Are you barely able to make it through the day? Are you anxious, unable to fall asleep/stay asleep or feel wired but tired? Does it feel like you are running on fumes? Do you have stubborn weight that just won’t come off? Your adrenals may need some love and attention! What are the adrenals: they are two glands (shaped like little hats) that sit on top of your kidneys. They regulate the release of hormones such as epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline).
These chemicals are responsible for giving us a quick burst of energy and regulating cortisol when we need to focus, get away quickly, or act stealthily. Can I share my favourite analogy with you? Imagine way back in our ancestry, back when we were just cavemen/women roaming the earth. You, as a cavewoman, would have long periods of rest, sitting in the cave, hanging out, drawing paintings on the walls.
Eventually, danger would come along, for example, a tiger, hunting you down for dinner! When you see the tiger, your adrenal glands trigger the release of adrenaline, so that you can run away and run fast! It does this by increasing your heart rate, pulse, funneling all the energy to your muscles so you can run.
Unfortunately, in today’s world, we are faced with a LOT of tigers- being late for work, rushing to get ready, virtual school, pandemic procedures, working from home, technical difficulties, losing our jobs, paying the pills, caring for others etc. [Insert rabbit hole of stressors we are living with in 2022]
I think given the past two years, it is safe to say, that most of us are in some way, shape or form dealing with degrees of chronic stress. Our brain is perceiving all of these little stressors as tigers and when our adrenals are outputting fight or flight chemicals all the time, they get tired.
On top of this, the body is so smart that if it can't make enough cortisol to keep up with our stress, it will pull from other hormones like progesterone (your calming hormone) to make more cortisol. Which signals these symptoms: -Blood sugar imbalances -Sugar cravings -Weight gain around the belly -Loss of lean body mass -Feeling wired and tired at the same time -Anxiety/depression -Stomach issues -Suppressed hunger cues -Brain fog -Difficulty waking up in the morning -Poor immune system -Exercise intolerance -Insomnia -Extreme fatigue -Reliance on stimulants
Is this you? What do we do?
The problem with today's society is that we haven't yet figured out culturally how to stop the tigers. BUT, with awareness, we can change our response to them. We can change the way we support our body with food and lifestyle practices to decrease the stress response and the call on our adrenals to make cortisol.
I’m not just here to educate you and build awareness, I want to actually help you give your adrenals the love and care that they need. I created a free guide: A New Way To Stress Eat: a food guide to help you bounce back from stress and support your adrenals. To download it, CLICK HERE. Warmly,
Marissa, BN
Marissa Sylvester Wellness
#adrenals #adrenalsupport #adrenalfatigue