Adrenal Fatigue

There are lots of syndromes and illnesses that are getting more prevalent in today's stressful world and some of them are not even considered by traditional doctors when people are displaying symptoms.  Addressing Adrenal Fatigue may be one of the most important tools in healing conditions and yet it is rarely considered, addressed or treated in most cases.  Unless you meet the diagnostic criteria for Addison's disease (extremely little adrenal function) or Cushing's disease (hyper adrenal) then your symptoms will be dismissed without testing.

What are the Adrenals?

Adrenal glands produce the hormones estrogen, progesterone, steroids, cortisol, cortisone, and chemicals such as adrenalin (epinephrine), norepinephrine, and dopamine. When the glands produce more or less hormones than required by the body, disease conditions may occur.  In a perfect world the adrenal glands sit above our kidneys and  just happily rest there, quietly doing their job and behaving themselves. 

What is Adrenal Fatigue?

When we are stressed we secrete our stress hormones Adrenalin and Cortisol.  If we are stressed occasionally our body can recover fully from periods of stress and return to normal within 24 hours of the episode.  If however, we are perpetually stressed, then our body never has a chance to repair and we begin to tire chronically and find life unmanageable.  This is the pattern which leads to adrenal fatigue.

How do you know if your Adrenals are tiring?

Most of us feel tired occasionally, especially if we are doing a lot that week or month.  However, if you find you are continually tired with no hope of catching up with yourself then you may be giving your adrenals too much to to do.  Here are some signals that you may be suffering from mild or moderate adrenal fatigue:


-Finding it hard to concentrate
-Finding you wake up at about 10pm and find it hard to get to sleep
-Feeling nervous or anxious
-Responding badly to small stresses
-Reaching for high sugar foods to keep you going
-Feeling irritable and upset easily
-Feeling shaky and wired
-Allergies
-Excessive thirst
-Frequent illness or infection/slow healing
-Women may miss periods or find irregularities in their cycle


Generally, feeling 'wired and tired' is a description often used to define adrenal problems.  This suggests feeling awake and wired even though you feel physically exhausted. 


What to do?

If these symptoms sound familiar then it may be a good idea to start slowing down as much as possible.  Even though having a social life as well as work is vital for a balanced life, it might be time to get some really early nights, top up on raw foods and supplement with vitamin C and a good multivitamin to support your system.  Adrenal Fatigue can get serious and lead to autoimmune disorders or chronic fatigue if left unchecked.  Take the time to listen to your body and really slow down.  Your body can and will get back in balance, but not without change.  Here are some ideas for relaxing your adrenal activity:


-Early nights
-Wholesome foods
-Vitamin C
-Probiotics (gut health is where all health resonates from)
-Good Multivitamin (Lamberts or Higher Nature)
-Yoga or Meditation
-Thought diary to take your worries out of your head and on to paper
-Change to your lifestyle or job


I hope this helps you understand a little more about adrenal fatigue.  It take a while to build up and therefore a while to fix.  In the later stages of adrenal exhaustion which include chronic fatigue and more serious hormonal imbalances, seeking help from a Naturopath or Nutritional Therapist would really help get you back on track.


Rest assured that once you take notice and start to make changes, the body will start to get back into balance.


Josie.




Josie
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What is Herbal Medicine?

Herbal medicine, which is also referred to as Herbalism or Phytotherapy, is the art of using herbs to heal and re balance the body's systems.  A qualified Medical Herbalist will be able to use hundreds of herbs at their disposal to heal a myriad of complaints and also prevent illness. 

Herbs have abundant properties which can ease or cure most common infections, illnesses and diseases if used correctly.  Herbs can be used in herbal teas, as tinctures, in their natural form or as capsules.  A herbalist will be able to create balms, wines, ointments and oils with various herbs to create healing tools for all sorts of problems.

Simple treatments are available in most Pharmacies - such as echinacea for treating the immune system during the cold season or arnica for bruising.  This is only scraping the surface of this amazing healing art but can be great for beginners to get started with.

It is not something to be taken lightly and herbs have extremely potent properties and effects.  Some of them are contraindicated with certain medications or would affect some conditions negatively.  If for example you were taking St Johns Wort which can ward off depression, you would have to be very careful if you were on birth control medication as it could make it less effective.  It can be worrying for herbalists to know that people can self medicate so easily with these very powerful herbs and if you see a qualified Herbalist they would always check any herbs they recommend closely with your current medication or conditions. 

Recently the laws surrounding the availability of herbs has tightened significantly.  In April 2011 EU Legislation implemented a large reduction in the available remedies.  Although this is bad news for people who use these herbs wisely, it does protect people from self medicating without realising the strength of some of the tinctures and remedies.  Herbs in capsule form are still readily available and visiting a qualified Medical Herbalist is definately the best way to understand and use these herbs most effectively and safely.

In the meantime, get creative with the herbs in your garden which are readily available and highly effective. 

Rosemary for Headache Relief - Tea

Take a sprig of Rosemary from the bush, wash it well.  Chop it finely and add one teaspoon to a pint of boiling water with a plate over the top to protect the volatile oils from escapting.  Leave to cool and then drink this to ward off a headache!

Josie
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Which Oil is Best for Cooking?

Fats sound scary to most of us and using oils in cooking can feel confusing.  Are some good and some bad?

Cooking with fats is not as simple as adding something oily to the pan.  Different oils have different properties and each have varying effects in the human body.  We need up to 20 percent fat in our daily diet and we should aim to get a good dose of omega 3 and 6 fatty acids in that intake, but if possible this should come from oily fish, nuts and seeds, rather than added fats through frying and baking.  Saturated fats should be kept to a minimum and trans or hydrogenated fats should be avoided as much as possible. 

Ok, so that is a basic overview of the type of fats we want in our body, But which fats should we cook with?

When it comes to cooking with fat the most important factor is the burning point.  Saturated fats (animal/dairy fats) have a relatively high burning point and stay stable at high temperatures, but most unsaturated fats have a much low burning point and may degrade when used in cooking.  When an unsaturated fat is heated above its burning point then it becomes a trans fat and will be damaging to the body's tissues and our cell integrity.

Good Cooking Fats

Olive oil has a burning point of 210 degrees and as most frying takes place at about 190 degrees, olive oil is a good oil to fry with and it remains stable in most cooking.  Butter is also good for cooking in small amounts, but as it is saturated, it is best avoided for daily use.

Coconut oil is a fabulous oil to cook with as it is saturated (so remains stable), but also has lots of wonderful properties that make it a great health oil.  It contains lauric acid and has anti fungal and antibacterial properties as well as tasting great.

Which is the best choice?

As with all things in life and nutrition, the best advice is balance.  Limit frying and baking as cooking techniques as much as possible and eat raw foods and steamed vegetables with most meals instead.  When cooking I always use either olive or coconut oil dependent on the flavour I want in the dish.

Using oils in cold foods is a much more versatile nutritional game as you can use flax, evening primrose and olive oil in lovely dressings without losing any of the wonderful benefits.

Remember when cooking with oil to use enough to lubricate the pan but stop there.  If you invest in a good non stick pan then you can limit your oil use even further.

Josie :)
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Food as Preventative Medicine

What is Preventative Medicine?


People get sick, they go to the Doctor and they get prescribed medicine to make them less sick or better.  This has been the accepted approach to health for so long that we accept it as natural.  But, what if there was another way?  A way where people rarely got sick?

This is called preventative medicine; an approach which uses natural methods to prevent  illness and malady in the body from developing in the first place. 


Food to Prevent Disease.


The most available and simple source of preventative medicine is food.  I love this quote from Indian Ayurvedic Historian Charaka Samhita,

'Without a proper diet, medicines are of no use: with a proper diet, medicines are not necessary.'  

This simple truth sums up the issue and displays that with a complete nutritional profile, the body has all the vitamins and minerals it needs to synergistically release health into the body and prevent malfunction or malady on a cellular level - a simple machine which we abuse so knowingly.

I often use the analogy of the arcade game where you bash the funny faces down with a hammer and they pop up somewhere else.  With western medicine we use pharmaceutical medicines to push down the symptoms while the cellular dysfunction remains and the cause (often diet and lifestyle) is not addressed.  The symptom may disappear but like a 'not so funny' face, it may reappear somewhere else.

I am not suggesting there is no place for western medicine and it can be incredibly good at fixing bones and ridding tissues of aggressive infection.  Western testing and treatments are sometimes the only and the best way to treat particular problems and conditions and I certainly don't want to suggest avoiding seeking a doctors advice.  But, addressing diet and lifestyle to avoid illness is within our power today, to protect ourselves in the future!

None of us can know, or in some cases prevent, our predispositions to certain illness or disease, but by living the best we can, we can at least know that we did our best to prevent dysfunction in the body.  We can change the way our genes are expressed by living whole and pure, so it is always worth switching to a healthy way of life.

 If you want to know more about protecting your body with food, read through my posts and find helpful tips and ideas to start living better. 

Josie.



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