a refined food, it very quickly absorbs into the blood stream and spikes up your blood sugar levels. So when somebody who has a habit of eating refined carbohydrates all throughout the day (cereals bread, pasta, snacks, etc.) their blood sugar levels are going to spike up and come crashing down hard, over and over again.
Over the duration of months and years, this is putting significant amounts of stress on the adrenal glands, as well as other endocrine glands in the body specifically the hormones Cortisol and insulin. Cortisol is released when the blood sugar levels are too low and insulin is released by the pancreas when the blood sugar levels are high. Adrenal fatigue affects these two areas. Over a period of time this condition can lead to depleted cortisol levels and lead to insulin resistance, Leptin Resistance, diabetes, autoimmune thyroid disorders, etc. Depleted cortisol levels can lead to chronic fatigue and many other symptoms associated with stressed out adrenal glands.
Cause #3: Not eating regularly. In addition to eating junk food frequently, many people are guilty of skipping meals and not eating on a consistent basis throughout the day. I find most adrenal fatigue suffers will skip breakfast, but have their Starbucks in the morning which also isn’t a good thing to do. This once again all ties in with balancing blood sugar levels, and if you skip breakfast and/or go more than a couple of hours without eating upon awakening, this will put a lot of stress on your adrenal glands, eventually leading to adrenal fatigue.
There are other causes of adrenal fatigue besides these three factors, but just making these changes in your lifestyle can really do wonders when it comes to adrenal health.
If you think you suffer from adrenal fatigue or you have Hashimoto’s Disease taking thyroid replacement is not enough. Simply taking thyroid replacement is missing the mark.
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