Hi
Remember the email on cortisol?
The HPA axis, the adrenals and adrenal insufficiency as all of the problems chronic high stress without sufficient R and R can result in?
Well here's the link to that email in case you missed it:
As you know, we need stress.
It stimulates us, it provides challenge and interest and
helps us to learn.
Stress hormone cortisol helps respond to threats, to improve our stamina and become stronger and also to keep a strong immune system. It can have an anabolic effect basically.
It all sounds good until there's too much stress too often.
So today let's look at the 6 tips to help reduce your stress levels and support the adrenals from a nutrition perspective - because really, none of us have the time or energy to deal with adrenal insufficiency or burn out!
Put into practice, even just one change a day, will be enough to feel a bit more
relaxed by the end of the week, by a couple of weeks you may be sleeping better, by a month you might notice something like better immunity or better skin, some fat loss around the middle and muscle gain when you've felt like you've hit a plateau for the past 6 months.
Who knows where you'll be in a years time!
Discover and address any intolerances or allergies.
Do you have a food which you have suspected you might be sensitive too? Something which causes a reaction of some kind in your body? For example, if I have a slice of bread, 10 minutes after, my heart will be racing and my mood will change for the worse (ask James). If I have cheese I can feel
a slight constriction in my throat and my glands swell ever so slightly. Some people report a swelling of fingers and sore joints the next day after gluten, other experience a rash, itchy eyes or an urgency for the toilet after specific foods. Such symptoms indicate an inflammatory response basically the body is under stress and trying to do something about it. Once or twice might be ok (I looooove cheese!!) but every day of the year for the past 10+ years is bad news for your
adrenals.
Keep a food symptom diary if you haven't done so already to see if there are any patterns.
Eliminate the suspected foods for 3 weeks and introduce one at a time. Leave 72 hours between each reintroduction of suspect food. If you react in any way you know that this food is causing a stress
response and should look at removing it or seriously reducing your consumption.
Eat sensibly.
- Balanced meals regularly and snacks if you need them. Protein in all of these.
- A good start for meal is the ol' 50% of the plate being above ground veg, an open
hand of fist sized lean protein, a good dollop of fat e.g half avocado, little piece of cheese, nuts, tbsp olive oil etc and a small handful of starch.
- Don't skip meals - the lower your blood sugar drops the higher the adrenaline and cortisol release to try and keep going - this is why many people get the shakes and often feel a second wind only to completely collapse at the end of the day. Metabolism also slows down and many people are left
wondering how come they can't lose weight even though they are hardly eating anything!
Quit or cut back on the stimulants.
- Coffee (I met a guy the other day - 24 coffees a day- no joke), Coke, energy drinks and bars. They work by stimulating the adrenals. If
your adrenals are already exhausted, stimulants merely drive your adrenals further into "the red."
- For the average person, I would say 2 caffeinated coffees a day before 2pm is fine, even good.
- Fizzy drinks and energy drinks, just a big fat NO. Opt for black or green tea over coffee where you can - they have theanine, a profoundly beneficial amino acid which can give people a calm focus rather
than a jittery focus.
- Herbal teas are good to go too especially camomile and licorice which help support the adrenals.
Ensure you are getting enough of the important cofactors when it comes to producing adrenal enzymes. The three key players here are: Magnesium, Vitamin C and vitamin B5.
- Here we are looking at (dark leafy veg , beans, fish, nuts and seeds, yoghurt, avocado for Mg) (kiwi, citrus, peppers, cabbage for C) and (mushrooms, cheese, oily fish, grains, meats for B5) .
So your best bet is going:
- whole foods over packets.
- about 7 veg, 2 fruit a day (50% of
plate will have this covered)
- stop smoking and stop/reduce drinking as seriously depletes B's and C.
- sugar competes for the same cell receptor sites as vit C. so cut the sugar.
Get enough sleep for you and make it good
quality.
- This is usually about 7 and a half hours. If you wake feeling refreshed and calm you are doing well. If you are waking like Duracell bunny with too much energy indicating perhaps low cortisol high adrenaline or too high cortisol from constantly being on the go you need to calm down (no coffee here! - opt for tea instead).
- If you are waking knackered for no reason
like babies waking etc and need coffee just to get going your cortisol levels are probably on the low side.
- If you are waking most nights around 3-4 and finding it hard to get to sleep then blood sugar levels may have dropped too low signalling a release in adrenaline. Try a small protein rich snack before bed e.g. a rice cracker with a bit of avocado or cottage cheese, half a banana with some nut butter or a little
yoghurt.
- Remember too hunger hormone Ghrelin is increased, satiety hormone Leptin is decreased when sleep is insufficient which can lead to totally the wrong food choices the next day.
- Take a look at our email on sleep to get the best out of your sleep:
Reduce Inflammation.
- Are you inflamed? Inflammation is a stress response by the body to fix something up hence the recruitment to the area of various immune cells. A little inflammation is fine to keep the body in working order, but again not when it is chronic and the adrenal are having to constantly work overtime. So maybe a visit to the GP or physio etc
(and/or the nutritional therapist who will work to address the root of the issues) could be in order. Those digestive issues, the face rash, the sore joints, the swelling, the PMS, the excess tummy fat- it's all inflammation in the body and all are hard work for the adrenals as they trigger and are triggered by stress.
- For other ways to reduce stress such as reducing decision fatigue and decompressing...check out these
past emails:
A word on Supplements.
- I need to get this across: food and lifestyle changes should always come first before supplementation. Taking
supplements while eating rubbish or burning both ends of the candle is pointless. Someone cannot take supplements to support the overly busy stressful party hearty lives they might lead.
- Nutrients can't be isolated in food like they are in supplements so by choosing food over supplements, the body is exposed to hundreds of different nutrients (some which we haven't even discovered yet) which will benefit the body in ways that supplements
never can e.g. better absorption, and assimilation.
- Saying this however, changes in lifestyle and food production over the centuries have caused more stress on our bodies and less goodness in our diet which has lead to low levels of nutrients in our bodies. Therefore, I believe, sometimes supplements can be beneficial to get levels back up to where they should be and do so quicker than food sources. Once levels are back up, food sources only will be
ok again.
- In the case of HPA dysfunction/Adrenal Insufficiency, if you've done an Adrenal Stress Index test and the adrenals are looking seriously whacked then you should look at working with a Nutritional Therapist to nourish the adrenals back to good health. They will probably and should use 'adaptogens' which basically help the adrenals glands adapt to stress or bring them back in line with the norm) and may opt for therapeutic doses of
Magnesium, Vitamin C and B5.
Saying this, for now what could help anyone out there feeling a bit too stressed and fed up, a good start, alongside all of the tips above would be:
- B Complex. (Take in morning with food away from coffee/tea).
- Magnesium. (200g in am, 200g in
pm)
- You could also try a couple of handfuls of Epsom Salts in your bath three times a week.
- Vitamin C. 1000mg 3 x a day.
If you are looking for a good resource of well reputed products follow the link below:
You will need to sign up, however use my practitioner code below at the check out for 15% off your
total order:
KC015
Hope you have enjoyed reading and are going to get some much needed relax time sometime today :)
Kim
'To inspire, educate and
support our clients on their journey to better health'
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