Does lifestyle change can help treat adrenal fatigue?

Updated: October 30, 2019

Adrenal fatigue refers to adrenal dysfunction, which is caused by stress, infections, and other such medical conditions. Physical, emotional, or mental stress may be responsible for the cause. The extent of the stress is so much that it starts to mess up with your body's other systems. This results in further increased stress levels, feeling of exhaustion even after a long good night's sleep, an imbalance in hormones, concentration going haywire, cravings for certain kinds of foods, a weakened immune system, and many more other symptoms.
Adrenal glands are responsible for our moods and handle all kinds of stress that our body goes through. They are primarily responsible for secreting adrenaline and cortisol. Cortisol belongs to the class of hormones called glucocorticoids, which affect almost every organ and tissue in the body. The most important job of cortisol is to help the body respond to stress. In addition to this, cortisol also helps
maintain blood pressure and heart and blood vessel function, slow the immune system's inflammatory response, that is how the body recognizes and defends itself against bacteria, viruses, and substances that appear foreign and harmful and regulate metabolism.
Due to increased stress, the amount of cortisol required by the body increases, thus, putting more stress on the adrenal glands to produce more of it. But after a point, the glands become incapable of providing the amount of cortisol needed by the body. The body reacts to this with increased amounts of fatigue at unexpected times. There are several ways to treat adrenal fatigue by changing your life style. These include:

Balanced Diet:

When the body does not get the correct amount of nutrients that it needs to function, there will be physical stress. That strain and pain that is caused by deficiency of something vital to the body is normally call physical stress. The best way to counter it is by including everything that is essential in a balanced way. Paleo diet is really beneficial so you don't have to go through instances of low-sugar and low-inflammation.
By taking out foods that stress your body and adding in foods that replenish your adrenal energy, you can naturally support adrenal and hormonal balance. Removing common allergens or sensitives, toxins, and chemicals can help your body heal itself. These include:

• too much alcohol or caffeine, which interfere with your sleep cycle and can result in anxiety or depression
• sugar and sweeteners including high-fructose corn syrup, packaged sweet products and refined grains that trigger a sugar addiction and are inflammatory and irritating to the gut
• packaged and processed foods as much as possible, since these are filled with many types of artificial ingredients, preservatives, sugars and sodium
• hydrogenated and refined vegetable oils such as soybean, canola, sunflower and corn, which are highly inflammatory

Replace these with as much whole, unrefined food as possible. Some of the best choices included in a healing diet are:

• natural, healthy fats such as coconuts and coconut oil, butter, avocado, nuts, seeds, and olive oil
• plenty of vegetables, especially all leafy greens and cruciferous veggies like cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, etc.
• wild-caught fish such as salmon, mackerel or sardines that provide anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids
• high-quality animal products that are grass-fed, pasture-raised and organic such as eggs, beef, chicken and turkey, for example
• sea vegetables like kelp and seaweed which are high in iodine to support thyroid health
• Celtic or Himalayan sea salt
• high-fiber foods like berries, chia seeds, flaxseeds and starchy veggies
• probiotic foods like kombucha, sauerkraut, yogurt and kefir

Reduce Stress:

Changing your environment to help lower stress is crucial for adrenal health. Effective stress reduction comes in many forms and depends on the person. Some great ways to reduce stress include:

• practicing hobbies or something fun every day
• meditation and healing prayer
• relaxing breathing techniques
• spending time outside, in the sunlight and in nature
• maintaining a consistent and reasonable work schedule
• eating on a regular schedule and avoiding too many stimulants like alcohol, sugar and caffeine. Excessive and irregular use of caffeine can cause sleep deprivation, daytime sleepiness, lack of concentration, headaches, fidgeting and anxiety.
• exercising in a moderate, enjoyable way without pushing yourself past your limits
• getting professional help when needed to deal with major life events or traumas

Sleeping The Required Amount:

Lack of sleep is one of the most prominent symptoms of adrenal fatigue. A lack of sleep means extra stress hormones like cortisol will be required to keep you up and battle low energy levels. This state of insomnia can be triggered in many ways. It may be because of caffeine, high cortisol levels, or restlessness which can cause daytime sleepiness. We have a defined sleeping cycle of our body and any disruption in it causes a disruption in time of secretion of cortisol. It may take several days to weeks to get regular again once disrupt. Sleep is as important as food and regular physical movement in our life. Sleep deprivation for prolonged duration of time may make you defenseless against adrenal fatigue. Rest when you feel tired and get as much quality, uninterrupted sleep as you can. Sleep for 8 to 10 hours a night depending on your specific needs. Try to stick to a regular schedule since your body loves a routine, and avoid staying up late.

Acupuncture for Adrenal fatigue:

Acupuncture works by stimulating points located in certain places. The stimulation is done most often by inserting needles through the skin. Every pain has a point somewhere in the body, which can be cured or reduced with massaging and stimulation. It is really beneficial in chronic pains like the lower back aches and neck pain. It is also used to reduce the intensity of headaches and somewhat prevents serious migraine pain.
Massage the area between Medial Malleolus and the Achilles tendon for 5 minutes in a clockwise manner on each side of the foot to get relief. Repeat daily for best results.

Meditation for Adrenal fatigue:

Meditation is the practice of training the mind of an individual to induce a mode of consciousness. It can promote relaxation, build and channel the life energy, and facilitate effortless concentration. There are many forms of meditation, each of which are focused to target certain activity of your body and psyche. It makes the connection with your inner self stronger. Meditation is proven to reduce stress significantly.
You will see a very evident change in your mood and stress level within two weeks of meditation. You will be able to feel inner peace even if you are leading your busy lives. During meditation, your breathing pattern also matters a lot. You can opt for any pattern, but the one most recommended for sufferers of adrenal fatigue is the 4-7-8 breathing solution. The pattern means breathe in deep through the nose for a total of 4 seconds and hold the breath in for a total of 7 seconds. Then breathe out very slowly from your mouth in a controlled manner for the next eight seconds.

See A Chiropractor:

Sometimes a person can suffer from stress-related diseases due to the outward movement of the spinal cord in the cervical section resulting in increased amount of stress-related hormones. If left unattended for long, this can be the cause of the lowered rate of healing and adrenal fatigue. In such cases, a chiropractor can be of great help, who deals with mechanical disorders of the muscle and skeletal system, especially the spine. Chiropractic involves manual therapy of the spine, joints, and soft tissues. A wellness based chiropractor will assess the situation correctly and bring in corrective measures to make the area stable to make you relieve from all the stress.
It can take some time to naturally heal your adrenal glands and start to feel more energetic, clear-headed, and in control of your hormones, weight and appetite. As the body type is different for everyone, they respond to lifestyle changes in unique ways. Some people can feel drastically better by simply paying attention to their diets, stress levels and lifestyles while others may need to take medications to ultimately heal their problems. In either ways, following the recommendations for natural remedies listed above is definitely still the way to speed up healing time and prevent the problem from worsening. However, the expected time for healing is 6 to 9 months for minor adrenal issues, 12 to 18 months for moderate adrenal insufficiency and up to 24 months for severe adrenal insufficiency.

• Go to bed as early as possible in night. A working adult must get proper sleep of a duration of 8 to 10 hours daily. The more you delay, higher the chances are that you might get an unexpected rise in the cortisol level, which will definitely disturb your usual sleep patterns. This increases chances of daytime sleepiness, putting you in harm as the body does not get ample time to deal with the stress caused in a day.
• Stay hydrated through out the day. Dehydration is another distinguished feature of adrenal fatigue. Keeping yourself hydrated throughout the day is very important if you wish to stay ahead of the syndrome. You can add some fresh lemon juice or Himalayan sea salt to make your body absorb more water.
• Include rest in your day. Overwork can lead to serious consequences. Pushing the limits too much results in stress. Include at least two sessions of rest in your day.
• Change your perspective. Maybe you are being a little too hard on yourself and your definition of success may be a little too high. In many cases, what you perceive as success is driving you into adrenal overload. Take it a little easy on yourself and change your standpoint of triumph.
• Laugh and do something funny every day. Laughter is the best medicine for many disease. Laughing a bit every day will definitely reduce some stress. Doing something funny is even better because then not only are you enjoying yourself, but you are making people around you laugh too, creating a stress-free environment.
• Do some moderate exercise regularly. You have to make your body move and maintain your health. Some light exercises, walking, and strolling for about 30 to 45 mins, 5 days a week can be enough to keep you fit in the long run. Do not over exercise as doing too much of cardio or endurance training overworks your adrenals. You should instead opt for a more relaxing form of exercise.
• Take counseling when you are facing difficulty in taking decision in some matter from someone who has experience in such matters. Some incidents in our lives can lead to many traumas that we have no idea how to tackle. For most of us, seeking help from outside is probably unacceptable. But you have to understand that you are not qualified to take on the situation on your own. There is nothing bad when you seek help from others.
• Take refreshing walks. Go out and take some of those natural vibes. We are usually surrounded by negative and toxic vibes. So to balance it, we should take in some time to spend in nature. Walk barefoot on the grass or lie down on it if you want. The motive is to get in direct contact with the nature as much as possible, to absorb the frequency of nature, because they are the best natural remedies for adrenal fatigue.
• Listen to some inspirational music. Put on something light, be it classical, meditation, or worship music. As these kind of music give an unexpected boost to the endorphins and help in forming serotonin, it can have a healing effect on your body. People with adrenal fatigue should avoid loud, hip hop music as it work against the adrenals.
• Take in some of the high quality sun. Sunlight not only boosts up the vitamin D formation, but also increases the ability of the cells to self heal and to produce energy. However, keep it in mind to avoid the intense rays of sun as the ultra violet rays are very harmful for your skin.

This is how your approach should be to heal adrenal fatigue. Adrenal fatigue is mostly caused by stress. All the fatigue, imbalanced lifestyle, and the addiction to caffeine and other stimulants only causes a further increase in overall stress. Therefore, the goal of treating adrenal fatigue is to minimize your stress level as much as possible.